If crossing the ocean by boat seems like a dubious and very risky undertaking to you, then you are probably a somewhat more reasonable person than the ten captains from our selection - they traveled around the world at sea and found themselves in the most life-threatening conditions.
1. Tahiti Nui I (1956)
In 1947, Thor Heyerdahl began studying the theory of human migration and decided to test it on himself: his most famous journey was the Kon-Tiki expedition, in which he sailed across the Pacific Ocean on a raft in the image and likeness of the ancient Polynesians, to prove that this is possible.
But the French navigator Eric de Bishop did not have a very high opinion of Thor Heyerdahl's ideas and did not agree that the Peruvians crossed the Pacific Ocean and settled in Polynesia. Instead, de Bishop believed in a large Polynesian civilization that existed thousands of years before Christ and stretched as far east as Chile.
So de Bishop built a boat out of bamboo, intending to cross the Pacific Ocean and prove his theory: to achieve his goal, he first sailed south of the 40th parallel, better known as the “Roaring Fortieth” due to the almost constant hurricanes that raged in the region. winds. Experts delicately described this route as “suicidal,” but to everyone’s surprise, the boat survived the brutal storms of the southern seas and performed well in harsh conditions.
Halfway to South America, de Bishop's crew noticed that their raft was literally falling apart due to an infestation of shellfish called teredos. On the 199th day of the voyage, the raft began to sink, and de Bishop finally used a walkie-talkie to save him - this happened 240 km off the coast of South America.
2. Seven Sisters (1954)
Unlike de Bishop, William Willis did not have any complex academic theories - he just wanted to test his 61-year-old body at sea. He planned to sail alone on a balsa wood raft from Peru to American Samoa, but met with disastrous misfortune almost at the start of the journey.
All the fresh water Willis took with him was contaminated, and he had to swim another 10,8 thousand km across the Pacific Ocean - Willis survived on rainwater, raw flour, condensed milk and small cups of sea water. During one particularly nasty storm, a large wave carried a 2.7-meter shark onto his Seven Sisters raft. Willis fought the shark and eventually threw it back into the ocean, but it severed an artery in his forearm, which the sailor somehow managed to stitch right on himself.
But nothing could compare (at least for Willis) with the fear of losing his cat companion: that is why, every time a stormy sea threw a cat overboard, the grizzled old sailor rushed after him and fought the Pacific Ocean to save his friend .
Miraculously, Willis, his cat and a raft the size of a living room reached American Samoa in excellent condition: they sailed 3,2 thousand km more than Thor Heyerdahl. For an encore, at the age of 70, Willis sailed on a raft from South America to Australia and this time managed to swim 17.7 thousand km.
3. Ra II (1970)
Kon-Tiki was not Thor Heyerdahl's only voyage: after crossing the Pacific to test his Peruvian theory of migration, the Norwegian set his sights on the Atlantic to test perhaps even more ancient maritime traditions.
It is believed that ancient Egyptian papyrus ships were only suitable for traveling along rivers, because such a fragile vessel would certainly have perished in a stormy sea. The tour proved that this criticism was fair by making the Ra I's maiden voyage from Africa to America - which ended with the boat taking on water and breaking apart.
But this did not stop Heyerdahl and his team: they built a second papyrus boat, this time with the participation of Bolivian shipbuilders who make similar boats for sailing on Lake Titicaca.
On Ra II, Heyerdahl successfully sailed from Morocco to Barbados (6,450 km) in 57 days: the journey is especially impressive considering that the ship lasted four times longer than scientists had expected.
4. Akali (1973)
“11 strangers who survived together on a raft” - you may have heard about this experiment by Santiago Genoves. He worked with Thor Heyerdahl's expeditions, and was struck by the idea that a small raft would be an ideal testing ground for studying human behavior - research subjects cannot hide their behavior on a piece of land with an area of \u200b\u200b12x7 m.
Genoves, more an anthropologist than a sailor, selected five male and six female volunteers from different cultures for a 101-day voyage from the Canary Islands to Mexico. Genoves compiled a questionnaire of 8,000 questions and answers based on the experiences of his study subjects.
Members of the Akali expedition survived incredible hardships - a suicide attempt, serious illness, hurricanes and shark attacks: it is not surprising that the young volunteers during this trip became bronzed from the tan and significantly improved their physical fitness. In addition, the volunteers relieved boredom during the trip through various sexual orgies, making agreements among themselves regarding their sexual activities.
5. Excalibur (1981)
Curtis and Kathleen Saville loved risks, so they decided to take a rowing boat across the Atlantic Ocean. The Savilles traveled to Morocco, but encountered a storm that forced them to sail through a war zone off the coast of the Spanish Sahara. But once the Savills reached the open ocean, Excalibur's small size allowed them to easily collect samples of small ocean life.
The Excalibur was only 7.6 m long, due to which sea water easily fell onto the deck, and this gave the couple the opportunity to see many luminous tiny creatures: the couple described many more specimens of this type than researchers of that time who remained on land could describe .
The Savilles arrived safely in Antigua after 83 days of almost constant paddling.
6. Phenicia (2007)
In 600 BC. e. Greek historian Herodotus wrote about a group of Phoenicians (Phenicia is a region in modern Syria and Lebanon) who sailed around Africa in three years. Since then, scientists have debated the possibility of such a trip, using as an argument the fact that travel around Africa was not undertaken until 1488. The source of doubt is simple: in order to move even a step, all Phoenician galleys needed wind, which constantly filled the sails throughout the journey.
In 2007, Philip Beale, an adventurer, historian and anthropologist, decided to confirm Herodotus's story: Beale used a similar Phoenician ship, built on the model of a wrecked Phoenician galley. The only modern addition on board was a tiny engine to avoid being towed out of the harbor, but otherwise Beale had a ship that sailed just like its ancient predecessor - poorly: without perfectly favorable winds, the ship simply drifted on the open ocean.
There were many problems: while trying to steer the ship, Beal broke nine rudders, and one day storms tore the ship's sail in two - the entire crew of 11 people jumped out of the ship, which was taking on water, in order to stay afloat. And since Beale had not equipped the ship with anything like a modern winch or pulley, the crew repaired the yard and re-set the sail by hand.
Two years later, with more than 27,000 km behind them, Beal and his crew managed to complete their trip, sailing through the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden and narrowly avoiding the modern equivalent of the scurvy that must have been the scourge of that ancient Phoenician voyage.
7. Cork Raft (2002)
John Pollack came up with an absurd idea: President Clinton's former speech writer decided to build a boat out of wine corks—165,321 individual wine corks to be exact.
It took two years of planning, testing and labor, but he finally secured thousands of plugs with an ingenious system. What is the result? The result was a longboat like an ancient Viking vessel, and although the boat looked quite nice, it was almost uncontrollable - this made the cork raft's journey through Portugal difficult and unforgettable. Interestingly, Portugal is the largest supplier of cork in the world.
Pollack and several volunteers spent more than two weeks paddling down the Dor River to the sea: with the help of a passing tugboat, the crew was able to negotiate the bends in the river, and the cork raft completed its journey almost intact.
