Day 37
Fedor via the Iridium satellite phone: “I continue to advance north aiming to enter the 12th degree of the Southern Latitude. This will provide a better angle at approaching and maneuvering through the islands of French Polynesia. Today I had my first visitors from the ocean. For the first time since the start I saw dolphins. Unfortunately, they quickly got bored with Tourgoyak’s slow speed and lack of bow wave. After 2-3 minutes of accompanying me they disappeared into the ocean. By midday I was greeted by a flock of the white-tailed tropicbirds. I’ve seen these birds many times during my circumnavigations, when they would escort me into the tropics. Today there were as many as 20 birds, and once again, I admired how beautiful they were. Just like the dolphins they weren’t particularly interested in me either, but were looking for small fish hiding in the shadow of Tourgoyak’s hull.
Speaking of the hull, the boat’s bottom is quickly getting covered by seaweed and algae. At this point I cannot dive under and scrape off the algae growth. It’s not for a fear of sharks but rather the ocean is swelled and the wind waves carry the boat up and down tipping it from one side to another. There will be a time when I must venture under to clean the hull; otherwise, I’ll have to pay the price of progressing at a slower speed. A good and sturdy mop would be very beneficial right now. I should’ve packed one.
The weather and the ocean are continually blessing me with a tailwind of 15 knots and the westward current. I’m with you. Fedor.”
The map of the Tourgoyak’s course: http://yb.tl/konyukhov2
The detailed map of the course: www.oceanrowing.com/Konyukhov/Pacific2013/dist_map.htm
Translated by Tatiana Koreski