Fedor Konyukhov swam across the Pacific Ocean alone. The rowing boat on which Fedor Konyukhov crossed the Pacific Ocean How Konyukhov crossed the Pacific Ocean

Fedor Konyukhov is the first "professional traveler" in the USSR and Russia, sea captain, pilot of a free balloon, dog sled rider, mountaineer, writer, priest of the UOC-MP. Among the achievements of Konyukhov are five round-the-world expeditions, 17 crossings of the Atlantic Ocean on sailing yachts and once on a rowboat.

Fedor Konyukhov was born on December 12, 1951 in the village of Chkalovo, Zaporozhye region. The childhood of the future traveler passed on the shores of the Sea of ​​Azov. Father Philip Mikhailovich often went to the sea for fish, took his son with him. Grandfather Mikhail often shared with his grandson the knowledge that he had learned from communicating with the famous Russian polar explorer. With him, Mikhail had a chance to serve in the same garrison of the tsarist army. The polar explorer left Konyukhov his own pectoral cross, so that the strongest of his friend’s descendants would get it. The grandfather gave this cross to Fedor.

Even then, the boy had a craving for travel, when Fedor stood at the helm of his father's ship and peered into the sea. At the age of 15, the young man ventured to make his first journey and crossed the Sea of ​​Azov in a rowboat. True, before that, Fedor had to actively engage in rowing, master sailing.

Like any teenager, Fedor enjoyed playing football. Like any village boy, Konyukhov often slept in the hayloft, and also drunkenly read adventure novels by Jules Verne and other authors. By the end of school, the young man realized that he wanted to connect life with the sea.

Fedor entered the Odessa Seafarer and received the specialty of a ship mechanic. Then there was study at the polar school in Leningrad as a navigator-navigator, service in the Baltic Fleet. For 2 years, Fedor Konyukhov served in Vietnam as a sailor on a special ship supplying ammunition to the Viet Cong. During his service, he also traveled to Nicaragua and El Salvador. After returning to his homeland, Konyukhov did not leave his studies and received the specialty of a carver-encruster in a specialized school in the Belarusian city of Bobruisk.

Trips

The first serious expedition took place in 1977, when a young man sailed in the Pacific Ocean and repeated the route. The first was followed by expeditions to Kamchatka, Sakhalin.

Fedor Konyukhov set a new goal - to conquer the North Pole alone.

Konyukhov prepared for an expedition in Chukotka, mastered dog sledding, learned to build ice huts, developed other skills for extreme travel - it took several years. Initially, Konyukhov undertook a training trip to the Pole of relative inaccessibility. The traveler complicated his task by going skiing during the polar night.

Then Fedor traveled to Canada, to Baffin Island and to the North Pole itself as part of a Soviet-Canadian group led by Vladimir Chukov. In 1990, Konyukhov set off on skis, with a heavy backpack and equipment, and after 72 days reached the North Pole. Overcoming polynyas and hummocks along the way, Fedor almost died during a collision of ice floes. Konyukhov became a pioneer in a solo trip there. In 1995, Fedor Konyukhov conquered the South Pole, and 59 days later, the flag of Russia was already fluttering over the extreme southern point.

There were other routes in the traveler's biography. Fedor became the first Russian to complete the Grand Slam program, that is, to conquer the North, South Pole and Everest. Earlier, in 1992, he climbed Everest alone, in January 1996 - Mount Aconcagua, and in 1997 - Mount Kilimanjaro.

Among the expeditions in which Fedor Konyukhov participated are the Soviet-American bike ride across the USSR Nakhodka - Moscow - Leningrad in 1989, the Russian-Australian off-road rally Nakhodka - Moscow in 1991, the caravan expedition along the route of the Great Silk Road in 2002 and 2009. Fedor Konyukhov also makes overland expeditions, following the path of the famous explorers of the taiga.

During his life, Konyukhov made a total of 40 sea expeditions. Not everything went smoothly during these trips. In addition to the troubles created by the elements, Fedor Konyukhov received unpleasant surprises from people. During one voyage Konyukhov caught a tropical infection and was forced to stop in the Philippines. Local pirates took advantage of the forced parking of Konyukhov's yacht and stole it. After recovering, in order to find his own ship in the sea latitudes, Fedor took possession of the robber's yacht and caught up with his own.

In July 2016, Fedor Konyukhov set a new record in a hot air balloon in 11 days. The Russian traveler beat the previous record holder Steve Fossett by 2 days.