8. Starkell Canoe (1980–1982)
Don Starkell claimed that he could row more miles than any other person, and we're inclined to believe him: in one trip, Starkell added 19,999 to the rest of his miles. Starkell and his two sons carried their 6.4-metre canoe out of their Winnipeg home in 1980.
They sailed through the Red River in Mississippi, through the Gulf of Mexico, the Orinoco, and finally the Rio Negro. The two Starkells paddled in an open canoe all the way to the mouth of the Amazon: one of Starkell's sons, Jeff, abandoned the canoe in Mexico after suffering too many life-threatening injuries - they encountered a huge number of obstacles along the way.
Wild animals like snakes and sharks were, of course, dangerous, but in the end they became the least of Don Starkell's worries - Nicaraguan rebels, drug couriers and Honduran robbers caused much more problems for the rowers. 13 countries, 45 breaches and at least 15 capsizes later, the Starkells arrived at the mouth of the mighty Amazon River.
But officials believed in the heartbreaking story of the Canadians with great difficulty: the Starkells were barely able to collect the necessary documents, withstood a number of interviews in Venezuela and letters from various embassies, but their voyage was included in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest canoe journey.
9. Lehi IV (1958)
In the 1950s, only the lazy did not construct anthropological theories about ocean travel on rafts: theories about the pre-Columbian colonization of America were a dime a dozen, as were eccentrics willing to undertake dubious maritime ventures in order to support various theories.
Dever Baker was one such eccentric: after reading the Book of Mormon (the sacred text of the Latter Day Saints, or Mormons) movement, Baker decided to prove that the Israelites sailed from the Red Sea to Central America and colonized the New World.
Without any archaeological evidence, Baker began building rafts to test his theories. Note the number "IV" after the word "Lehi" - Baker's first three boats were unsuccessful, but on the fourth attempt Baker finally created a wooden platform, which, however, was almost impossible to control.
Despite a host of problems with his ship, Baker set sail from Redondo Beach, Hawaii. The obvious question is, “What does this have to do with Israel and Central America?” Answer: none.
The pointlessness of this journey is beyond doubt, and it was incredible luck that the traveler had constantly favorable winds, he did not experience a single serious storm, and a small crew of students helped make this Hawaiian trip a reality. The other main source of assistance was a Coast Guard cutter, which helped complete the trip by towing the Lehi IV to shore.
Lehi IV did nothing at all to advance anthropological theories, but of course Baker gained fame when his wife wrote a book about the journey from the perspective of the dog that swam with him.
10. Tahiti Nui II–III (1958)
Eric de Bishop did not give up after the failure of Tahiti Nui I: no, he built a new boat from cypress, which he launched in Chile, intending to sail to Polynesia.
At first glance, things were going quite well for the team of five people: by June, after two months of travel, the Tahiti Nui II sank only 20 cm, but by the end of June the boat had already sunk a meter under water, and the crew was forced to take cover on the roof of the boat cabin. There was still another 650 km to sail before landing on the Marquesas Islands, when the team discovered that the boat was again covered with teredos mollusks, making countless holes in the wood.
The dissatisfaction of the crew members, some of whom managed to leave the expedition, the reduction in supplies and the fever did not do de Bishop any favors: by August the boat had traveled only 240 km and was barely staying afloat, but de Bishop recovered and he had a plan - “Tahiti Nui III".
He and the people who remained with him built a new, smaller raft, using relatively intact logs and barrels of water: for a week, the crew tried to build a new boat, while trying to make the old one able to somehow float. They succeeded: the deck of the Tahiti Nui III was only 1.5 x 1.8 m, but the pathetic little vessel could nevertheless float, and the crew desperately clung to it as it was thrown through the stormy sea waves - to shore, to safety.
The Tahiti Nui III washed up on the Cook Islands, but unfortunately de Bishop did not survive the boat's collision with the reefs. However, thanks to his amazing ingenuity, his team made it to land and eventually escaped.
“In the future there will be quite a lot of skippers in skirts and this will happen for sure, especially if men continue to repeat endlessly that the ocean is not a place for women.” (Joshua Slocum).
Sixty three!!! years ago, on January 27, 1953, Ann Davison reached the shores of Barbados on her yacht Felicity Ann. She became the first woman to sail across the Atlantic alone.
In 1875, Alfred Jensen crossed the Atlantic alone for the first time from Canada to England on a fishing sailboat. Thus began the countdown of achievements in solo sailing: the first circumnavigation of the world, the first rowing passage, overcoming Cape Horn, a non-stop race... In the time of Alfred Jensen, no one could have imagined that a woman would ever be able to go to sea alone. No one even believed that a woman could ever become a skipper. But only thirty to forty years passed, and women gradually began to become captains, pilots, tractor drivers, and officers. But the first women's solo voyage was still very far away.
Solo swimming is one of the most difficult hobbies, because you have to fight not only with the ocean, which in itself is only possible for a select few, but also with loneliness and its inevitable consequences - chronic fatigue and depression. For obvious reasons, women find it much more difficult to fight. It is all the more surprising that at the end of the twentieth century, dozens of women became interested in solo swimming. But only recently have sailors gotten used to the fact that a woman on board is, in general, usually not bad at all. And after all, such women in Russian still have to be defined with the awkward phrase “yachtswoman”, and in the English language, permeated with political correctness, it is completely empty: yachtswoman has not yet become familiar, and nothing else has been invented.
ALONE, WITHOUT A HUSBAND
Ann Davison was 38 years old when she decided to cross the Atlantic. But at first she didn’t even think about doing it alone. Anne Davison was a journalist and, together with her husband, also an amateur yachtsman, she hoped to take a romantic trip across the Atlantic and write a series of essays, and possibly a book. But in the English Channel, during a not very strong storm, they were unlucky. The yacht sank, Ann's husband died, and she herself was saved by a miracle.
On May 18, 1952, she left Plymouth alone. After the loss of a large yacht, she could not afford something like that and set off to conquer the ocean that had killed her husband on a small sloop, the Felicity Ann, seven meters long. She crossed the Bay of Biscay and, as much as she could, stayed close to the coast - first to the Portuguese, then to the Moroccan. But finally here is Gran Canaria, then all the way to Barbados there are only waves. She left Las Palmas on November 25; The decision to storm the ocean was not so reckless: for six months Anne tested herself, reflected and, after the hurricanes subsided, went out into the ocean.
She saw land only two months later; due to calm weather, the voyage was delayed. On January 27, 1953, she independently brought her yacht to one of the ports of Barbados. What followed was an equally difficult journey to New York, which took nine months with stops. But the main thing had already been done: the Atlantic was conquered by a woman for the first time.
TWICE THE ONE
Much has been written about Ann Davison in the newspaper. tah, she processed the diary entries and published a book. Until the end of the 50s, there were several more “female” attempts to cross the Atlantic alone. Inspired by example, women went out into the ocean, covered some distance, struggled, but lasted a maximum of a week - and turned back or called for help. There were no tragedies, probably because the sense of self-preservation in women is much more developed than in men.
