Merry Christmas to all Orthodox Christians!

Message from Fedor Konyukhov:

“Merry Christmas to all Orthodox Christians! I thank God for allowing me to live to see this day. I have celebrated Christmas in the oceans many times and always felt how nature rejoices on this day. In all my diaries, I describe the unusual state of the ocean and the sky.

Christmas night in the ocean. The ocean calmed down. For the first time in many days, the sky cleared, and I saw the Southern Cross constellation and the Milky Way. It felt very symbolic. The sunset was clear, and I watched the sun sink below the horizon. Over the past couple of weeks, the clouds on my route have been so dense and low, that I have already forgotten what the sun and stars look like. It’s such a pleasure to gaze at the high, clear sky again.

By morning, a thick fog had rolled in, but the fog is temporary. I hope the sun warms up the air and the fog will clear. My plans for the day are to charge all the devices, run a desalination system and pump fresh water for 3-4 days ahead. I also need to dry my clothes – everything is wet. I change jackets, but they don’t have time to dry out. It’s damp in the cabin, and there are waves and rain on the deck.

At night, I had to avoid another ship. This time, it was the Chinese bulk Carrier “XIN QI MENG” (MMSI 413279040) with a hull length of 229 meters – that’s 22 times the length of the AKROS boat.

No matter how many times I had been in the ocean on a sailing yacht or a rowing boat, I never cease to be amazed by this paradox: if you spot a ship in the ocean with a potential course crossing, it will definitely happen. A couple of days ago, my shore team reported that a Chinese cargo ship heading for Singapore was on my route. Two days have passed and now the ship is 5 miles astern of me…. The night was dark (the moon had already set below the horizon), but visibility was good, and I could see the red navigation lights on the port side of the ship. I called the ship on VHF radio, channel 16 – no one answered, but their course changed from 78 degrees to 90 and the ship passed on my starboard side. I knew the vessel was approaching and I was ready.

I would like to note that there are more ships at this stage than at the New Zealand–Cape Horn stage.

Blessings to all”

47’ 22 south lat.

26’03 west log.

The route map is here.