Russian adventurer Fedor Konyukhov has today signed and dated one of the famous oars he used to make it across the Pacific Ocean in the longest solo man-powered voyage of all time.
He met Sunshine Coast Mayor Mark Jamieson following his epic 16,800-kilometre voyage from Valparaiso in Chile to the Sunshine Coast, Australia, which Fedor completed last Saturday. Mayor Jamieson was overseas and could not be present when Fedor made land-fall at Mooloolaba on the weekend.
Fedor explained, through his English-speaking son Oscar, the number of strokes the oar performed during the 160-day journey from Chile was likely somewhere between four and five million.
“Rowing about 18 hours per day, I probably pulled the oars about 24,000 times for each of these days,” he said.
“If anyone wants to break this new record, they will have to land here in Mooloolaba.”
Mayor Jamieson, donning a commemorative t-shirt from Fedor, said the oar will be mounted as a memento of this amazing feat.
“Fedor and his family have also asked that we have a plaque made to commemorate this historic event,” he said.
“We will certainly do that and we will give it pride of place, erected on a rock close to the landing spot for everyone to visit.”
The plaque will be officially unveiled on the first anniversary of Fedor’s heroic feat, when he and his family return to the Sunshine Coast.
Meanwhile, Fedor’s boat has now been packed up for a journey via London to Russia, where it will be preserved in a museum in the Ural Mountains.