Day 6

28 December 2013

Last night was intense. The wind rose up to 30 knots with the gusts of 35. The waves reached 5-6 meters. This was a serious test for Tourgoyak. The crests of waves crush onto the boat soaking the deck and cockpit with tons of water. Tourgoyak is half immersed in the water. I’m not pumping the water out of the cockpit thinking it might be a good idea to keep the boat so low. Also glad we switched to the gel accumulators. The additional weight adds stability to the boat. So far Tourgoyak is facing the beating like a champ. Despite the constant awash with waves, all of the outside equipment on board, including antennas are working properly.  I released a sea anchor at 100 meters overboard, which allows me to keep the boat straight without facing the wave sideways. The waves here are different than in Atlantic Ocean. The power of the South Pacific Ocean is ever present and felt with every move. Right now, speaking with you on the phone, I experienced an American roller coaster moment: Tourgoyak was raised high and dropped low by one powerful wave. In such conditions I am not able to work on oars. The only thing to do is to surrender to the north wind and move in the direction of north. I’m desperately hoping that the wind will change soon. This reminds me of Jim Shekhdar’s warning in his book: “the first hundreds of miles and the last hundreds of miles are the most difficult and dangerous.” I agree with him.  The ocean is testing me and Tourgoyak and we must not fail. With God’s help we survived last night and I’m hoping that the day will be a bit easier.

Check http://yb.tl/konyukhov2 for “Tourgoyak” position.

Translated by Tatiana Koreski

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