The next woman to conquer the ocean was named Sharon Sites. But the idea of making a risky journey was brought to her not by the feat of Ann Davison, but by Francis Chichester’s book “Overcome Yourself.” Thirty-three-year-old Englishwoman Sharon Sites set out on the Sea Sharp yacht from a small town in California heading for Honolulu. Indirect evidence that the decision was not very thoughtful is the fact that Sharon Sites had only been familiar with sails for about a year before her start, and purchased her own yacht two days before the start.
The reason for such a hasty start was failures in his personal life, prolonged depression and a categorical refusal to communicate with family and friends. Sharon Sites did not take a radio transmitter with her on the trip, explaining that she did not want anyone to disturb her solitude. Of course, it was a gamble to travel 2 thousand miles across a treacherous ocean, especially in the summer, when strong winds and storms are inevitable along the route. And so it happened. After half a month of relatively calm sailing, Sea Sharp almost sank during a force 9 storm. The Sea Sharp was approximately the same size as the Felicity Ann yacht, but easier to control and maneuver. However, two days before the storm, Sharon Sites broke her right arm. She splinted herself, applied disinfectant ointment, and changed her wet bandages every day, but, of course, she couldn’t do anything with her right hand. It’s hard to imagine how she managed the sails with one hand, especially during storms. Butdespite everything, the 40-day voyage ended safely.
After returning, Sharon Sites got married and once again made a successful voyage across the Pacific Ocean, but this time from Yokohama to the shores of California. She did not take her husband with her, but this time she installed a radio station on board the Sea Sharp-2 yacht and no longer refused to communicate. Moreover, she now suffered from loneliness. The new voyage lasted 70 days. The route taken was twice as long as the first (about 4,500 nautical miles), Sharon Sites survived ten storms, but overall the journey was much easier than the first.
FIRST STAR
Another thirty years passed, and several more women conquered the Atlantic, including even female finalists in the transatlantic race. Some decided on completely desperate undertakings: in 1999, the Englishwoman Tory Marden crossed the Atlantic for the first time in a rowing boat, rowed almost 3 thousand miles, and then the Frenchwoman Peggy Boucher repeated her success. And in the Wendy Globe round-the-world race, two participants were announced at once - Catherine Chabu and Ellen MacArthur.
Ellen MacArthur is the most famous woman to sail solo on a yacht. She became famous in 1994 when she crossed the Atlantic from the coast of France to Guadeloupe in less than 14 days. Upon learning of this, the yachting world turned upside down. MacArthur's remarkable result showed that women may well be stronger than men. After her first major success, Ellen competed in two transatlantic races and finally achieved victory in 2000 on the 60-foot Kingfisher; now Wendy's Globe was in front.
How one can endure a race like the Wendy Globe is not fully understood by many male athletes. After all, there is practically no time to sleep, and to enter the top ten, you need to constantly monitor the wind and change the sails - five, ten, fifteen times a day. A modern single race is a test not only of the racer, the yacht and its contents, but also of coaches and personal consultants. As in any sport, yacht racing at this level requires long training, a carefully adjusted diet, the ability to psychologically unload the nervous system, meditate, calm down, fall asleep instantly and sleep no longer than 20-30 minutes.
At the Wendy Globe, Ellen MacArthur took second place and became the first star of solo swimming. And it is unlikely that in the near future any of the women will be able to improve her results and achieve the same fame.
***
“In the ringing silence of the mysterious rotten fog, I felt as lonely as an ant, carried by a rain stream into the middle of a pond and clutching at a straw. On such days, I was completely overcome, to the last bone, by a feeling of trembling and fear of the endless and bottomless ocean, but for some reason on such days I also remembered all the other fears that I had ever experienced or that I had even heard about. All the worst things arose and mixed strangely in my mind. It seemed to me that if I stopped trembling and being afraid, I would die. Visions appeared before me, laughing and crying voices retelling stories from my life and about what I knew from somewhere or had ever read about.”
Ann Davison, 1953
***
“I love independence, and that’s why I managed to overcome all the hardships that await me every day on the road. The most serious difficulties were psychological, not technical. The loneliness was very annoying.
I saved myself by talking to the sun, waves, yacht and stars.
Very often I resorted to a tape recorder, recorded my voice, and then listened to the recording."
Sharon Sites, 1969
“The time will soon come when I will return home. Today I tried to read a book to get rid of severe obsessive thoughts, but I couldn’t read, I was very tired, so I dropped the book to the bottom, and now I’m trying to dry it on the engine box...
Lately I've seen ships and even traces of planes in the sky, and yesterday a light plane flew past with photographers on board. It was great to see someone, they flapped their wings and flew over me again. They probably took great photos, at that moment I was sailing at a speed of 20 knots...
Last night the wind died down, and I swam for a while at full speed - the sea was calm, there were almost no waves, so I decided to take a chance...
I spent two hours searching for the mast, wandering the deck at night with a torch. How I want to get home...>
Ellen MacArthur, 2002
MOOLOOLABA /Australia/, May 31. /Special correspondent ITAR-TASS Pavel Vanichkin/. A Russian traveler has reached the coast of Australia. Thus, he managed to cross the Pacific Ocean alone on a rowing boat without visiting ports or outside help. The next project of the Russian traveler will be a hot air balloon flight around the Earth...
From the coast of Chile to Australia
Konyukhov started on December 22, 2013 from the port of Concon (Chile) at 09:15 am Chilean time, covered over 17 thousand km on a boat called "Turgoyak" and finished in the town of Mooloolaba (Queensland) at 13:13 Eastern time coast of Australia. "Turgoyak" has a length of 9 meters, a width of 1.8 meters, the weight of its body made of carbon fiber is 250 kg, and its weight when fully loaded is 850 kg.
As the International Society of Ocean Rowing reported from London, Konyukhov completed the journey in 160 days. According to the society, the previous best achievement of crossing the Pacific Ocean in a single rowing boat in the southern half was 273 days.
This result was shown by the 52-year-old English rower Jim Shekdar, who started on June 29, 2000 from the Peruvian port of Ilo. Jim also competed and finished on March 30, 2001 on North Stradbroke Island.
Initially, Konyukhov planned to cross the Pacific Ocean in 200 days and nights. It was reported that in order to cross the ocean, a traveler had to make 4 million strokes.
Flight around the Earth
“The ground is not very hard yet,” said Konyukhov, who stepped onto the shore. ITAR-TASS. His very first steps were indeed slightly hesitant, but literally after a few moments he was already able to walk without assistance.
After the triumphant finish, answering a question about plans for the future, Konyukhov said that he planned to make a non-stop flight around the Earth in a hot air balloon. He intends to start in Australia, fly from west to east approximately along the 40th latitude and finish again in Australia. However, the traveler categorically refused to say when this might happen. “I’ve been traveling for more than 40 years,” recalled Konyukhov. “Previously, I did it mainly for scientific purposes and out of sporting interests, but now I’m thinking about the younger generation, to whom I want to instill a spirit of romance. I want people to dream more.”
Answering a question from corr. ITAR-TASS, about the difficulties during the journey, Konyukhov said: “At first it was difficult, and then even more difficult.” “The main difficulty of this kind of test is its monotony,” the traveler continued the story. “Every day I tried to row for 18 hours, slept for 20-25 minutes, but no more than two and a half hours a day.” “On the other hand, I I walked with God's help - all the biggest hurricanes passed me by, the boat never capsized, favorable currents helped me.
