The 100th Day
Fedor Konyukhov shares: “April 1st falls on my 100th day on the ocean, and that’s not a laughing matter! The weather is difficult though. The north-westerly wind is blocking me from rowing straight west, towards Australia. At this point I can only advance south, but it’s ok for the time being. The important thing is not to be turned back eastward. I’m rowing along the traverse of Rarotonga Island (Cooks Islands).
It’s been one hundred days since I left Chile, but I feel like I’ve been on the Pacific Ocean for 1,000 days. I must say that the most difficult time was the first month. Now it’s much easier to be alone, face to face, day to day with the ocean. I’ve become one with the boat. I have a well established routine of how I spend my days and nights on the boat. I have also became one with the ocean: I can feel it, its moves and changes even before they are happening. The weather is another element I have come to know personally and have learned to adapt to its changes.
To the ocean there is no difference whether it’s been 100 days or 1000 days. It was always here, and it will always be here. I’m a mere guest, a passerby drifting along the ocean surface.
At dawn three whales passed the boat. As usual, I heard their deep breathing first and then saw them. I’m convinced that seeing whales is good luck. I’m with you. Fedor.”
Today Fedor became a member of the “100+ Club”. The International Ocean Rowing Society in London keeps track of all transoceanic crossings. According to their statistics, Fedor was the 43rd person to spend more than 100 days rowing solo across an ocean. To learn more about the “100+Club” click here.
The insert from Fedor’s drawing:
“The Ocean has separated me from the others. I’m in a different dimension where I rely mostly on my sixth sense rather than on my mind. Back on land, people live by their mind, they rely on it, to them- it’s everything. But it’s not so here, where beneath you is an abyss and above you is an abyss. Here, your body and soul merge entirely with this cosmic infinity. October 10, 1998. North Atlantic, 19 24 N and 50 31 W.”
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