"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