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01.10.2005: Apostle Andrew`s circumnavigation will be continued During the last few months the crew of Apostle Andrew yacht has repaired the rudder in New Zealand and continued the circumnavigation. They have visited different places: Tonga Kingdom, Tuvalu Archipelago, Kiribaty Republic, Tarava Atoll, Marshall Islands, Tropic of Cancer, passed few days in Japan and finally have reached the Russian coasts. Nowadays the crew is in Vladivostok. They are repairing the yacht before sailing around the Antarctic coasts. The circumnavigation will be continued in the middle of October.

14.03.2005: The yacht "Apostol Andrey": February and March news Messages from the board of the yacht "Apostol Andrey": March 3, 2005 The yacht "Apostol Andrey" interrupts its circumnavigation. Today, at 3.00 in the morning the yacht lost its ability to operate due to the breakage of the steering control. The yacht had to lie to. When the day start the team examined the steering control and found out that they had lost the rudder blade. The crew started to make a temporary rudder, which would allow them to reach the nearest port. But they did not manage to complete the work before night, tomorrow we plan to fasten a new bladder and to try it in action. There was made a decision to sail to the New Zealand – the nearest land to our yacht, separated from us by 1300 miles. Unfortunately now the yacht is situated already to the east of the New Zealnd. We have to return to the north-west opposite dominating direction of the winds. In all other respects everything is OK on board. The crew is healthy and does not lose presence of mind. We have enough supplies of fuel, food and water. February 11, 2005 More than Cook… One more landmark has been left behind: the 120-th meridian, the third of the Antarctica circle. James Cook had crossed approximately the same number of meridians to the south of the 60 the parallel during his second voyage (when he was sent specially for searching the South Continent). Cook did not discovered the land and came to conclusion that this probable continent was inaccessible for seafarers and could not be of any use for mankind, but he was mistaken. 45 years later the Russia expedition of Bellinsghauzen and Lazarev reached the shores of the Antarctica and in XX century the regular investigations of the sixth continent would start. But even nowadays there are a lot of white spots in these latitudes. In the sailing directions one can see the following brief information: "In the coastal zone of the described region there was actually no survey". The 120-th meridian crosses the shore of the Antarctica in the area of the shelf glacier of the Moscow University. A stripe of icebergs stretches from the coast to the north. This is indicated in the sailing directions with a note "basing on the data of 1963"… February 9, 2005 During a month to the south of the 60-th parallel. Today is one month since the yacht "Apostol Andrey" crossed the 60-th parallel. During this month the yacht has left astern 3666 miles and passed over 112 meridians. The results are not too encouraging – we sailed more miles along the general course, but we had left less meridians than it was planned. This was the consequence of very rare occurrence of favourable winds. There were only seven days during this month when the rate of the wind exceeded 10 m/sec. And we met a lot of calms (to our great surprise). We met the last one on previous Sunday, when the yacht "Apostol Andrey" did not manage to sail even 50 miles in daytime. All favourable winds are weak. Fresh wind as usual are adverse – you have to traverse, what makes our route longer, but does not bring us closer to our goal. But we had the following things in abundance: icebergs, fogs and snow. Yesterday the snow storm covered our rigging and sparring, filled up the dinghy. The magnetic declination reached 90 degrees and the compass's arrow points now at west-east instead of north-south. To be more exact, its second end points at the South Magnetic Pole, the region where we are going, and now there are less than 700 miles separating us. Yours sincerely Nikolay Litau

08.12.2004: "Apostle Andrew" crossed the equator The latest news from "Apostle Andrew" November 10, 2004 The Equator On November 10, 2004 with the first rays of the rising sun the yacht "Apostol Andrey" for the fifth time in its life crossed the equator. Neptune greeted his old friends: the skipper and the chief mate, who, as usual, crossed the zero parallel together with the yacht. The other members of the crew had to take part in the special Ceremony with the obligatory bathing in the Ocean. But it appeared that it was not so easy to organize, as the South Hemisphere started to breath with a fresh south-east trade-wind and the yacht was moving with a speed exceeding seven knots. But a tradition remains a tradition. Anatoly Semenov, Sergey Zhukov and Dmitry Stadnichenko were tied around with strong ropes and bathed in the wake stream. After leaving the Northern Hemisphere the yacht "Apostol Andrey" has also left the north autumn behind its stern, as the yacht immediately appeared in the blossom of the south spring. The devices indicated the same 28 degrees above zero in the air and in the Ocean, but the sky became quite different. Instead of black clouds with tropical gusts and heavy showers, now we see gay cumulus, which