The weather remains challenging, and the ocean keeps me on edge. To the south of me, a storm has formed with its center at 52-55 degrees latitude, moving eastward. Although I’m not in the storm itself, massive waves reach me with a 15-second period (the interval between waves). It’s like an endless ocean roller-coaster climbing up and falling down. Occasionally, foamy crests crash into the boat’s cockpit with a roar and cracking sound. I stay fastened in the cabin all the time, constantly holding on to something, as the boat is being tossed around chaotically and violently.
The wind is coming from the west at 25-30 knots, and the following seas drag the boat along its course. I’m already at 6 degrees west longitude. Just 6 degrees left to the Greenwich Meridian.
In this weather, I missed an important milestone — 46 days in the ocean. For me, it is a significant marker when comparing my progress in various ocean crossings.
In 2002, on the rowing boat URALAZ, I crossed the Atlantic in 46 days with the trade winds, from La Gomera (Canary Islands) to the island of Barbados. I covered around 2,800 nautical miles. The weather in the 2002 season was perfect. The trade winds blew steadily for a month without interruption, like a wind tunnel.
Note: Statistics from the Ocean Rowing Society give 2,534 nautical miles and an average speed of 2.2 knots for this route. These numbers are based on a straight-line calculation, but in reality, the URALAZ covered more than 2,800 miles.
Here in the South Atlantic, I’ve covered about 2,440 nautical miles in 46 days. This puts me 500 miles, or roughly 10 days, behind my pace in the North Atlantic.
The difficulty of the Southern Ocean is that when the wind blows, it blows so hard that working on the deck becomes dangerous, and the waves are so powerful that there is a risk of breaking the oars. When the wind dies down, it often shifts to a headwind, forcing me to battle against it. To keep moving forward, I sometimes have to go off my course.
Thank God, I’m alive and well to this day. The boat is in good shape, and all the main devices and systems are functioning properly. Everything is fine, though it’s cold. The air temperature is +6-7°C, and it rains almost every day.
My coordinates: 46°18′ south latitude, 06°00′ west longitude.
The route map is here.