Day 104
Yesterday I passed the waypoint of 50 degrees South and 110 degrees West. It is the first time I have descended (though technically I’ve ascended) to 50 degrees South. I will have to spend the remaining 1,400 kilometres to Cape Horn in these “furious fifties”.
The ocean has spoiled me with a week of good weather, and I was able to make good progress on my course. In ideal conditions, I should progress 10 degrees west in 10 days, and I have managed that distance in 11 days, which is a good result too. Now the boat and I are in a zone of calm winds, and in a big swell – the calm before a storm. The first Autumn storm, with winds of 45 knots (80 kilometres per hour) is approaching. It will be a serious challenge. The boat and I have not had to withstand a storm like that yet. I don’t know how the boat will cope with winds of that speed, and the waves are forecast to be 7 metres high. If you add the wind crests, the waves will get to up to 9 metres. The length of the boat is also 9 metres. I’m scared the boat will capsize lengthways or that I will steer the boat sideways to the wave. Today is the 104th day, and I haven’t capsized yet, but it was a little calmer in the “Roaring Forties”. Now, if I were climbing Mount Everest, I would be in the “Death Zone”.
Yesterday I had a phone call from a journalist from Australian radio station SBS by the name of Olga Klepova. We had a good conversation. Olga has consistently been following my travels, reporting on them from Australia since my hot air balloon flight, and met me after the voyage from Chile to Australia aboard the “Turgoyak” rowing boat. I have been friends with the people at SBS since 1990 when Alex Ivachev covered my first round the world voyage aboard the yacht “Karaana” from Sydney to Sydney in 222 days. He helped me a lot, along with the whole Russian community in Sydney.
The broadcast will be made available on SBS from 19 March.
I’ve received the following letter from a class 2B student by the name of Andrei Andriutse:
“Hello, Fedor Filippovich! My name is Andriutse Andrei, I am 9 years old and I live in the town of Podolsk in the Moscow Region. I’m in class 2B of Lyceum No. 5 of the town of Podolsk. I play football, do karate, and like mental arithmetic. I really love designing and making aeroplanes, boats, and different kinds of robots. I’m interested in Chemistry, radio electronics, and robotics. I also follow your journeys and world records!
I dream of one day travelling around the world like you!
And flying over the North Pole with my friends, like Valeriy Chkalov.
We recently had a competition at our school called “Planet Brainchild”, where we had to make an invention out of available materials. I saw on TV how you’ve gone on a journey aboard a rowboat called the “AKROS”. We started following your voyage on the website, and I really wanted to build that very boat for the competition! It looks so delicate, beautiful, and bright, but it’s so stable and reliable out in the ocean! With the help of my family over two weekends, we cut a frame out of polystyrene, glued cardboard onto it, painted it and created our boat!
I also watched your journey on the hot air balloon. I was 7 years old then, and I made a hot-air balloon out of paper napkins. My mum is always reading me your letters from the Southern Ocean! It’s so interesting. We were so sorry for you when you had to go the wrong way! And we are so glad when the weather gives you and the boat a chance to rest. We hope you have more good weather, favourable wind, and good health!
May your journey go to plan.
Kind regards, Andrei from Podolsk!”
It makes me so glad to receive letters like this, knowing that my expedition is inspiring and captivating children. It is really important, especially in the modern world. I am rooted in the previous era when children used to want to be like Yuri Gagarin, Ivan Papanin, and Valeriy Chkalov. Now it is rare to hear those surnames as role models for our youth. The more romantics we have are out there, the better it will be to live on our planet. I promised Andrei that when I return to Moscow we will meet and talk about new expeditions.