were reliable indicators of a good weather. Yours sincerely Nikolay Litau November 7, 2004 Thermal Equator. The yacht "Apostol Andrey" entered a zone of the thermal equator. In the Atlantic it spreads between the fifth and the eighths degrees of the northern latitude. The trade winds of the two Hemispheres fade away here and there usually appears a wide stripe of calm. The atmospheric processes here do not change noticeably during a year, the temperature of the water is constantly up to 27-29°. Powerful, ascending flows of moist air bring abundant rains. Tropical rain squalls often occur in this zone. The black clouds become visible long before their crossing with the route of the yacht and the crew has enough time to get ready for the maneuvering with the sails and to prepare for the next shower. The last squall we experienced yesterday after supper and the northeast trade wind finished together with this squall. We activated our engine and started to make a forced crossing of the calm stripe in an unsporting manner. Yours sincerely Nikolay Litau November 3, 2004 Praia, the capital of the Cape Verde Republic The yacht "Apostol Andrey" arrived in Praia in the middle of the night (October 29 – October 30). At dawn my chief mate and I sailed on our dinghy to the port in order to come to the Immigration Authorities at 8:00 a.m. There appeared that the official, whom we required, would arrive only at 10:00 a.m. Not to lose time we took a taxi and went to the Russian Embassy. The ambassador Yuri Chepik, with whom we got acquainted during our last visit to Cape Verde, had to take a flight to Russia on October 30 and I hoped that I could see him. We were lucky to meet the Ambassador and to speak with him for half an hour. He expressed his pity that we did not arrive at least one day earlier and said that all our problems would be settled and entrusted his acting attorney Michael Bronnikov. Yours sincerely Nikolay Litau

08.12.2004: "Apostle Andrew": October news October news from "Apostle Andrew" October 30, 2004 The Cape Verde Archipelago. We continue our sailing in the Cape Verde Archipelago. After evaluating the distance, which is left to Praia, the wind and our speed, I came to the conclusion that we will arrive to the capital of Cape Verde in the middle of the night. It was not reasonable and that’s why we decided to stay for a few hours near the Island Mayu and at dawn to come to the planned port. We chose the bay at the northwest coast of the island and at 15.00 dropped anchor. Kireev, Zhukov and Semeynov landed the first at the coast. I found a mask and flippers and dived with the purpose to examine the lower part of the yacht. There was not any biofouling at the bottom. A special paint "International" works very good. At last Dima Stadnichenko and I started our walk over the Island. At the beach we met two local boys, who demonstrated some seashells and an empty bottle. They asked water but we did not have any water with us. Somewhere at the desert beach October 29, 2004 Cape Verde. Three years later on October 28 at 13:45 the yacht "Apostol Andrey" again dropped anchor in the St. Maria Bay, situated at the south end of the Sal Island, the most northern island of all islands of the Cape Verde. At the coast of the Bay there is a town with the same name. We launched our "Korsar" and started our reconnaissance trip. As usual we were interested in the bank, mail post and telegraph. Everything was closed as it was lunchtime. But it appeared that the bank here is not so necessary for us: the local sellers agreed to take Euro for masks and other souvenirs, as well as dollars and escudos. This currency has equal circulation in souvenir shops, bars and super markets. You can also receive change, where you can find Euro or crushed dollar. This small town has now good times and the reason of this are tourists from Europe. The number of souvenir shops has enormously increased. There a lot of restaurants, cafes, bars and a large market, where you can buy various artefacts, made from wood, sand pictures, local musical instruments. We got tired after walking in such a heat (it was +37° C) and visited one of the bars at the coast of the ocean to drink bear before we leave. Our painter Semenov made some sketches. But street vendors disturbed him constantly, may be because they looked at him as their rival, or may be they wanted to invite him to work together with them. At nightfall the yacht "Apostol Andrey" has weighed anchor and left the St. Maria raid. Yours sincerely Nikolay Litau October 28, 2004 The lunar eclipse. The usual phrase of Semenov: "Skipper – your watch!", today was replaced by a joyful cry of Semenov, who rushed into the open hatch. It was around three o'clock in the night, one hour was left to my watch and a premature wake up did not make me happy. "I will kill him" – thought I, if this cry was caused by the next flying fish or a locust, which has also started to visit us. It was unusually dark at the deck – during these days, when there is a full moon, it is so light that you can read (without exaggeration). When I came to the deck I understood the reason of this complete darkness and the excitement of our boatswain – the lunar eclipse! Only a narrow crescent has remained from the full moon. In an hour it was also covered by shadow, but the night star still was dimly sparkling. A lot of stars appeared on the sky. We woke up the