Day 94
It is 1,799 nautical miles to Cape Horn. The Southern Ocean is in a reverie; the wind is changeable and the waves are coming from different directions. One moment it rains, the next moment there is damp snow, and sometimes hailstones shoot from the clouds. They thrum against the deck like peas. I get the sense that the ocean is deciding – do I pass into Autumn, or let Summer linger a little longer? I would, of course, like it if Summer were to stay in these latitudes. The month of March in the Northern Hemisphere is September in the Southern Hemisphere. I hope that there is an Indian Summer here, too. I want to enjoy the ocean otherwise, it’s just a fight for survival. I understand that I will never return to the coordinates I’ve left behind. At any rate, I will never return in a rowboat. Every longitude crossed is like a closed door. Even if I am blown back by a headwind, it is all taking place as part of this project, and I am already thinking about new projects.
This (first) stage of the circumnavigation differs principally from all of the voyages to follow. To traverse Cape Horn, I need to enter the Furious Fifties latitudes, getting myself from 46 degrees South (where the port of Dunedin lies) to 57 degrees South. God willing, by the time the second leg begins, I will be moving every day from Cape Horn toward Australia and it will be warmer. Psychologically, it is very positive when you are holding a course for warmer climes. In these conditions, the weather worsens with every day and becomes colder and colder, while the boat and I can’t go North to pursue warmer latitudes because we need to head for the Drake Strait to get to Cape Horn.
Today I had a visitor. A huge whale surfaced next to the boat. About 5-7 metres away. I clearly saw scars and parasitic growths on his back. I was on deck working with the desalinator (water from the desalinator is stored in a can on deck). I didn’t have my safety string attached. Suddenly, I heard a loud exhale. I had to sit down in the cockpit. Of course, I am glad to see a whale, but it came upon me so suddenly that I was left a little muddled. He dived and went on his way to the North. Probably, it is a sign of annual whale migration starting. It is the second time I’ve seen a whale since the start of my journey. The first time was by the shores of New Zealand.
Two pigeon-like birds also visited. What were they doing so far out in the ocean? How do they survive such conditions?
So, my day has been eventful. After so many months in this deserted ocean today I have seen a veritable kaleidoscope of happenings. Maybe from now, on it will be a little more lively with this ocean’s inhabitants.
The Great Lent is beginning. A time to improve oneself. This will be a time of trial for every Orthodox Christian. May God help us all.
Fedor Konyukhov
48’40 South
116’36 West