MOSCOW, 13 Sep. The famous Russian traveler Fyodor Konyukhov sets off on a five-month sea voyage from Chile to Australia on a solar-powered catamaran in December this year, the navigator told RIA Novosti. Konyukhov will turn 70 on December 12.
An exhibition of the traveler Fyodor Konyukhov opened at VDNKh «I am going across the Atlantic in December this year, from Chile to Australia on a solar-powered catamaran,» Konyukhov said. Then, according to him, in July from Australia he is going to fly twice around the globe without landing in a hot air balloon. «And already in November on a rowboat in 180 days I want to take the route from Cape Horn to Australia,» — said Konyukhov. Earlier, he told RIA Novosti that he was leaving for England on September 14 to take part in the completion of the catamaran Solar powered catamaran NOVA is a small ocean-class double-hulled ship 11 meters long and 7 meters wide, capable of speeds up to 5-7 knots. The power plant of the unique vessel is completely electric and does not pollute the ocean and atmosphere. The vessel can withstand a storm of up to 8 points, which provides an almost unlimited navigation area. After the completion of the oceanic expedition, the catamaran will undergo maintenance in England and will be delivered to Russia to continue research work in the waters of the Russian seas. This catamaran is capable of even a summer crossing of the Arctic Ocean along the Northern Sea Route. This time Konyukhov will have to overcome 9,000 nautical miles (more than 16,500 kilometers) in autonomous navigation from the coast of Chile to Australia. The start of the crossing will take place from Valparaiso (Chile), the port of Brisbane (Australia) is chosen as the finish point.
April 30, 08:00 Tourism Fyodor Konyukhov — on the anniversary in the ocean and circumnavigation on the energy of the sun It is impossible to stock up on enough fresh water for a five-month journey, therefore a seawater desalination plant powered by the sun is installed on board. The traveler's diet consists of several types of freeze-dried food — light, high-calorie, tested in many expeditions. During the trip, Fedor Konyukhov will keep a video diary and conduct environmental monitoring of the ocean for the presence of plastic waste in seawater. The catamaran will be equipped with a special flow-through installation and a set of replaceable filters that can capture plastic microparticles up to 1.5 millimeters in size and more. The collected samples and video materials will be transferred for study and interpretation to the scientific partner of the expedition — the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology. The cost of building the NOVA catamaran was about 500 thousand dollars.
