Day 46

South Pacific Ocean. Rowing boat “Tourgoyak” coordinates: 11°11 S and 115°25 W.

Fedor reports via satellite phone: “Day 46 on the ocean brings memories of my other ocean rowing. Back in 2002 it took me 46 days to row across the Atlantic Ocean from La Gomera to Barbados. The 46 days is the longest I’ve been on a row boat. (To read about Fedor’s transatlantic crossing on “URALAZ” row boat click here).

During my preparations for the transpacific crossing I used the Atlantic results as a baseline. So, it took me 46 days to row 3000 nautical miles. To be on the safe side I round up the number of days to 50. The route I’ve chosen to cross the Pacific comes close to 9000 nautical miles, which is three times longer than my route in the Atlantic. Based on that, I multiplied 50 days by 3, got 150 and added 30 more days for bad weather with storms, headwinds, calms and the like. These were my calculations in order to estimate how much food, propane gas canisters, and other equipment I’ll need to pack to last me on this expedition. Only time will tell if my calculations were correct. After 46 days in the Atlantic I was able to stand on ‘terra firma’. This time, 46 days puts me right in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. I have more than one thousand miles before the nearest land (the Marquesas Islands), and about 6000 miles before the prospective finish line.

Last night was uneventful and went well. This morning though my AIS turned on to warn me of an upcoming vessel. It turned out to be a Japanese fishing trawler. They passed me within a two mile distance, at a speed of 4 knots. My peaceful morning, therefore, was interrupted by this unexpected encounter, forcing me to spend the sunrise working frantically on the oars, rather than doing my usual morning prayer followed by a cup of coffee. However, all is well. The seas have subsided to a comfortable 2 meters, and the tailwind is a subtle 15 knots.”   

The map of the Tourgoyak’s course: http://yb.tl/konyukhov2

The detailed map of the course: www.oceanrowing.com/Konyukhov/Pacific2013/dist_map.htm

Translated by Tatiana Koreski