Happy ending
I sent a greeting to Konyukhov, which was read by the Russian Ambassador to Australia Vladimir Morozov, who took part in the meeting of the Russian traveler in the city of Mooloolaba. About five hundred people gathered to meet the famous Russian traveler on the city beach - his friends, local residents, visiting tourists, and journalists.
“I am glad to congratulate you on the successful completion of the expedition “On a rowing boat across the Pacific Ocean,” says the president’s greeting. “This unique voyage was closely followed by your colleagues, scientists and experts, members of the Russian Geographical Society, and maritime enthusiasts from many countries. Thanks “With courage and perseverance, extraordinary human and professional qualities, you withstood difficult tests and conquered the water element.”
“Today we can say with confidence that the first solo trip in history on a rowing boat from the coast of Chile to Australia was successful. And you continued the wonderful traditions of the great Russian explorers and travelers who made a great contribution to the study of the World Ocean. I wish you all the best and the fulfillment of new plans," the president said in his greeting.
63-year-old priest of the Russian Orthodox Church Fyodor Konyukhov is the first person in the world who managed to reach the five poles of our planet: the North (three times), the South, the Pole of relative inaccessibility in the Arctic Ocean (the height pole) and Cape Horn (the yachtsman's pole). Konyukhov became the first Russian to complete the “Seven Summits of the World” program - to climb the highest peak of each continent. He managed to cross now two oceans on a rowing boat. In 2002, he single-handedly crossed the Atlantic Ocean on a URALAZ rowing boat, setting a world record of 3 thousand nautical miles in 46 days.
To vividly feel all the audacity of the human spirit, one must be on the open sea, when one thin plank separates us from blissful death.
On the morning of November 17, 1993, it became known that in the Bay of Biscay, approximately at the latitude of La Rochelle, a MAX-4 boat was found on the shore, but Evgeniy Smurgis, who had made an unprecedented circumnavigation of the world on it, was not on board. No matter how much everyone wanted to maintain hope for his salvation, every hour the belief in a miracle became more and more unrealistic. And so - on November 21, around the same place, on the beach near the resort town of La Tranblad, a body was found...
For more than twenty-five years he was a faithful friend of the editors, our regular author, and freelance correspondent. Now he has long been buried in his native land - in Lipetsk, next to his father’s grave. His famous boat became an exhibit at the Maritime Museum in the French town of La Tranblade, far from Lipetsk. In Lipetsk a street is named after him. Part of the diary preserved in the boat and comments to it, written by V. Galenko, were published in the magazine “Around the World” (see No. 8 and No. 9 for 1994). Nevertheless, the interest in this unique person is so great that readers still turn to us asking us to tell us about his last voyage, to try to answer the question, what happened in the Bay of Biscay?
More than two and a half years have passed since the tragic death of Smurgis. It just so happened that all this time we were not able to communicate with readers. Only now, with great delay, we can print the few materials at our disposal that give some idea about the nineteenth, last great voyage of Evgeniy Pavlovich.
We consider it our duty to thank the editors of the magazine “Around the World” for their assistance in preparing the publication, as well as our friend and like-minded person Evgeniy Pavlovich - coordinator of the oaring round the world, professional sailor, yacht captain Vasily Ivanovich Galenko.
Interview before the start
Before going to sea, Smurgis Sr. gave an interview to the correspondent of the newspaper "Soviet Murman" - the young journalist Angela Kovaleva.We publish the text of their conversation with some minor abbreviations.
A.K.: Isn’t it scary to go into the ocean on a simple wooden boat?
It's scary to get on such a boat for the first time. And when you have 42,000 difficult kilometers rowed behind you, it becomes your usual home, your fortress, you begin to feel part of it. When you know what to do in an extreme situation, anxiety and uncertainty dull and disappear. But in general, as long as a person values his life, he cannot get rid of the feeling of fear. It is inherent in everyone, they just need to learn how to manage it. And for this purpose the will and the mind are given. For this you also need self-confidence - faith in yourself, in your star. Without them, it is impossible to achieve success either on land or in the ocean.
A.K.: I can imagine: a huge ocean - and a small, small point - a boat. Perhaps, feeling like a speck in a vast and vast world, willy-nilly you believe in the existence of the Almighty?
Despite the fact that I grew up in a family of atheists and do not believe in God, sometimes situations arose when I called on God. I can remember two cases when there was nothing left to do but ask the Lord: “Help!”
A.K.: Being cut off from the big world for a year and a half must be very difficult? How did you cope with loneliness?
Traveling by boat is a 24-hour watch. After all, this includes rowing, writing in a diary, and cooking. There is a goal, an idea - and everything is subordinated only to it. And therefore there is no time to pay attention to loneliness. But when it does come, the weather deteriorates for a long time, something breaks, does not stick together, and there is nowhere to wait for help; indeed, you begin to feel somehow abandoned, cut off from the whole. You try to drive away this feeling, you say: “This is all temporary, everything will be fine soon.” You remember something good and the loneliness recedes. On earth, in everyday life, we are all so enslaved by communication, responsibilities, and inconsistencies that sometimes we even stop understanding ourselves. At sea it’s the other way around. There is time to calmly think about everything, to figure everything out. You become wiser.
A.K.: You are not going around the world alone - with your 22-year-old son. Aren't you afraid for him? But you’re not that young, are you?
We tested our strength - we walked 9,000 kilometers together. When we were sailing from Dikson to Murmansk, we were caught in a cyclone twice, out of 43 days it was stormy for 37. There was a very great danger of capsizing, and in northern waters this meant certain and quick death from hypothermia. Sasha survived. Now we're off to the races. Every 1.5-2 thousand kilometers we plan stops specifically for recuperation. In London, for example, we will stay for two or three weeks, at the same time we will be re-staffing and preparing the boat for the passage through Biscay. And we consider everything that happens before that simply as another test of strength - a test swim before the throw across the ocean, for which we will prepare in Spain.
A few words about the start and route
The start was given a little later than the scheduled date: Evgeniy Pavlovich’s father died, there were organizational difficulties, and finally, we were just waiting for the weather. In fact, only on June 4, Evgeniy Smurgis and his son Alexander left Murmansk for the Kola Bay. Now their home for a long 16 months (according to calculations) was an 8-meter wooden boat; incessant and dangerous work awaited them in the seas of three oceans.Two words about the start. The squally north-west with rain could not extinguish the joyful relief - the torment of organizing the exit in the “best traditions” of the times of stagnation was finally over. Now I was a witness, and to some extent a participant in an event that was important for all sailors and travelers - the beginning of the Atlantic stage of the first purely oar round-the-world voyage.
A sailor from the Deviator tugboat, dedicated to seeing off, calmly watched our actions, which meant saying goodbye to people on a small boat, and somehow casually asked: “Where are they going?” “Around the world,” I answered simply. And then the sailor assessed what was happening completely differently. And in particular - strange scenes at the pier with the arrival of an armed squad, with the removal of customs seals on the doors of the MAX-4 cockpits...
