Day 25
It is the night of the 30th to the 31st of December. It is the beginning of the last day of 2018. Thank God I am alive and well. The wind is stable at 30+ knots and the boat is gliding over the enormous waves at an average speed of 3-4 knots, but sometimes the boat slides down the waves and the speed goes up to 9. The ocean is roaring and dragging the boat along its course, toward Cape Horn. I had a good journey today, travelling an estimated 82 miles, which is the most I have made in a day since the start.
As I expected, after the Chatham Islands, I have entered into a different weather regime. New Zealand no longer blocks me from the Westerly winds.
After the Chatham Islands, there is no more habitable land in my path until I reach Cape Horn. The only thing ahead is South America. My friends informed me that today the closest people to me were the Cosmonauts at the ISS. They are currently at 450 kilometres overhead.
It is 6,500 kilometres, or 3,600 miles to Cape Horn. It is still very far, and I await the time I am 3000 miles away. It is the distance of the Atlantic crossing with which I am so well acquainted, and I am already mentally processing it. (Fedor Konyukhov has traversed the Atlantic Ocean 16 times in yachts, and once in a rowboat by the name of URALAZ in 46 days).
The people on land are getting ready for New Year celebration. My own family prepared presents for me, which I will open tomorrow night. The forecast promises a North-Westerly wind of around 25-30 knots. I hope it proves correct, and that my New Year’s night goes by without incident.
Until we meet in the New Year,
Fedor Konyukhov
46’00 South
170’37 West