other members of our team and took our binoculars. I explained to the crew the mechanism of this phenomena. I, myself, for the first time in my life observed a total lunar eclipse, though I was fond of astronomy in my youth. The disc of the moon was closed for another half an hour and then started to get free, and in the morning our spouse was again shining in all her glory. "It is a sign!" – we thought. And exactly at noon we saw a land. This was the Sal Island – the most northern island of the Cape Verde Is. October 27, 2004 Trade-winds. We came into a zone of the north-east trade-winds. These areas are most favourable for sailing vessels – the wind is steady by its strength and direction and there are no storms here. Crossings are guaranteed. It is a bit hot: +29°, the water temperature: +25°, but in the shadow of the sail it is not so noticeable. The level of humidity is very high. During the night the deck and the superstructure are covered by abundant dew, which in the morning is streaming down sails. There are schools of flying fish. Yesterday the first fish fell on the deck. During the night the harvest amounted to 30 fishes, among them more than ten fishes were of large size. Alexander Kireev, a chief mate, is drying small samples for his collection (or may be – for bear). Large fish are fried by Dmitry Stadnichenko, who took a difficult and honorary commitment of a cook. Stadnichenko is a steel maker, Ph. Metallurgy. I do not know how he makes steel, but his borsch is excellent as well as the other meals, which he cooks. A scientific degree is one of the conditions, which are necessary to work at the caboose. In the two previous circumnavigations our cooks were Ph. Chemistry and Ph. Medicine. October 25, 2004 The Tropic of Cancer ort a brief course of astronomy. The last weekend was marked by two events. At first we recorded a daily crossing, comprising 180 miles. This is so far the best result of the third circumnavigation, and it would be possible to improve it only in the South Ocean. Secondly – on Sunday at 14:40 (local time) the yacht "Apostol Andrey" crossed the North Tropic, or the Tropic of Cancer, the parallel, situated at 23°27' above the equator – the most northern parallel, above which the Sun is rising to its highest point. It happens each year on June 22 at the day of the summer solstice. October 21, 2004 Between Madeira and the Canary Islands. The last day passed with a strong, but not very favourable wind. But still we have passed 130 miles. Today in the morning the wind was switched off and from 8 a.m. we are using our diesel, burning the remains of Russian fuel. We crossed the 30-th parallel and celebrated this event (in accordance with tradition accepted in the tropics) with the rum "Aguardente" from Madeira. The wind drifted us 50 miles to the east and nor the route of the yacht "Apostol Andrey" will go between the islands of the Canary Archipelago and we have to sail the same 50 miles to reach them. Yours sincerely Nikolay Litau October 20, 2004 Goodbye, Madeira! The stay of the yacht "Apostol Andrey" at Madeira was spoiled by the weather. Our stay at Madeira was spoiled by the weather. Small rain, which started in a few hours after out arrival, turned into heavy shower. Low nebulosity wrapped up the slopes, which made senseless our sightseeing trip around the Island. WE did not see clear sky too often. This rain did not allow us to make necessary repair works on our desk and also choppy sea, which came from the ocean to the berthing place. The yacht was unmercifully rolled from one board to another, the careen reached 30 degrees. Our stay was also very nervous. We were constantly keeping watch. We were working with our anchor the whole day of October 19. We had to weigh anchor and again to anchor five or six times. We needed to refuel and to get fresh water and that's why we entered in to the marina, where we became an obstacle for maneuvering of big vessels and the harbour inspectorate asked us to move, or our anchor started to creep and the yacht was carried out beyond the pier, where she was expected by ripple. The last time we broke adrift about 20:00. We were drifting an hour with our diesel engine, waiting for our boatswain and chief mate. At 21:00 we put out to sea. There was not a single cloud in the sky, a half of the moon was brightly shining in the sky and only the peaks of the Island were wrapped into opaque clouds. The yacht "Apostol Andrey", followed by fair wind, made a good speed by the wind and in an hour and a half the lights of Funchal vanished behind. Yours sincerely Nikolay Litau October 18, 2004 Madeira. On October 17 in the morning the yacht "Apostol Andrey" dropped anchor in Funchal after completing a crossing, comprising 1500 miles. After the storm in the Bay of Biscay the winds were fair and light and our sailing was quiet. During the last night the wind died away and the last five miles we sailed with the help of our engine. On the pier opposite the Anchor Bridge we saw Dmitry Stadnichenko. Alexander Kirrev and I on our glorious dinghy "Korsar" sailed to the shore to take our new crew-member and to register our arrival. Madeira is the first point in the course of the three circumnavigations where the yacht "Apostol Andrey" has arrived for the second time. Now we have a strange feeling – trying to recognize the places, which we visited three years ago. It is worth to mention that