And I don’t want to remember about the official farewell a little earlier - on June 2, which, as the Soviet Murman newspaper wrote, “turned into a scandal.” But we have to. So that in the future there will be no such shameful relapses of the past with anyone.
Just before going to sea, you had to appear at the checkpoint and put a “departure” stamp on the documents of the only ocean-going rowing vessel of its kind. This word “ship” unexpectedly became a stumbling block. Three days ago, no one had any objections to the ship's documents - we were only waiting for the weather to improve. But it was during these three days that the maritime border guards discovered a secret instruction according to which “rowing boats do not belong to the class of ships.” This was not an innocent clarification of the term. From the fact that the MAX-4 was not recognized as a ship, it followed that the exit had to be re-registered...
We referred to the never-repeated “Code of Merchant Shipping”, which considers a ship to be “any self-propelled or non-self-propelled floating structure” used, including “for sport”, and presented a “Ship ID” with seals and signatures giving the right to hoist the State Flag. However, they could not convince the border guards. An emergency began with calls and faxes. I don’t know at what level, in the bowels of what system the issue was resolved, but two days later it was finally resolved. Two weeks later, Evgeniy called from the Norwegian port of Tromso. He said that everything was in order, and only casually mentioned that beyond the Rybachy Peninsula a strong storm had thrown the MAX-4 back to its native shores, and here they were... arrested as border violators. It took the border guards two whole days to re-solve the issue they had just resolved!
Having set out to sea again only on June 9, our sailors once again crossed the border, under the cover of the islands, despite the action of the Gulf Stream, they noticeably increased their speed and tried to enter into a greatly disrupted schedule, dreaming of the first big stop in London. Later, from their diary, I learned that they rounded the northernmost tip of Europe - Cape Nordkin (71°08" north latitude) (in the rain) late in the evening of June 15. On the approaches to Nordkin there were first meetings with people: When they heard that two people were sailing to London on a boat, everyone laughed...
Now I will answer questions related to choosing an unusual route for a trip around the world. All the highest achievements of rowers have so far been limited to crossing the Atlantic and Pacific oceans separately. To implement the idea of a round-the-world rowing trip, first put forward, if I’m not mistaken, by the Englishman Derek King in 1974, all that remained was to cross the Indian Ocean, located between the Pacific and Atlantic. But no one has ever tried to conquer it on a rowing boat. And it is no coincidence that this is a difficult nut to crack.
It seems to me that Smurgis found a way out by proposing an alternative option - a path to the Arctic Ocean that is much closer to Russians, completely covering the “longitude” of the Indian expanses and no less difficult. This is how the idea arose to start a circumnavigation from the Arctic section of the global route and, since it is impossible to travel the Northern Sea Route by boat in one short navigation, to overcome this section in parts.
The successful crossing of the greater western part of this Arctic route in three stages - from Tiksi to Murmansk - convinced both Evgeny Smurgis himself and all his like-minded people of the reality of the idea of circumnavigating the world as a whole.
The MAX-4 route did not include crossing the equator, which is traditionally mandatory for a “classical” sailing circumnavigation, but the sailing was also intended to be unconventional. The incredible difficulty of sailing in the Arctic zone deserves, in our opinion, more respect than the unnecessary throw to the south, beyond the equator.
The main milestones of the journey started were as follows: Tiksi, Dikson, Murmansk, Norway, Holland, London, Brest, San Sebastian, Lisbon, Cadiz, Canary Islands, Barbados, Panama Canal, San Francisco, Vancouver, Nome, Bering Strait, Pevek and finally Tiksi again.
So, a significant northern part of the journey had already been completed, the MAX-4 safely rounded Norway and crossed the North Sea (“We hang out all day, rising to 4-5-meter waves and rapidly falling from them”). A grueling, difficult voyage began along the shallow coasts of Denmark, Germany, and Holland - in the crush of waves, against strong winds. It was on these shallows that our sailors lost the most weight. I never had to sleep for more than two hours at a time. There was so much water in the boat that a 15-liter bucket was used four times in an hour; the average daily march for 19 days was only 23 km, whereas before Evgeniy had never had less than 70...
All hope now was for a holiday in London.
The road to Biscay
88 days after leaving - on August 30 - father and son Smurgis, after three days of continuous rowing, reached the shores of England. The boat arrived in London pretty battered - “the frames were loose, the putty had spilled out, and a leak had appeared.” The Atlantic also dealt harshly with the crew: the sea “hard labor” cost the eldest one 9 kg of weight and the youngest one 6 kg. Much of the food supply spoiled and had to be thrown away. With such a harsh transition and heavy workload, the long-term lack of vitamins was especially difficult to bear.The parking lot in London - V. Galenko spoke about it in more or less detail on the pages of Around the World - was mainly occupied by repairs, which the “team” coped with on their own. They received guests - sailors and yachtsmen, compatriots and foreigners. They received special attention from both Russian and local journalists. On Saturday, September 25, MAX-4, among 196 boats, took part in the traditional rowing regatta on the Thames. This was the first time in the history of the Great River Race that a boat from Russia participated. To compete in the fours category, the crew had to be supplemented with two more rowers - these were Peter King and Dominik Kaprech. We came somewhere in the fourth ten and finished at Cutty Sark. Our boat was warmly welcomed by those gathered (these footage was shown on Russian television).
However, there were still not enough funds to continue the heroic voyage. We saved on everything, even on food. (It’s not for nothing that when the voyage ended tragically, one of the newspaper publications was called “The cheapest trip around the world.”) To some extent, gifts helped out. This is how a good fishing suit appeared on the boat. Andrew Thorne brought an excellent membrane desalination pump (providing 4.5 liters of fresh water per hour). A small-sized Magellan satellite navigation system was also a gift, which later turned out to be either faulty or simply not very necessary...
After London, the next major port of call was San Sebastian, a Spanish port on the border with France. Then, after resting, we had to go around the Iberian Peninsula and in Cadiz make thorough preparations for entering the open ocean, to the Canary Islands. In the south of Europe, a mild autumn awaited the Smurgis. Theoretically, it seemed that a repaired boat, a fresh supply of provisions, acquired equipment, and most importantly, the rest and experience gained promised to make the upcoming part of the route relatively easy. But all this is only theoretical.
The most unpleasant thing was that the question suddenly arose about the psychological incompatibility of the MAX-4 crew members. Speaking on the BBC radio program, Evgeny Pavlovich expressed himself cautiously on this matter, mentioning that the problem of fathers and children exists always and everywhere, even on a boat, and that disputes over everyday trifles are inevitable. However, it was apparently not a matter of trifles. It is not for us to judge what happened when father and son were alone in a London hotel room. One thing is clear. In the end, Sasha (according to the ship's role - "navigator") left his father and returned from England to his homeland, Evgeny Pavlovich was left alone and this was an irreparable blow...
It is no coincidence that the following entries appeared in Evgeniy Pavlovich’s diary immediately after his release on the English Channel:
- “We went to England with great hopes, but left alone, with a huge loss of time, without rest, without slurping salt” (10/21/93);
- “The boat is leaking, there are 10 days worth of food, the compartments are depressurized” (10/22/93);
- “Everything is raw. I haven’t undressed for three days” (10/23/93)...
