Sailing the Antarctic Circle - On the Home Strech
Russian adventurer Fedor Konyukhov is now safely out of the ice region on day 80 of his sail around the Southern Ocean, and is sailing into the 'home stretch' of the 16,000-mile Antarctica Cup Racetrack. Still deep in the Roaring Forty latitudes, however, he remains all too aware that he is neither out of the cold -- nor danger -- yet.
Passing south of the French Crozet islands on Monday, the 56-year-old solo circumnavigator expects to clear the Kerguelen Islands, the half way stage across the South Indian Ocean, on Sunday April 20. Now sailing well into the Austral Autumn, Fedor knows that at this time of the year, the Southern Ocean can still throw up quite a few surprises.
Fedor Konyukhov with Jon Sanders, the first person to make a solo circumnavigation of Antarctica.
Back in 1982, Jon Sanders, the first person to make a solo circumnavigation of Antarctica, survived a 180° knockdown at 90°E and in 1997 Tony Bullimore lost the keel on his yacht Exide Challenger at 100°E and survived for 5 days inside his upturned hull before being rescued by the Australian Navy. For the moment, Fedor's mind is attuned to simply fighting frostbite. He reports:
"Imagine yourself in a refrigerator and someone pours water on you! It is very, very cold and worst at night when the temperature falls to 0° and the fog, wet air and strong winds simply blows life out of your body. I can't even get warm working on deck, and once I have finished a job in the cockpit, it takes hours to recover. I just can't stop shivering. I don't have any dry clothes. Everything from my leather boots to hat are wet and cold. The only source of heat is my own body temperature. I am now down to my last bottle of gas and have to use it economically. It would be suicidal to waste it heating the boat, and not to have hot meals in these conditions.
My boat, Trading Network Alye Parusa, is now very much a part of me -- she is like race horse or pack of racing dogs that sense we are on the home stretch, and is running steady regardless the wind. I have spent enough time sailing her now to know that she is an animated body, and not just a hull, mast and sails. The winds are currently blowing 30+ knots and shifting from N-W to S-W, so we are gybing every 5-6 hours and leaving a zigzag course on the charts. "
Bob Williams, the Director of the Antarctica Cup event, today expressed his highest regard for what Fedor Konyukhov has achieved:
"With the second half of the Indian Ocean still to cover we are conscious that storms here can be just as ferocious as anything that the South Pacific or South Atlantic Ocean can throw at a weary sailor. No other solo sailor has endured such a long period below latitude 45° South. Fedor has demonstrated a continued determination to take on this challenge head-on, regardless of what the weather has thrown at him. We do expect future competitors to break this inaugural record around the Antarctica Cup Racetrack, for Fedor has provided us with invaluable data about the weather, currents and icebergs. We now hope that the example he is setting will inspire others to bring their monohulls and multihulls to conquer what is without question the most challenging yacht Racetrack on the planet."
- Dateline: 00:19:00 UTC 15th April 2008
- Position: 48°17.34'S 50°36.24'E
- Course: 74° Speed: 7.6 knots. Distance sailed: 12,824nm
Video: Another sailors trip around Antarctica.
Submitted By YachtPals on 15 Apr
Antarctica Cup, Antarctica, Fedor Konyukhov, circumanavigation, sailboats, sailboat, boats, boat, sailing, antarctic
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Fedor reporting from sea
We are sailing in a very powerful weather pattern that pushes us to E-S-E. The sea is getting very rough.
The wind force is not a problem but if I sail too close to the northern side of Kerguelen Island I may experience very high seas on the shoaling. If I dive to 50S I get gale force head winds south east of Kerguelen. There are not many options. The plan for the next 24 hours is to sail as close to the wind as possible but with wind waves the boat gets plenty of kicks from the sea with rolling seas crashing on deck.
During the night I had a bit of a technical problem. The cover on the spectra furling line chafed and jammed in the block on the bow. I didn’t notice it until in the night the wind increased to 50 knots and I tried to furl the staysail but it was jammed. This 70M2 staysail at 50 knots and low temperature feels like piece of stiff plywood. Working on the bow with zero visibility with the boat constantly crashing into waves was a dangerous matter and I decided to leave the staysail open until morning. Later today I had to pull 30 meters of furling line from the drum and change ends leaving the damaged part in the cockpit. While working the staysail was open with no furling line on the drum with the wind steady at 40+ knots. Working on the bow was like riding a wild mustang. The simple job of swapping ends of the line on the furling drum in these conditions and low temperature took 3 hours. Now the technical side is under control.