almost nothing has changed here since our last visit. The same officer of marine police met us at the berth, the same harbourmaster with absolutely unsmiling face gave us the keys of the places for general use. There was also the same sail master Eric, who repaired our sails during our last visit. After finishing our primary tasks, the crew went for a walk around Funchal. But the black clouds descended and burst out into a downpour. And there was nothing left to do, but to return back to our yacht. Yours sincerely Nikolay Litau October 14, 2004 The remarkable dates. Today the yacht "Apostol Andrey" has two remarkable dates: a month has passed since the start of the third circumnavigation and today is also the third anniversary of the start of the second circumnavigation of our yacht. At that time in 2001 we reached Madeira in a month. This time we were not so lucky despite the fact that we have reduced the time of our stay in ports. 300 miles separate us from Madeira. At present we have a steady fair wind with a speed 4-5 m/sec. This gives us a hope that we will manage to reach Funchal on October 17. Just a minute ago we have seen an airplane above us, flying to Madeira, and we know that Dmitry Stadnichenko is in this plane. Dmitry Stadnichenko is a new crew member. He will take commitments of a cook and now he will prepare for our arrival: he will book a berthing place in the marine, find a sails maker and etc. Yours sincerely Nikolay Litau October 12, 2004 500 miles are left to Madeira. 500 miles separate us from Madeira. The storm of the Bay of Biscay, blowing us about, turned in a fair wind, then – in the by the wind, and finally had exhausted itself. At present there is absolute calm around us. We are using our diesel in order at least to keep our tempo. During our last circumnavigation we passed this section at a very high speed, making 140 miles daily and it took us only seven days to sail from Brest to Madeira. October 10, 2004 The Bay of Biscay… The Bay of Biscay was left behind. We sailed to the middle with a good fair wind, but in the south part the yacht was reached by a heave cyclone and for more than a day we were riding out a storm The situation was redoubled because the wind turned into a counter one. Sometimes there was a strong gale. At first we struggled with the bad weather with a tightly swift grotto. But after the breakage of its upper cringles we put a storm staysail and a swift spanker. At present the wind is not a fair one, but it allows sailing by the wind along our course. We have passed a halfway to Madeira and 750 miles are still left. October 5, 2004 We have left Greenwich behind! The information passed by Nikolay Keesel, UA3AIC: Yesterday at 7:30 p.m. the yacht "Apostol Andrey" under moderate weather conditions and at a speed of 4 knots, crossed the Greenwich meridian and became a part of the Western Hemisphere. At 9:08 p.m. Moscow time there was a communication session with radio amateurs. Alexander Kireev conducted the traffic (the skipper Nikolay Litau had a rest after the watch). A chief mate told that everything is OK on board, the crew is well and healthy and passes best regards to all antipodes of the Eastern Hemisphere. October 3, 2004 Belgium, Brugge, Willi de Roos… After spending the rest of Thursday and Friday completing our ship's works – removing leakage, checking rigging, recharging accumulators and etc., we dedicated Saturday to rest and excursions On Saturday morning Eddy de Busshere took us to Brugge. After lunch we went to the other end of the country and in an hour reached the border of Belgium and France. Here in a small village lives the elder of the Arctic yachtsmen – Willy de Roos. 27 years ago in 1977 on his steel 13-meteres ketch "Williwow", partly with his workmate, partly alone, he passed the North West Passage. This was done for the first time on a sailing vessel after Amundsen. The elder of yachting, who is now 81 years old, met us at the threshold of his home and forwarded us into a sitting room, where there was not a single thing indicating a glorious past of its owner. Only one water-colour, depicting the yacht "Williwow" against a background of the Antarctic landscape. Our visit lasted two hours. We told about our previous circumnavigations, about the present project. Willy was vividly taking interest in all aspects of our conversation, started to give advice, but then interrupted himself and asked, laughing: "Whom am I giving advice?" We returned to our yacht at night. Eddy left the following record in the Guest Book: "The yacht "Apostol Andrey" is only the third vessel, which is sailing from Belgium to the Antarctica. In 1897 a sailing vessel "Belgica" left Ostende, laying its course to the Antarctica, in 1982 – Willy de Roos left Newport along the same route on board of his ketch "Williwow". It is a great honour and a true pleasure to get acquainted with the skipper Nikolay Litau and his crew. And I hope that they will have good reminiscences about Belgium. I wish them all luck and I hope that they will be successful in their sailing around the Antarctica Continent. Eddy de Busshere, Secretary of the Belgian Society of Polar explorations" The weather forecast again promises counter winds during all crossing to the Atlantic Ocean. Resigning with our fate and even not uttering bad words in this regard, we decided to start on Sunday early in the morning with a morning tide. Yours