Alas, everything turned out differently. Formidable at any time of the year, Biscay became doubly formidable now that, due to the increasing delay, it was necessary to cross it at the most unfavorable time - the season of autumn storms had already begun, when it was necessary to row alone and without getting a good rest.
In this regard, the option of changing the route was considered. It was possible to calmly cross France by inland waterways (as the famous Gerard d’Aboville advised) and, once in the Mediterranean Sea, enter the Atlantic in the subtropical zone through Gibraltar, having rested and prepared for the rush to Spain. However, Smurgis would not be Smurgis if he agreed to retreat. He said, “I won’t wet the boat in fresh water.”
So, on September 29, the MAX-4, after a month's stay, left London and a few days later found itself standing in Dover - next to the Comrade, which was stuck here due to storms. Due to bad weather, it was possible to go to sea only on the third attempt and only on October 8.
A seemingly simple 125-mile passage to Southampton lay ahead, but the current and headwind were so strong that we had to take cover behind the coastal spit and drop anchor. And at dawn the next day, during a force 8 storm, the boat standing in shallow water was flooded and then overturned by fierce waves. As Smurgis said over the phone, he barely brought the MAX-4 back to normal condition, threw himself ashore with the boat, lit a fire and again began to wait for the weather to improve. The bottom of the boat was damaged. Now a call to Southampton has become necessary for repairs.
During a few days of parking at the Lydda Rowing Club, Evgeniy Pavlovich managed to somehow bring his ship to a more or less “normal condition”, however, even after this, as well as after a “thorough” repair in Southampton, the grooves began to leak constant.
Late in the evening of October 21, Smurgis entered the English Channel. The weather was still windy and cold. In order to stay on the desired course, fighting both the opposite current and the east wind, which threatened to carry the boat into the ocean, it was necessary to work most of the time with one right oar. It was exhausting and, most importantly, it reduced the speed. (A short entry for the future appeared in the diary: when staying in Spain, it is necessary to make a rudder and keel fin). There was no way to rest. An unexpected loneliness took its toll. Involuntarily the mood was gloomy.
Here is an entry made on the evening of 10/25: “Gloomy thoughts are wandering around in my head. According to the ideal plan, Vasily should already be roasting his belly in the Canary Islands, and he hasn’t even set foot on the coast of France... In the morning the spirit plays, and with the onset of darkness and cold the mood drops ".
However, Smurgis would not have been Smurgis if he had not ended this recording, far from Superman’s optimism, on a completely different note: “No, the greatest work of life must be done to the end!” And on the same day when this entry was made, three points appeared on the horizon - the Channel Islands, and then the indigenous coast - the desired coast of France. The next morning he landed and chose a white stone typical of the French coast to turn into an anchor.
As V. Galenko noted in his commentary, less than 6 days to overcome the English Channel in far from the easiest conditions is quite a decent time; daily crossings amounted to 50-60 km.
When rounding the Brittany Peninsula and on the approaches to Brest, there are no entries in the diary. Let us quote V. Galenko again: “This is a dangerous area for any slow-moving vessel: if maneuvered inappropriately, it can be carried out into the ocean or thrown onto the rocks in a couple of hours.”
At this “French” stage of the voyage, there was never any communication with Smurgis; he was forced to save on the phone. According to press reports, it is known that on October 30, the MAX-4 arrived in Brest, a major port and the main base of the French Navy. The captain of the MAX-4 posed for TV and newspapers, stocked up on food and immediately, the next day, went out into the Bay of Biscay (Gascony).
The further journey passed along the coasts, which have long enjoyed the darkest reputation as “ship eaters”. Navigating a course around rocks and reefs during large tidal fluctuations in water level, on complex currents changing direction, among steep waves and whirlpools is very difficult. Walking in poor visibility is not allowed. It is not always possible to approach the rocky shores; it was not always possible to choose a more or less quiet place to stop. Thus, the newspaper "Telegram" published an interesting photograph: "MAX-4" hanging on rocks exposed with low tide, although when the anchor dropped in the evening it was "a patch of clear water."
One way or another, Smurgis passed through the Bay of L'Irois without any special adventures and entered the Bay of Audierne through the Strait of Ra de Seine. Following along the coast, he reached its southern part and before rounding the far from hospitable Cape Penmark, surrounded by rocks , decided to spend the night near the small fishing port of Saint-Genol.
Here Alexander Larchikov, a young French teacher from the city of Vyborg, met him.
Last interview
I was brought together by chance with Evgeniy Smurgis. I was visiting friends in Brittany. On the morning of November 2, when I opened the local Telegram, I discovered an article about a Russian traveler rowing around the world and making a stop in Brest. Since the navigator spoke only Russian, the journalists were unable to interview him; they learned something thanks to the documents on board, and, in particular, a folding book - a prospectus with English text.The message about this extraordinary event aroused great interest among local residents - mainly fishermen who know a lot about maritime affairs. Therefore, when it became known that Smurgis had entered the port of Saint-Genol, my friend Olivier Melennec, an employee of West France (the largest newspaper in France), asked me to go there and help translate the conversation with the navigator from Russia. Naturally, I agreed. The interview was assigned to the newspaper's correspondent Bernard Diloquer. He picked me up at Treffiagat, where I lived, and we went to Saint-Genol.
When we arrived at the port, it began to get dark and there was light rain. Having wandered along the shore in search of Smurgis’s boat, we came across a group of local fishermen, animatedly talking about the topic that interested us. Various opinions were expressed. Some spoke of Smurgis as the Russian Gerard d'Aboville, who became a national hero of France. Others advised calling the police - you can’t allow a person to commit suicide, the port captain should prohibit him from going to sea! Someone talked about what he saw before his eyes They sent a rower who had sailed on the same boat from England to a mental hospital.
They helped find the MAX-4. Indeed, compared to the background of the trawlers, the boat looked rather frivolous. It seemed incredible that it could travel from Dixon to Brittany. The boat was anchored about thirty meters from the shore. I shouted several times in Russian: “Is there anyone on board?” Smurgis was obviously resting, so he got out from under the awning and did not answer immediately. He answered with a question:
What is the fate of the Russian in these parts?
“We need to talk,” I said, “if you don’t mind.”
Where can you dock here? My keel is damaged, and there are stones all around...
I translated the question to the local sailors, they immediately pointed to a small beach about a hundred meters from the MAX-4 parking lot. Evgeniy Smurgis sat down at the oars, quickly rowed to the shore, got out of the boat, and introduced himself. He was dressed in high waders, rubberized trousers and a jacket, and threw another pair of the same trousers over his shoulders. He is short, thin, and has a coffee-colored face with a tan. He seemed very tired to me, one might say exhausted.
So what are the fates here? - was his first question.
“Visiting friends,” I answered, “and now I’ll try to interview you for a French newspaper.”
There won't be a long conversation. The tide begins to ebb, and the boat risks being left on the sand. I have to sail early in the morning, I'm in a hurry and can't waste another day. When will you be in Leningrad? In two weeks? Go to the editorial office of the magazine "Boats and Yachts", hand over the photographs, if, of course, they work out - it's dark, it's raining. Say the boat capsized in Dover. The keel is damaged and there is a leak.
