A month in the ocean

A conversation with Fedor Konyukhov using the satellite telephone system Iridium.

“Greetings friends. It is night here. The sky is clear and I see the stars. Wishing you all a Merry Christmas. Thank God we have survived to 2019.

As of the night of 6 to 7 January, I have spent a month in the Southern Ocean in a rowboat. For me it is a milestone to have spent a month in the Roaring Forties, as the saying goes: “standing the days and withstanding the nights”.

My first summer month in the Southern Hemisphere has run its course. In summary, I have travelled nearly 3,000 kilometres along my course; making only 2,000 kilometres as the crow flies towards my goal. So I have strayed a total of 1,000 kilometres to the North, to the South, and sometimes in the opposite direction altogether. Compare this to my journey from Chile to Australia in 2014, where I travelled only 500 pointless miles in total out of 9,000 miles, or 16,000 kilometres. Although, I knew I was getting myself into a difficult journey across the Southern Ocean, the reality has turned out much harsher. Besides there being few tailwinds, favourable currents have also been hard to come by.

Expedition headquarters have today informed me that a massive iceberg lies at 60 degrees South and 140 degrees West. The bulk of the ice is much farther South than my planned course, but chunks are drifting North, with the greatest concentration of ice to flow approximately into the centre of my path.

Photo: LANCE/EOSDIS Rapid Response team, NASA

The coming week promises to be windy. We will see how it will affect my progress.

Thank God, I am alive and well.

Regards to all.”

Fedor Konyukhov

47’12 South
163’27 West