sincerely, Nikolay Litau October 1, 2004 The yacht "Apostol Andrey" is a guest of Belgium. The crossing from the Kiel Channel took exactly three days. The weather in the North Sea was not so stubborn as in the Baltic. The first day the wind was blowing straight in the rostrum of the yacht and we continued to maneuver. On the second day the wind started to blow from the north and allowed us to sail with a good speed at a half wind. And this was the only day with a favourable wind in the course of the fourteen days of our voyage We arrived in Zeebrugge on September 30 at 01:30 p.m., leaving 385 miles behind (instead of 300 miles in accordance with the general course). The Royal Belgium Yacht Club had already prepared a berthing place for us. A harbormaster greeted us at the berth. When I asked him about the emigration authorities and the customs he answered that we do not need to worry about this. The Belgium became the 25-th country, which the yacht "Apostol Andrey" visited during its all circumnavigations. Soon Eddy De De Busschere, Secretary Belgian Polar Exploration Society, arrived at the harbour. We visited Belgium thanks to his invitation. We discussed the philatelic business, stamped the envelopes, received the invitation to visit the beautiful city of Brugge. Eddy also informed us that our crew was invited to visit Willy de Roos, the first yachtsman, who succeeded in the North West Passage. Yours sincerely, Nikolay Litau

08.12.2004: "Apostle Andrew": September news The news from "Apostle Andrew" September 30, 2004 The port Zeebrugge, Belgium. At 2:00 p.m. (local time) the yacht "Apostol Andrey" entered the harbour. Unfortunately the crew did not manage so far to make up for two days behind their own schedule The stay in Belgium will last three days. On Saturday on the initiative of Eddy De Busschere, Secretary of the Belgian Polar explorations (the yacht arrived in Belgium thanks to his invitation) there will be a meeting of the two famous skippers. The crew of Nikolay Litau will visit Willy de Roos, the first sailor who succeeded in the North West Passage in 1977 on his ketch "Williwaw". For this unique achievement Willy de Roos was awarded a prestigious English Medal for Seamanship. Nikolay Litau was also awarded with this Medal in 1999. A special Expert Commission of the Royal Cruiser Club nominated the round-the world voyage of the yacht "Apostol Andrey" (with passing across the North East Passage on a sailing yacht for the first time in the history of seafaring) as "the outstanding achievement of the world's yachting". The yacht "Apostol Andrey" with its skipper Nikolay Litau visited the north of Canada in 2002. On Sunday morning the yacht "Apostol Andrey" will take course to Madeira. September 29, 2004 The North Sea... "We are sailing in the North Sea among the oil platforms. For the first time in the course of two weeks we had a fair wind, but it failed down by night and in the morning it turned into a contrary wind. 90 miles are left to the entrance to the harbour. If we do not manage to reach it with a fair wind we will use our diesel. Yours, Litau" September 27, 2004 We are leaving the Kiel Channel... A short message from Nikolay Litau: We are leaving the Kiel Channel. In half an hour we will moor in the Brunsbuttle Lock, then – Elba, and afterwards we will sail with a favorable wind to the North sea. 300 miles are left to Zeebrugge and we hope to reach it on Thursday September 24, 2004 The yacht "Apostol Andrey" arrived in Kiel On September 24, 2004 in the afternoon the yacht "Apostol Andrey", being two days behind of the schedule, arrived in the German port Kiel. The delay is caused by the adverse weather in the autumn Baltic, as at this time the contrary winds of gale force were prevailing in the Sea. During the ten days of maneuvering the yacht passed 1150 miles instead of 770 miles, which separate St.Petersburg from Kiel along the general course. The speed of the yacht did not exceed 5 knots during these days. In Kiel the yacht "Apostol Andrey" will stay till Sunday. They have to make some repair weeks, in particular to find out why some ceilings of the yacht' premises are nonhermetic. Then the yacht will enter the North Sea through the Kiel Channel and will lay its course to Zeebrugge, where the crew plans to arrive on October 2, 2004. September 22, 2004 Approaching Kiel. We spent the weekend, just maneuvering neat Gotland. Today the wind is still contrary, of the gale strength. That's why our movement is slow and boring. May be we will reach Kiel tomorrow by night. We will have to stay there for a couple of days, making some repair works. September 17, 2004 Everything is going on as usual… Everything is going on as usual… One sheet broke, grinded by a carriage. New carriages do not take into account the direction of traction of the ropes, designed by a designer Konyukhov. Now our boatswain is sawing them with his file, though today is his birthday. The Gulf of Finland did not give us any time to relax. The fresh West wind sometimes reached 15 m/sec. But we managed to keep our tempo. We have sailed 300 miles from St. Petersburg, entered the Baltic Sea and are now sailing by the wind to the south along the Saaremaa Island. Gradually we begin to get rid of sea-sickness. Today poor Zhukov for the first time had his meals. Chief mate was eating rather inertly. But our boatswain Semenov eats as usual – as two men.

