Pacific Ocean Row: Fedor Konyukhov Returning To Chile

It has been a rough week for some of the adventurers we've been following lately. Yesterday we learned that the Dark Ice Project has been cancelled, only to find out later that Pacific rower Fedor Konyukhov is returning to land as well. You may recall, a few days back he launched his attempt row solo across the Pacific, departing from Valparaise, Chile with the intention of crossing the ocean all the way to Brisbane, Australia. But four days in, he has suffered a set back is on his way back to shore.

According to a post on his website, Fedor suffered a failure of his solar charging system on Tuesday, with both of his onboard batteries running out of juice. Those batteries power a number of systems on  his custom built rowboat, and without the solar panel to recharge them, he would never have a chance of crossing the Pacific. His GPS devices, satellite phone and other electronics all require the batteries to function properly.

After he called for assistance, his support team back on land chartered a boat to go out to tow him in. He should be back in Chile today, as he had only made it about 40 miles from shore when he ran into trouble. According to his website, he has been using a manual satellite phone to stay in contact and has several handheld GPS devices to call in his coordinates. His team was en route on Wednesday, but so far there haven't been any updates on their progress. They do say the situation is under control and that Fedor is not in any danger.

Once back on shore, the entire electrical system will need to be examined and repaired before the Russian can attempt to set out again. How long that take remains to be seen. Considering the voyage was suppose to take more than six months, it's just a good thing he wasn't further out from shore when the malfunction occurred. Hopefully he'll be back rowing soon.

Russian Adventurer Begins Solo Row Across The Pacific

At the beginning of November I posted a story about Fedor Konyukhov, a Russian adventurer who was planning a solo, unsupported, non-stop row across the Pacific Ocean. At the time, he was still in the planning stages of the journey but had hoped to set off sometime in December. This past weekend he hit the water at last and now faces 8000 nautical miles (14,816 km) of open sea as he travels under his own power from Valparaise, Chile to Brisbane, Australia.

According to this update from ExWeb, the Pacific crossing should take Fedor roughly 200 days to complete. During the first stage of journey he'll have to navigate through a maze of lightly mapped islands and atolls, while on his arrival in Australia he'll have to negotiate the Great Barrier Reef. In between, he'll have thousands of miles of open sea that he'll have to row entirely on his own in what is set to be the longest ocean row ever.

Konyukhov's boat has been equipped with the latest in ocean rowing technology. Solar cells will power all of the onboard electronics such as GPS and satellite communications equipment. Desalinization pumps will turn salt water into drinking water for him, while an autopilot system will help ensure that he stays on course throughout the journey. The boat arrived in Chile several weeks back, and it has undergone extensive testing on the ocean prior to Fedor's departure on Saturday morning. It passed those tests with flying colors, so hopefully it'll now be up to the task ahead.

You'll be able to follow along with Fedor's progress on his website, which does offer an English version. He also has a blog and Facebook page, both of which are in Russian. If you don't read that language, you'll need to use Google Translate or something similar to understand what is being said.

Good luck to Fedor on this epic journey. Hopefully the sea is kind to him over the next 6+ months.