During his travels, Fedor Konyukhov is engaged in research work and creativity: he paints paintings and books. In total, the traveler created almost 3 thousand paintings, published twenty books. In his own works “My Journeys”, “Under Scarlet Sails”, “Alone with the Ocean”, “How I Became a Traveler”, Fedor Konyukhov shares his life experience, travel events. The author also has historical works: “The Crimean War. Defense of Sevastopol”, “Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov”, “How Admiral Ushakov made the Black Sea Russian”. In the books “My Way to Truth”, “The Power of Faith. 160 days and nights alone with the Pacific Ocean”, “The ocean is my abode” Konyukhov highlights issues of faith. The traveler introduces readers to his works from the pages of the official website, where he also posts photos of his own paintings.

Fedor Konyukhov is an active member of the Union of Journalists, the Union of Artists and Sculptors, the Union of Writers of Russia. With his drawings, Konyukhov adorned the publication of the book "Tao Te Ching", which he considers to be the second after the "Bible".

In addition to the main business of life, serving in the Orthodox Church became an important page in Fedor's biography. Konyukhov took the rank of subdeacon in 2010 on a holiday, the patron saint of travelers and sailors. After graduating from the Seminary in the Northern capital, Konyukhov went to serve in Zaporozhye, leaving no sea, land and air travel.

Personal life

Fedor Konyukhov was married twice. The first wife, Lyubov, gave Fedor two children - a son, Oscar (born in 1975) and a daughter, Tatyana (born in 1978). Later, the woman moved to the United States, where she settled with her daughter. Konyukhov's eldest son heads the All-Russian Sailing Federation.

The second wife of the famous traveler is Professor, Doctor of Law, expert in international law Irina Anatolyevna. The future spouses met in 1995. Irina was also divorced by that time, raising two sons. Fedor honestly warned the girl about his hobby, but this did not frighten Irina. For the sake of her beloved, Irina Anatolyevna refused to work in the UN and the European Parliament.

Often the wife herself went on trips with her husband. In 2004, while crossing the Atlantic, the ship, where Fedor and Irina were, got into a severe storm. After returning home, the Konyukhovs erected a chapel of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker near the Moscow creative workshop of Fyodor. For a long time, the couple did not have a common child, but in 2005 the long-awaited son Nikolai was born.

Now Fedor Konyukhov is a happy grandfather who has four grandchildren - Philip, Arkady, Ethan, Blake and two granddaughters - Polina and Kate, but this does not prevent him from doing what he loves.

Traveler, artist, writer, cyclist, mountaineer, navigator - it's all about Konyukhov. Since 1998, the navigator has been sharing his experience with young followers and running a distance learning laboratory. In the laboratory, he teaches young travelers how to survive in difficult conditions.

Fedor Konyukhov now

Fedor Konyukhov continues to break records. The latest hobby for the traveler was aeronautics in a balloon. In 2017, Fedor, having been in the air for 55 hours 10 minutes of continuous time. The previous record of 50 hours 38 minutes was held by Japanese pilots Michio Kanda and Hirazuki Takezawa, who set it in 1997.

The indefatigable traveler will not stop there. For summer rafting on the rivers, Konyukhov has already chosen a place in the Sheregesh resort in the Kemerovo region, where he managed to visit in January 2018 with his family.

Awards

• 1996 - Honorary resident of the city of Nakhodka
• 1988 - Order of Friendship of Peoples
• 2014 - Gold medal named after N. N. Miklukho-Maklay of the Russian Geographical Society
• 2015 - Peoples' Friendship Award "White Cranes of Russia" and the order of the same name
• 2017 - Order of Honor

Records

• The first person in the world who reached the five poles of the Earth: the North and South geographic poles, the Pole of relative inaccessibility in the Arctic Ocean, the height poles - Chomolungma, the poles of yachtsmen - Cape Horn
• The first Russian who managed to complete the Grand Slam program (North Pole, South Pole, Cape Horn, Chomolungma).
• Crossed the Atlantic Ocean alone in a rowboat with a world record of 46 days 4 hours.
• Crossed the Pacific Ocean alone in a rowboat with a world record of 159 days 14 hours 45 minutes.

On January 7, 1887, Thomas Stevens of San Francisco completed the first bicycle trip around the world. In three years, the traveler managed to overcome 13,500 miles and open a new page in the history of world travel. Today about the most unusual circumnavigations.