So how will you swim?
The leak is small, about a bucket of water in about eight hours. Scooping it out. What bothers me the most is the dampness; I just can’t get wet anymore. After all, there is no dryer. I cook on a gas stove, but you can’t dry your clothes on it.
The fishermen said that there is a workshop nearby in the port where they can raise the boat for repairs.
I will be repairing it in Spain. I'm already behind schedule...
They write that you also took part in some kind of race?
Yes, I thought that participation in the race on the Thames would help solve financial problems, but, alas, my hopes were not justified.
Listening to the little that I translated into French for Bernard, the fishermen standing nearby always tried to intervene - they gave advice and were offended that I did not translate them. Evgeniy Pavlovich’s words that he had been rowing for twenty-seven years, was mentioned twice in the Guinness Book, and that he had to sail in a storm in the polar Barents Sea aroused admiration and an even greater desire to help the sailor from Russia.
The Gascony Bay is very dangerous in the fall, it’s better to get repairs here right away, they insistently repeated.
I know, but my boat is made of wood and plastic. Before repairing a crack, the body needs to dry for a long time, and I can no longer wait for the wood to dry. I'll get to Spain and repair it there.
God bless you,” answered the fishermen.
We really didn’t have time to really talk: the water was receding, Evgeny Pavlovich began to say goodbye. He returned to his previous parking spot, and Bernard and I went to the office to write the text of the interview. (There is nothing interesting in the text itself for KiYa readers; it is intended for French readers.)
Our meeting lasted no more than 15 minutes, but I will remember it for a long time. For the first time in my life I met such a strong person. Strong in spirit and body. A real man. At the age of 54, going to sea on oars and finding yourself so far from your homeland, walking from Murmansk to Saint-Genole - this cannot but cause admiration!
Two weeks later, when I was already at home, Olivier Melennec called me and told me the tragic news: “MAX-4” was found empty!
Record cut off mid-sentence
One thing is certain - Alexander Larchikov was the last person to speak with Evgeniy Pavlovich in his native language.We can judge what happened then, after the interview, about how Smurgis felt during the last kilometers of this 48,000-kilometer rowing marathon, which began many, many years ago, only from brief entries in a diary preserved in a boat found on the beach of La -Tramblada...
During a two-day stay in Croix-de-Vie (November 9-10), he summed up the results of ten days. We walked in a straight line from Brest along the coast - 300 km, in fact - no less than 400! There are about 500 km left to San Sebastian. If you count in nautical miles, this is quite a bit. Only 270 miles. But in this incredible circumnavigation, at least 6,100 miles from Tiksi (to the west) have already been traveled - 220 times more! However, there is no more strength. Apparently, we will have to arrange a holiday in Royan, at the mouth of the Gironde.
November 12. La Rochelle. This is the last time he goes ashore in his life. Evgeny Pavlovich is in a hurry. I arrived at the yacht harbor at 14.00; a quick excursion to the city, bought some small things at the nearest marina (I was convinced that the “French gas” did not fit the existing cylinder and tiles), and at dusk I went out to sea again.
In the evening he wrote: “I worked for two hours and dropped the anchor. The accumulated fatigue somehow fell on my soul and body at once. It’s been the sixth month without a single day off, without rest. I wish I could get some warmth and have a full rest for at least a week, to restore my strength and spirit a little.”
The next day the entry is even gloomier: ''There is no one to blame: he himself deliberately set out on an unprepared expedition.'' However, even now there is not even a thought about even a temporary cessation of voyage - about a "winter vacation", the possibility of which was not rejected in principle, although there was a possibility I mean that they will be needed later, already in America. Three lines later the mood is better: “There is money - there is no money, it’s cold, hungry - it’s hard, but the cause for which we came out is moving forward, although not as quickly as we would like. And with great losses." This refers, of course, to the separation from my son, which seriously disrupted the movement schedule and affected my well-being.
Evgeniy Pavlovich spent the night from November 13 to 14 “clung” to a fishing buoy near the three-story wall of Fort Bayard (now well known from French television broadcasts), “in restlessness - the boat was jumping on the breakers,” shaking “like on a vibration table.”
And the next “working day” went well - the boat was carried by three forces at once: a fair wind, a current and a rower. Finally, it was possible to “exceed the norm”! By 16.00 Smurgis was at the southern tip of the island of Oleron.
"Walked up to the mark and dropped the anchor. Settling until the next tide."
This last entry ends literally mid-sentence. I ate, sat down to write my diary, heard the noise of a helicopter, and then the red helicopter descended and hovered, so as not to disturb, at a respectable distance (“not like ours”)...
Later, Galenko talked with these same helicopter pilots. They said that this was their usual flight around the coast before an approaching storm. There were no other ships in the strait. They flew up to Smurgis's boat, which they had seen standing at the fort the day before. They used a megaphone to warn about the upcoming increase in wind and pointed to the nearest shelter. From the boat he showed that “everything is okay.”
Let’s not speculate about what happened on that stormy night of November 15, while we were parked in shallow water exposed to winds and waves. Why did Evgeny Pavlovich end up in the water without a life jacket, but in heavy boots? Why wasn't the safety belt fastened? Why did he get out of the cabin? What threw him overboard? There are many questions. And we will never get an answer. A wonderful person who was not accustomed to deviating from his chosen path died...
It was hard to call the start of the final stage of the first Russian circumnavigation of the world on a rowing boat from Murmansk a spectacle. The tugboat "Deviator" with a few mourners rushed after the boat "MAX-4", simulating an exit to the route. This was clear to everyone, since in order to “real” go to sea, Evgeniy Smurgis and his son Alexander had to appear at the border checkpoint to put “departure” stamps in their passports. In the meantime, the sailors demonstrated especially for press photographers the capabilities and advantages of a one-of-a-kind vessel. We didn't care about the outside of the wires: there was no orchestra or even public address announcements. There was no holy father with a sprinkling cup. I confess, in the bustle and excitement, I completely forgot about this worthy adornment of every Beginning. And, to be honest, solemnity, and even more so humility, seemed inappropriate to us among all the troubles, resistance and problems that came from nowhere. We struggled with instructions unknown to us, “available from the border guards,” and therefore we had to prove that our rowing vessel, colloquially called a boat, was still a vessel; Evgeniy Smurgis and his son received permission to leave Russia with a delay of three days...
This trip around the world began several years ago in the distant Arctic port of Tiksi. It took Evgeniy Smurgis more than one expedition season to navigate the northern seas to Murmansk. Patronizing this incredibly difficult voyage, helping, as far as possible, in implementing the idea of circumnavigation, the magazine “Around the World” regularly reported on its pages about the stages of ice voyage. Overcoming first! on a rowing boat across three seas in the Arctic Ocean, Evgeniy Smurgis found, as it seems to us, a way out of the impasse in which all potential contenders for the coveted revolution around the earth on oars remain to this day.
