Day 20

Tonight, moving north, Fedor Konyukhov had crossed the mark of 50 degrees of south latitude and thus left the “furious fifties” and joined the “roaring forties” latitudes. These are, of course, conventions, but psychologically, these numbers are important to Fedor.

Cape Leeuwin (Western Australia), marked by Fedor on the screen of the chart plotter, is located at 35 degrees south latitude and climbing north along latitude is a critical element of the strategy of moving along the course.

The shore team wanted to see the AKROS boat in the span of 43-48 degrees south latitude on a segment of the South Atlantic. First of all, it’s much warmer there. This week, the average air temperature in the forties is +7 degrees. Also, starting from 48 degrees, there is a steady tail current of 1.5 knots (around 3 km per hour), which is where Fedor is trying to get.

The further north you are, the less danger there is of encountering drifting ice. Icebergs and all the ice remained at 50 latitudes.

For most of the route, the boat will be in the most powerful current on our planet, the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) or the West Wind Drift. The corridor is between 40 and 50 degrees south latitude.

Now all the attention is on the intersection of the longitude of the islands of South Georgia. As soon as this land remains astern of Fedor, there will not be a single inhabited island for thousands of miles ahead.

The route map here.