Thomas Stevens' cycling around the world

In 1884, "a man of medium height, dressed in a worn blue flannel shirt and blue overalls ... tanned as a nut ... with a protruding mustache", this is how the journalists of that time described Thomas Stevens, bought a penny-farthing bicycle, grabbed a minimum supply of things and Smith & Wesson .38 caliber and hit the road. Stevens crossed the entire North American continent, covering 3,700 miles, and ended up in Boston. There he came up with the idea of ​​traveling around the world. He sailed to Liverpool on a steamboat, passed through England, crossed by ferry to French Dieppe, crossed Germany, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey. Further, his path ran through Armenia, Iraq and Iran, where he spent the winter as a guest of the Shah. He was refused passage through Siberia. The traveler crossed the Caspian Sea to Baku, reached Batumi by rail, and then sailed on a steamer to Constantinople and India. Then Hong Kong and China. And the end point of the route was where Stevens, by his own admission, was finally able to relax.

Around the world in an amphibious jeep

In 1950, Australian Ben Carlin decided to travel around the world in his modernized amphibious jeep. Three-quarters of the route with him was his wife. In India, she went ashore, and Ben Carlin himself completed his journey in 1958, having covered 17,000 km by water and 62,000 km by land.

Hot air balloon trip around the world

In 2002, American Steve Fossett, co-owner of Scaled Composites, who by that time had already earned the fame of an adventure pilot, flew around the Earth in a hot air balloon. He tried to do this for more than one year and achieved the goal on the sixth attempt. Fossett's flight was the first solo round-the-world flight without refueling or stopping.

Round the world taxi ride

Somehow, the British John Ellison, Paul Archer and Lee Purnell calculated the costs associated with drinking the morning after drinking and found out that a taxi home would cost them much more than the drink itself. Probably, someone would have decided to drink at home, but the British acted radically - they bought a 1992 London cab and set off on a round-the-world trip. As a result, in 15 months they covered 70 thousand km and went down in history as participants in the longest taxi ride. History is silent, however, about their activity in the pubs along the way.

Travel around the world on an ancient Egyptian reed boat

Norwegian Thor Heyerdahl made the transatlantic crossing in a light reed boat built on the model of the ancient Egyptians. On his boat "Ra" he managed to reach the coast of Barbados, proving that ancient navigators could make transatlantic crossings. It is worth noting that this was Heyerdahl's second attempt. The year before, he and his crew nearly drowned when the ship, due to design flaws, began to bend and break into pieces a few days after launch. The Norwegian team also included the well-known Soviet TV journalist and traveler Yuri Senkevich.

Travel around the world on a pink yacht

Today, the title of the youngest navigator who managed to complete a solo circumnavigation of the world belongs to Australian Jessica Watson. She was only 16 years old when, on May 15, 2010, she completed her circumnavigation of the world, which lasted 7 months. The girl's pink yacht crossed the Southern Ocean, crossed the equator, rounded Cape Horn, crossed the Atlantic Ocean, approached the shores of South America, and then returned to Australia through the Indian Ocean.

Cycling around the world for a millionaire

75-year-old millionaire, former producer of pop stars and football teams Janusz River repeated the experience of Thomas Stevens. He changed his life dramatically when he bought a $50 mountain bike in 2000 and hit the road. Since that time, River, who, by the way, being Russian by mother, speaks excellent Russian, has traveled to 135 countries and traveled more than 145 thousand km. He learned a dozen foreign languages ​​and managed to be captured by militants 20 times. Not life, but a continuous adventure.

Jogging around the world

Briton Robert Garside bears the title "Running Man". He is the first person to circumnavigate the world by running. His record was included in the Guinness Book of Records. Robert had several unsuccessful attempts to make a round-the-world race. And on October 20, 1997, he successfully started from New Delhi (India) and finished his race, the length of which was 56 thousand km, at the same place on June 13, 2003, almost 5 years later. Representatives of the Book of Records meticulously and for a long time checked his record, and Robert was able to receive a certificate only a few years later. On the way, he described everything that happened to him using his pocket computer, and all those who were not indifferent could get acquainted with the information on his personal website.

Motorcycle trip around the world

In March 2013, two Britons - Belfast Telegraph travel expert Geoff Hill and former racing driver Gary Walker - left London to recreate the world tour that American Carl Clancy made 100 years ago on a Henderson motorcycle. In October 1912, Clancy left Dublin with a companion, whom he left in Paris, and he continued his journey south of Spain, through North Africa, Asia, and at the end of the tour he traveled through all of America. The journey of Charles Clancy lasted 10 months and contemporaries called this circumnavigation of the world "the longest, most difficult and most dangerous journey on a motorcycle."