20.10.2004: «Apostle Andrew» is leaving to Antarctica On September 14, 2004 a famous sailing yacht `Apostle Andrew’ commanded by Captain Nicolas Litau started for it’s third circumnavigation. The yacht is wending her way to Antarctica shore. After it `Apostle Andrew’ will coast round it, being permanently inside the 60th parallel, which forms a conventional boarder of Antarctica. Moreover, the crew is going to break a sailing ship record and to penetrate inside the 70* parallel. Two hundred years ago first Russian ships `Neva’ and `Nadejda’ (Hope) had circumnavigated Earth under the commandment of I. F. Kruzenshtern and Yu. F. Lisyanski. Since that, long ocean voyages, usually even circumnavigation, became a common practice of Russian mariners. They have discovered hundred of islands and explored and charted North and East Asian coast as well as Alaskan coast and West-North of America. But the main achievement was gained by Russian admirals F.F. Bellinshausen and M.P. Lazarev who discovered Antarctica continent in 1820. Their ships `Vostok’ (East) and `Mirnyi’ (Peaceful) set sail from Korndshtadt in summer of 1819. And now, 185 years later, `Apostle Andrew’ is leaving for Antarctica. The crew is going to complete the sail next summer, which will be mark a jubilee date for Russian explorers of a Sixth Continent. Preparations for this sale took almost a year. They included not only a reconstruction of the ship, but some changes in the crew too. One month before the start, an `Apostle’ crew visited their longstanding friends and sponsors – company `BASK’. Yachtsmen fitted several samples of garments, including `Off Shore’ suits, designed by BASK especially for their new voyage. `Apostle Andrew’ is an ocean yacht designed for Arctic sailing. She is a vessel of 16.2 m. length, 4.8 m. width and 25 tons displacement. `Apostle Andrew’ was made in Tver’ and launched in 1996. In 2000 it was modernized at Kronshtadt dockyard. Home port of the yacht is Moscow. The ship was christened by His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy The Second. In 1996-1999 this ship had navigated round Eastern hemisphere, completing her circumnavigation via Arctic Ocean (not to mention sailing over of all other oceans). It was the first time in world history when a sailing cruiser yacht navigated Artic Passage. Total length of the route was about 31,000 miles. In 2001-2002 the yacht had navigated round Western hemisphere. `Apostle Andrew’ became a first Russian yacht that navigated along North-west Passage (through Canadian Arctic Islands, along Alaskan ocean shore). Total length of this route was about 31,000 miles. Company BASK has been acting as a general equipment sponsor of all the above expeditions during all these years. And this time, as usual, we support our brave mariners. Key man of these events is a captain of `Apostle Andrew’ – honored sailing master Nicolas A. Litau. Royal Cruiser Club of Great Britain declared first circumnavigation of `Apostle Andrew’ to be the most distinguished achievement of world yachting in 1999. Captain Litau was awarded a `Medal for Seamanship’ for this sail. Cruiser Club of United States of America awarded Nicolas Litau `The Blue Water Medal’ for the first non-stop yacht sailing along Artic Passage. In Novemer 2002 Russian Government rewarded Nicolas Litau with `Honor of Courage’.