The idea of a rowing marathon around the world is probably twenty years old. But the fact is that even the conquerors of two oceans - the Atlantic and the Pacific (we'll talk about this later) did not dare to overcome the third - Indian, with its dangerous climatic (and not only climatic) situation. And no one has yet announced a desire to conquer this last unconquered ocean. However, if you look carefully at our globe, it is not difficult to notice that the meridians of the Indian Ocean can be easily crossed in the Arctic Ocean along a shorter route. True, here too one should count on many years of sailing, since the period of open water does not exceed a month or two. This was no secret to anyone, but there was also the problem of the border regime of the coastal waters of Russia, which were completely closed to lovers of all kinds of sea travel. But we are not guests in our own country, and after the next “run” along the route, we do not need to “punch through” visas for the participants in the voyage and troublesome permits for the boat itself. Evgeniy Smurgis, “at home,” alone and together with his son, conquered those very “inaccessible” meridians of the Indian Ocean. It seems to me, as one of the initiators of this expedition, that a precedent has been created, the significance of which will be understood for a long time by those who, to one degree or another, are involved in the problems of circumnavigation. The successful start of the circumnavigation convinced Smurgis and all of us involved in organizing the hitherto unprecedented journey of its reality. Now on the way of his boat “MAX-4” are the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, conquered in different ways and at different times by rowing boats.
It was started by Americans, immigrants from Norway, George Garbo and Frank Samuelson. In 55 days back in 1896, they sailed on a rowboat from New York to the Cornwall Peninsula in England, and from there to Le Havre. This record has still not been broken, and their boat, exhibited at the World Exhibition in Paris, has haunted thrill-seekers for many years. Only in 1966, as if rediscovering the Atlantic for rowers, two original Englishmen set off from the shores of America on a fishing dory - captain of the parachute regiment John Ridgway and his colleague Sergeant Chay Blythe. It took them 92 days to travel in the Gulf Stream from Boston to the coast of Ireland.
The first solo rowing was made by Englishman Tom McClean in 1969 in a six-meter dory. From the shores of Newfoundland (Canada) to Ireland, he sailed for 70 days, and his voyage was listed in the Guinness Book of Records. In the same year, the Englishman John Fairfax sailed across the Atlantic in a specially built ten-meter boat, Britannia I. He sailed along the route of Columbus from the Canary Islands and six months later, by oars, he reached Florida. Two years later, the tireless John set off to conquer the Pacific Ocean with his girlfriend Sylvia Cook. It was the first voyage across the Pacific Ocean by oars. The first woman in the rowing marathon did not let the ambitious Fairfax down; her only reward was her son Martin, whom she had dreamed of since she began to help Fairfax. And the hero himself - the first conqueror of two oceans on oars - remained in his beloved Florida, and perhaps away from Sylvia. A year at sea alone changes something in people.
The first solo voyage across the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco to Australia in 1980-1981 was made by Englishman Peter Bird. On a ten-month voyage, he not only read his favorite novel “War and Peace,” but also rowed, which puts his achievement among the outstanding ones, if not for Gerard d’Aboville. By that time, he had crossed the Atlantic and at first swore off going to sea on a rowing boat But later, on the Sector boat, built in Switzerland for 500 thousand dollars, Gerard d'Aboville alone rowed the Pacific Ocean from Japan to the shores of Oregon (USA). This was in 1991. This great athlete is the first person to single-handedly conquer two oceans in rowing boats...
Of the many famous navigators, we have mentioned only those who were the first in something. This passion in people was best expressed by the famous yachtsman Robin Knox-Johnston: “There are so few interesting things to do and so many people in this world that it is not at all bad to have the right to declare publicly that you are the first person to accomplish something...”
There is no end to the risky, exhausting journeys, terrible in their loneliness, in which only hard labor can preserve sanity. And it probably never will be. As we see, the British are the most willing to follow this “path.” And they spare no expense on such trips. The reader, perhaps accustomed to the fact that such expeditions are carried out in our country with the blessing of the “tops,” which was true until very recently, will be incredibly surprised if I say: we have never found real philanthropists or trustees. The money collected from well-wishers (in Lipetsk, mainly the hometown of the Smurgis) was barely enough to repair and properly equip the boat for ocean voyages. Our emphasis on the fact that this voyage is a NATIONAL PROPERTY OF RUSSIA did not cause any reaction from those who could allocate to us the 30 thousand dollars indicated in the estimate. Even in the highest echelons of power we encountered misunderstanding. And yet we did not give up...
But let's return to berth 12 of the Murmansk seaport. On the day when the simulated exit took place, the weather was good. And although the hills on both sides of the bay sparkled with the whiteness of recently fallen snow, all sorts of boats were comfortably scurrying about in the roadstead, solid cargo ships were anchored - everything spoke of a well-chosen moment for the start. But, having been delayed for three days, we missed the weather. The wind from the mouth of the bay blew up the wave, all sorts of small things were desperately dangling at the ends... And yet the launch took place on June 4, 1992 at noon.
Evgeny Smurgis and his son Alexander two Russians from provincial Lipetsk went sailing for sixteen long months. Now their home is an eight-meter wooden boat, and their life is constant work in the salty and uncomfortable sea. A gale from the north-west with light rain did not extinguish the joy raging in my heart: perhaps I was witnessing an important event. Besides me, the MAX-4 boat was accompanied by two philatelists from a local club. The sailor from the tug who watched our farewell asked:
Where are they going?
“Around the world,” I answered, and the sailor seemed to believe it. He apparently appreciated the long fuss at the pier, when a heavily armed squad arrived, the removal of customs seals on the cabin doors, and my attempts to find a higher place from where the boat disappearing in the rain veil could be seen...
Our sailors will have to navigate the rough waters of the Barents, Norwegian and North Seas before arriving in London after visiting several ports in Norway. Here, father and son Smurgis will not only be honored in the edition of the Guinness Book of Records. They will have to equip the boat with everything necessary for sailing in the tropics. You will have to purchase proven English seawater desalinators. Instead of the archaic sextant and many tables, our sailors will master the portable satellite coordinate locator "Magellan" - a complex and multifunctional device the size of a police radio transmitter.
The further route of the MAX-4 boat will pass along the coasts of France, Spain and Portugal to Cadiz, from where Columbus set off on an unknown voyage five centuries ago. By autumn, according to our assumptions, sailors will reach the Canary Islands, from where the journey across the Atlantic Ocean will begin. The rowers should celebrate the New Year 1994 on the island of Barbados, and then go to the Panama Canal along the coasts of Venezuela and Colombia. After entering the Pacific Ocean, the boat will fall into the currents of the California Current. But the question is: will the sailors have time to reach the Bering Strait by the beginning of August? August and the first half of September are the most favorable times for sailing in the Chukchi and East Siberian seas. The finish is scheduled for the end of September in the village of Tiksi... When sailing along the American coast, known for its strong currents, especially after stopping and resting in San Francisco, the Smurgis will determine how well they fit into the schedule. In the worst case, there will be an unplanned wintering.
Two weeks after leaving Murmansk, Evgeniy Smurgis called me from the Norwegian port of Tromso. He said that everything was in order, and casually mentioned that beyond the Rybachy Peninsula, an oncoming storm had thrown the boat back to its native shores. Border guards arrested the “violators” of the border, and it took two days to identify them as the very same eccentrics who were seeking access to the sea in Murmansk.
Vasily Galenko, circumnavigation coordinator
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