The adventurer Fedor Konyukhov stopped yesterday at Puerto Williams, where he was received by the Chilean Navy. In this article, find out the details of his expedition and his approach to faith.

By Ignacio Palma
Governation of the Chilean Antarctic Province

Note: This article was published on Governation’s Facebook fanpage on Sunday May 12th, one day after the jorunalist met Fedor, on Saturday May 11th.

You can see more images and the read the Spanish version on this link: https://bit.ly/2Q2Fq1x

More than 150 days have passed since Fedor Konyukhov left New Zealand. That December 6, 2018, began to cross alone the Southern Ocean in a rowing boat to reach the waters of Cape Horn. And on this Saturday afternoon, on a calm Beagle Channel and under a shining sun, it is close to touching land again, while sailing in the direction of Puerto Williams, a city located on Navarino Island, Chile.

With the flaming flag of his country, Russia, Konyukhov emerges from the deck of his boat, raises his right hand and smiles greeting those of us who see him from the Naval Dock Guardian Brito. But this time he is not rowing or surfing waves, because the goal is already fulfilled.

His orange boat, called «Akros», has been towed by the yacht «Australis», a boat that went to meet Fedor after setting sail on May 7 from Ushuaia, Argentina.

The circumnavigation to the cape located on the island of Hornos could not be completed due to bad weather conditions.

However, on May 9, Konyukhov rowed through the Drake Sea to the waters near the Diego Ramírez Islands, located about 100 kilometers southwest of Cape Horn. There, because he was in the same length of the always coveted austral point (specifically, in 68.68 West), he decided to finish his feat.

With headwinds that exceeded 80 kilometers per hour, the crew of the «Australis» made a difficult four-hour maneuver to tow the «Akros» with Fedor almost freezing from the cold, because he always stayed in his boat until the end.

After 9:00 pm, when the five-meter waves and the sky complemented each other in the stormy darkness, the team was able to approach with an inflatable boat with an outboard motor, in which they managed to move Fedor to the yacht. Finally, at about 10:47 pm of that historic night, Konyukhov excitedly fulfilled his mission to embark on the «Australis», where he embraced with all his team. It was not for less: He had completed this extraordinary rowing in 154 days, 13 hours, 37 minutes and 0 seconds.

From the same Diego Ramírez area, the yacht was escorted by the coastal patrol vessel of the Chilean Navy, «Isaza», and Fedor completed his adventure of 11,525 kilometers (6,400 nautical miles) on a solo rowing. He began the return to land through the Chilean interior seas, with a stopover in Puerto Toro before arriving at Puerto Williams.

«Chile is a beautiful country»

«I can smell the ground, the grass, the trees, because in the ocean there is no smell!», exclaims with joy this man already in Puerto Williams. His face, which does not seem so tanned by the saline waters, hides between his long beard and hair. In both of them there are some gray hairs that reflect half a century of multiple expeditions within his 67 years of life.

His celestial eyes like the glacial seas seem to still retain the days and nights in silence in the middle of the ocean. Also the sun, the moon, the rain and the wind that followed him from all directions; the waves waving against his boat until he entered on his cubicle; the distant and infinite horizon, sometimes flat, sometimes too undulating for the human mind. And the whales, dolphins and albatrosses that on many occasions contemplated with emotion and in solitude.

But he does not forget the storms either. He only had 50 days with relatively good weather conditions and 100 with storms that included waves of up to 10 meters and gusts of wind of 100 kilometers per hour. The boat capsized four times – where it lost part of its solar panels, vital for a water desalination machine. He lived moments of cold and wet. But he still maintained his perseverance and achieved the goal.

Today, on his landing in Puerto Williams, Fedor communicates mainly in Russian, a language that I do not speak, but the kindness, happiness and complacency in the tone of his voice can be distinguished by anyone in this world. He smiles humble after every explanation he gives, and his son, Oscar, captain of the «Australis», translates into English.

«Chile is a beautiful country, with very friendly people, with great hospitality and beautiful nature. I have many friends here. Now, even more,» says this slender man in front of the Chilean and Russian cameras, after being received by the commander of the Beagle Naval District and Puerto Williams maritime governor, Captain César Miranda.

His opinion is solved. In the past, he had been on three occasions in the capital of the Chilean Antarctic Province, and circumnavigated by yacht five times Cape Horn. In addition, between 2013 and 2014 he did a solo rowing through the South Pacific, between Concón, Chile, and Brisbane, Australia. And in 2016, he broke the world record for flying around the world in a hot air balloon, performing it in just 11 days. On that trip, which he did alone and nonstop, flew over Santiago and communicated via radio with the control tower, spotting, in the distance, Concón. «There are many connections,» he says smiling.