The weather is not on our side. I hope Lee will push the right buttons and we will get a better forecast!
Regards, Fedor
Fedor at Sea, Clearing Kerguelen Island.
After a period of light and variable winds shifting from N to E to S and absolutely chaotic seas we are sailing in a powerful weather pattern with winds from the SSW. It’s extremely cold and I can’t breathe freely on deck. Frozen air is burning my lungs and I need to wear a handmade scarf to protect my face. Heavy snow makes it very hard to work in the cockpit. Although it’s late in April it feels like mid winter. Either I’m getting tired or indeed winter is here. Waves are monstrously big which is typical for SW storms. A few days ago I had 48 hours of NW gale force winds but the sea was 5-6 meters, but after 12 hours of SW winds the seas have built up to 8-9 meters and keep rising. With NW waves the boat is sailing and surfing but with SW waves the boat is climbing up long hills. After spending nearly 3 months in the Southern Ocean below 45 South I still can’t get used to the power and size of the SW swell. I compare it like this: in a NW gale you experience ‘Alps’ waves, in SW gales you experience ‘Himalaya’ waves and the difference is big.
Thanks to Lee Bruce’s weather routing tactics we are on the right side of the low pressure system and are now sailing away from Kerguelen with 45+ knots of wind at 130-140 degrees to the starboard side of the boat. My task is to get to 46’30 South to avoid the worse of the shoaling. Kerguelen has a very wide and shallow plato with some areas only 120 meters deep. That’s very shallow for Southern Ocean conditions, for example right now I have 2,500 meters under my keel and 8 meter waves. Imagine when these masses of water over two kilometers deep meet a shoaling only 200 meters deep – it will bring very steep waves with near vertical walls. It’s like riding a rollercoaster and the boat may end up broaching severely with damaging consequences. In those conditions there is nothing you can do so we must do our best to stay north and sail above the shoaling. Overall things are good on board. The Southern Ocean keeps testing my yacht and gives me some hard times as well but this is all part of the game and I don’t feel that it does it intentionally. Kerguelen Island was here a million years ago as well as gale force winds. I have to adapt to every weather patters and live with that. It’s all in the power of Nature. I came here to witness this unique environment and learn something for myself. The Southern Ocean is vast but every journey has its end and I can feel that we are on the final stretch.
Regards Fedor
Kerguelen Islands is also known as 'Desolation Island' so named due to the lack of trees on the barren landscape.
Almost at the finish in Albany
It’s getting warm out here. I really can feel it now. The air smells different. It’s still raining, but it’s a comfortable rain - not those freezing bullets we had for the last 3 months.
This morning I crossed latitude 40 south and exited the ‘Roaring Forties’. It’s a very emotional feeling; a combination of joy and sadness. Will I ever sail these waters again? I have spent more than half a year sailing my boat from UK to Australia and the Antarctica Cup Race Track. I have so much got used to this routine and frankly speaking I am scared to change it! It is all so predictable here in the ocean, my boat has become an essential part of life and soon I will have to put her on anchor. This is hard to believe. All my thoughts now are how I will approach Albany? What time? Who will meet me? What the weather will be there? All my thoughts are about the finish.
Regards, Fedor
Fedor at sea, 150 miles to go
I went on deck as the sun was setting – and just in time spotted a giant sperm whale on a collision heading with my yacht. It was steaming towards the southern ocean without paying any attention to my vessel - like a 20m long piece of driftwood, with a powerful fountain!
I just managed to bear away as it passed 5-6 meters from the bow. If I had not taken rapid action I would certainly have hit it. It reminded me never to say one is in safe waters until the boat is alongside the jetty. Even within 150 miles of the finish anything can happen.
Right now I'm in a tricky situation. I have all sails set with nightfall approaching together with some menacing black clouds I’m fighting the temptation to reduce sail to be on the safe side in case of a sudden squall, but at the same time I don’t want to slow down the boat. It would be crazy to damage the rig or a sail so close to the finish, yet I need to reach Albany by Wednesday – before the winds fail. This is going to be stressful and sleepless night. The ocean is smooth and it is very, very, calm - well much calmer than the weather I had to endure three days ago.
Regards, Fedor
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