Non-stop solo circumnavigation

Fedor Konyukhov is the man who made the first solo circumnavigation of the world non-stop in the history of Russia. On the 36-pound Karaana yacht, he sailed along the route Sydney - Cape Horn - Equator - Sydney. It took him 224 days to do this. Konyukhov's round-the-world trip began in the fall of 1990 and ended in the spring of 1991.

Fedor Filippovich Konyukhov is a Russian traveler, artist, writer, priest of the Russian Orthodox Church, Honored Master of Sports of the USSR in sports tourism. He became the first person in the world to visit the five poles of our planet: the North geographic (three times), the South geographic, the Pole of relative inaccessibility in the Arctic Ocean, Everest (the height pole) and Cape Horn (the pole of yachtsmen).

A Russian crosses the Pacific Ocean in a rowboat
Russian traveler Fedor Konyukhov, who has five round-the-world voyages behind him, is currently crossing the Pacific Ocean on the Turgoyak rowboat. This time he decided to make the transition from Chile to Australia. As of September 3, Konyukhov has already managed to overcome 1148 km, there are still more than 12 thousand kilometers of the way across the ocean to Australia.

An excellent example for aspiring travelers is the experience of Nina and Gramp, a married couple who have been married for 61 years. They packed their bags and created .

https://www.site/2017-06-09/kak_fedor_konyuhov_gotovitsya_k_krugosvetke_na_veselnoy_lodke_i_chto_meshaet_emu_pogruzitsya_v_maria

“I return from expeditions with debts”

How Fedor Konyukhov prepares for a round-the-world rowing boat trip, and what prevents him from diving into the Mariana Trench

The famous traveler Fedor Konyukhov once again came to the Chelyabinsk region to congratulate the winners of the children's sailing regatta named after him. In addition, the traveler's partners live in the Southern Urals, who sponsor his sea crossings - businessmen Oleg Sirotin and Sergey Eremenko. And this time they help Konyukhov in the preparation of a new round-the-world expedition. The traveler plans to take a rowing boat along Antarctica and cross one of the most stormy areas in the Cape Horn area.

“I plan to start on November 1, 2018 from Tasmania and return there in 220 days,” says Fedor Konyukhov. “Preparations are already underway. There are drawings of the boat, it will soon be built. You also need to prepare information. Know exactly what currents and winds will be at that moment. How to distribute forces, how much distance you need to walk per day.

According to him, preparations for crossing the Pacific Ocean were similar. Then the famous traveler and his team calculated: in order to have time to swim across the ocean in six months, you need to walk 60 miles a day. To cover such a distance, it was necessary to make 24 thousand swings of oars per day, rowing for 15-18 hours, depending on the wind.

- Therefore, for almost the entire expedition, I did nothing but rowing. I hardly caught fish, because it is a waste of time, and it is not suitable for food. It has almost no calories. I then spent 6000 kilocalories a day. In normal times, a person spends 1500-2000. And, of course, you need to prepare mentally. For me, this fasting and prayer is the most difficult training, Konyukhov continues.

Fyodor Konyukhov, flying in a balloon, dropped a gas cylinder on the FSB training center

In the area of ​​Cape Horn, the traveler plans to meet friends from Chelyabinsk. They will approach him on their yacht to provide moral support during the difficult journey.

“I don’t do it for glory, I don’t even notice it,” says Fedor Konyukhov. — I have goals, I have curiosity, to discover something new.

According to the navigator, he does not lose hope one day to dive into the Mariana Trench, but this is a complex project, so it has been “slipping” for several years now. The first contract for it was concluded back in 1997, but there is still no technology that would allow such a dive, the traveler complains.

- There are 7 billion of us living on earth, and there is only one designer who can develop a capsule for diving. He lives in Australia, he is already an elderly person and does not really want to take on this. We moved the descent to the Mariana Trench to 2021, but I think that this date will have to be moved to 2023,” Fedor Konyukhov said.

In any case, according to him, the project remains relevant, and if, nevertheless, he does not have to sink to the bottom of the depression himself, then someone else will definitely do it.

“I will prepare everything for this,” the traveler assured.

In Miass, on the basis of the Fedor Konyukhov Center, a children's sailing school will be opened

The ocean is only three percent explored, there is always something new there, he reminds. Curiosity is the main motive of his campaigns. But many projects do take years to prepare. If Konyukhov crossed the Sea of ​​Azov at the age of 15, then the Atlantic - only at 50. All this time, preparations were underway, a lone sailor gained experience and waited for technologies to appear that would allow a boat on oars to overcome such distances.

