Headwind Until the End of the Week

Visitors to the website will have noticed the wavelike course plotted by the rowboat “AKROS”.  This is due to the wind direction in the boat’s navigation zone.  Oceanic rowboat journeys rely on favourable currents and winds, and Fedor Konyukhov has so far been unable to reach a favourable current, as New Zealand acts as a barrier to western winds and currents.

The weekly forecast is unfavourable, with headwinds predicted until Friday, 14 December.  The boat will be dragged back in the direction of New Zealand.

A headwind is always a serious challenge for a rower, especially when the boat is not far from the shore.  At the moment, the boat is 205 km as the crow flies from its starting point.  Fedor has readied the sea anchor (a parachute which, when lowered into the water, reduces drift).

We knew that the first thousand kilometres would be influenced by islands of New Zealand, which block ocean currents and westerly winds.  Only when Fedor has traversed the Chatham Islands will we be able to say that he has entered the realm of another weather pattern – the West Wind Drift current, which forms the southern section of the global oceanic circulation pattern in the Pacific Ocean called the Southern Pacific Gyre (consisting of 4 major ocean currents circulating counterclockwise between Australia/New Zealand toward South America and back: the Eastern Australian, South-Pacific, Peru (aka Humboldt), and South-Equatorial currents).

Ahead is still another 800 km to the Chatham Islands and a week of headwinds.  This will be a serious trial for Fedor Konyukhov and his boat, but this will be a journey without lucky breaks; every mile will be a battle hard won.