This is just to mention its links with Chile in its infinity of crossings around the world. Among them, he stands out as the first Russian to reach the «Seven Summits» – conquer the highest mountain in each continent, including Everest twice; explore the extremes of the South Pole, the North Pole – three times – and the Pole of Inaccessibility of the Arctic Ocean; cross the Atlantic Ocean 15 times -14 by yacht and one rowing-, and circumnavigate the world by yacht via Cape Horn on four occasions.

Fedor rows with faith

But I am wondering what leads this former Navy man to make more than 40 unique expeditions in history, with world records included? When he invites a colleague and I to his boat, I’m finding out little by little.

While drying his boat with a sponge, Fedor explains and his son translates instantly. «I do it to encourage people to travel and promote friendship between countries. For example, I have now arrived in Chile on a Russian boat and met the Chilean people. I have a support team from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and England. The boat was built in England, the trip began in New Zealand. It’s like a global corporation,» he explains.

«All countries are welcome. We are friends and we do fantastic projects together. This is how the human being should cooperate. I make these projects not only for Russia, but for all human beings, for all people, to inspire new generations,» he complements.

But just like the unknown sea abysses on which he paddled himself, there is something more profound in all his adventures. As much as he loves to go beyond human limits, he mentions a statement without hesitation. «Only with the help of God you can cross the Southern Ocean in this boat,» he says bluntly.

He is serious on his comment. Two crucifixes of Jesus emerge out of his boat. One is installed on the door that faces his cabin. When he rows, closer than any horizon, his eyes see that religious object. The other is at the opposite end, that is, behind him when he is sailing. Both have accompanied him throughout his journey, both in the calm and the storm of these southern seas. «The boat must be well prepared, you must have experience, but nothing would have been possible without God’s help,» he says.

Suddenly, he pulls out a book with prayers that he recited daily in the middle of the infinite Pacific Ocean. Today is not the exception to dedicate a time to his faith. He removes the sailor beret that has accompanied him in all his adventures since 1997, crosses himself twice and, with his calm voice, reads a prayer in Russian. Ends with an amen, universal word understandable in many languages.

His faith conviction has been as or stronger than all the expeditions he has done in his life. In 2010 he was ordained a priest by the Russian Orthodox Church, a position that has led him to perform liturgies in the St. Nicholas of Myra Chapel in Moscow. A few meters from the temple, he has his art studio where he creates paintings of Orthodox Christianity, as well as portraying his expeditions, landscapes and fauna. He has mounted several exhibitions in Russian museums and has also published 17 books with his stories.

Sometimes he has expressed his dream that there is a parish for adventurers, since he would like to serve those souls who are looking for something beyond in their extreme activities. He has not hesitated to declare that this beyond is God. In one of his sailings to Cape Horn, he donated a cross to the Stella Maris Chapel, located next to the Navy base on the homonymous island.

Dream big

The sun falls and Fedor continues ordering his boat of nine meters in length. Together with his team, he plans to dine at a restaurant in the southernmost city in the world. It will be the first time he does so after spending so much time eating in the undulating sea. Before saying goodbye, he kindly gives us a package of dehydrated food that he used so many times in his expedition. He fraternally says goodbye to us with a hug.

According to itinerary, Fedor should set sail from Puerto Williams on the morning of this Sunday. Continue to Ushuaia with his team in the «Australis», and will end the first stage of this journey. The second is already drawn: with the same rowing boat, and nothing less than from Puerto Williams, will sail again through the southern seas to the east, culminating in Port Leeuwin, Australia.

The third and final part will be the rowing he plans to do from the Australian town to Dunedin, the New Zealand city where everything began. In this way, if he completes the total of 27 thousand kilometers of crossing, he will become the first person to row around the world in the Southern Ocean. «We will definitely see each other in a couple of years,» he assures the inhabitants of Puerto Williams and then he smiles. But beyond the statistics, he has stated that his main objective is not to obtain that world record. «I just like to be on my boat rowing in the Southern Ocean,» he said in New Zealand, before starting his crossing.

And the adventures do not stop. While the boat is in repairs in England, this man born in Kiev, Ukraine (then belonging to the Soviet Union), and grown in St. Petersburg, Russia, plans to realize a new milestone in his career: from the Australian desert will fly in a aerostatic balloon to the stratosphere, that is to say, to 25 kilometers of height.

«Dream big,» says his son Oscar, and in this way, sums up much of his father’s soul.