On December 29, the Siberian trimaran «Russian Ocean Way» approached the coast of Brazil. The transatlantic throw from the Cape Verde Islands to the Brazilian port of Fortaleza took 17 days. During the ocean passage, sailors travelled for more than a week with a broken mast, that could fall at any moment. Now the circumnavigators will sum up the results of the semi-annual voyage and overhaul the trimaran.
Evgeny Kovalevski and Stanislav Berezkin have been sailing the sea and telling foreigners about Russia and Siberia for half a year already. The expedition has started six month ago. During this time, the members of the expedition have experienced really difficult trials. The last and most serious trial was the cyclone in the Atlantic Ocean. In the middle of the transatlantic passage, it caused an emergency breakdown of the trimaran.
“During a strong storm, the front leg of the pyramid, to which the mast and front staysail are attached, collapsed. The mast could fall at any moment. The fixtures on the rear beam, which hold the trimaran’s central balloon, burst”, — reported Evgeny Kovalevsky to the Coastal Expedition Center in the night of December 20-21.
The Brazilian side sent a bulk-carrier to help the crew of the trimaran and offered them to evacuate. The circumnavigators, having assessed the situation and built a prop for the mast, decided to continue the navigation under emergency sail. With the active assistance of the Russian Embassy in Brazil, the country’s naval forces provided 70 liters of petrol. It let the crew travel for 100 miles unhindered in unfavourable weather conditions. The trimaran safely reached its destination on December, 29.
“The route we took to cross the Atlantic Ocean is one of the shortest, but surely not one of the easiest. It is not easy at all to go through the Horse Latitudes. I am so proud that I was the captain on a ship that crossed the Atlantic by exactly this route,” — said Stanislav Berezkin.
Roman Garazhiev, a member of the Russian Geographical Society, an instructor in sports tourism, was among those (with Kovalevsky and Berezkin) who crossed the Atlantic Ocean on trimaran.
“Roman fit into the team really good. His talent and abilities made it possible to solve all the emerged problems, having no experience in serious expeditions and sailing,” experienced circumnavigators said.
“From the very beginning, It was clear for me that it would not be easy at all, but manageable. So it is how everything went, ” Roman said.
According to preliminary forecasts, the transatlantic passage was supposed to take at least a month, but for the “Russian Ocean Way” it took only 17 days. This fact cannot but make the crew of the expedition really happy, because they will celebrate the upcoming New Year on land. Not on the homeland, but at least on land. Now the crew will have a five-day quarantine, after which they will be able to go to the city.
Elizaveta Shaimbaeva