At the same time, almost all of his expeditions are commercially unprofitable, which Fedor Konyukhov says directly: he does not know what commerce is.

— I had more than 50 expeditions. And I already have a tradition of returning from an expedition with debts,” he shares. - Ask me what I live on? I am retired and I also teach at the university. And then, I'm an artist. My paintings are in demand. It happens that I haven’t completed the painting yet, but they already want to buy it. I have big exhibitions planned at the Tretyakov Gallery and in Dubai. I'm also a writer. The recommendation for joining the writers' union was given to me by Viktor Astafiev.

But books don't bring much. And the pension of pensioner Konyukhov is only 6,300 rubles. When he designed it, he was offered to collect all the medals and certificates. But the famous traveler did nothing of this. He says Konyukhov should not beg for something, which is why they appointed the most minimal.

- I have enough. The main thing is that I ride the metro for free, the traveler jokes.

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Fedor Konyukhov set a new world record for the speed of circumnavigating the world in a hot air balloon. The Russian traveler set off on July 12. He took to the skies in a balloon from the west coast of Australia. This morning, July 23, the Russian reached the shores of Australia after 11 days of travel. The previous record was held by American Steve Fossett, whose flight took 13 days. An amazing person, what kind of records he did not set, where he had not been. This post summarizes some of his accomplishments:

1) He climbed to a height of 10 thousand 600 meters in a balloon

Having risen to a height of 10 thousand 600 meters during a round-the-world trip in a hot air balloon, the famous traveler Fedor Konyukhov beat the record set by the American businessman, yachtsman, balloonist Steve Fossett. Its maximum flight altitude was 10 thousand 200 meters.

2) The first Russian who managed to complete the Grand Slam program

The first Russian who managed to complete the Grand Slam program. Here, sometimes, it is difficult to climb the stairs to the twentieth floor, not to mention the mountain peaks. What only the "Grand Slam" is not included in order to complete the program must be conquered: the North Pole, the South Pole, Cape Horn, Everest.

3) Completed the program "7 Peaks of the World"

The first Russian who managed to complete the program "7 Summits of the World" - to climb the highest peak of each continent.

As part of this program, Fedor Konyukhov climbed:

4) Paddle across the Atlantic Ocean

In 2002, the Russian Fyodor Konyukhov crossed the Atlantic Ocean alone. He traveled on the URALAZ rowing boat, setting a world record - 3,000 nautical miles in 46 days.

5) Paddle across the Pacific

Russian traveler Fedor Konyukhov reached the coast of Australia in May 2014. Thus, he managed to cross the Pacific Ocean alone in a rowing boat without calls to ports and outside help.

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 Mululaba (Queensland) at 13:13 ET coast of Australia. "Turgoyak" has a length of 9 meters, a width of 1.8 meters, the weight of its hull made of carbon fiber is 250 kg, the weight with a full load is 850 kg. He completed his journey in 160 days.

6) The first in the history of Russia, solo circumnavigation of the world non-stop

He made the first in the history of Russia, a solo circumnavigation of the world non-stop. On the 36-pound Karaana yacht, he sailed along the route Sydney - Cape Horn - Equator - Sydney. It took him 224 days to do this. Konyukhov's round-the-world trip began in the fall of 1990 and ended in the spring of 1991.

7) Solo ski trip to the North Pole

1990 - the first solo ski trip to the North Pole in the history of Russia. Launched from Cape Lokot, Sredny Island, March 3. Reached the Pole on May 8, 1990. Travel time - 72 days.

8) Solo trip to the South Pole

1995–1996 - the first solo trip to the South Pole in the history of Russia, followed by an ascent to the highest point of Antarctica - the Vinson Massif (5140 m). Launched from Hercules Bay on November 8, 1995 - reached the South Pole on January 6, 1996. Reached the South Pole in 64 days, alone, autonomously.

9) Crossing Greenland by dog ​​sled

The record was set in 2007 - crossing Greenland on dog sleds from the east coast (Isortok village) through the ice dome to the west coast (Illulisat village), along the Arctic Circle. A record was set for crossing Greenland on this route - 15 days and 22 hours.

10) World record for longest flight

In January 2016 - together with his partner Ivan Menyailo, setting a world record for the duration of a flight in a hot air balloon, with a volume of 3950 cubic meters - 32 hours 20 minutes.

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