The participants of the round-the-world expedition of the Tomsk Regional Branch of the Russian Geographical Society arrived in Jakarta on January 9. The journey to the capital of Indonesia from the island of Lombok ended successfully. In six days, the sailing vessel of Evgeny Kovalevsky and Stanislav Berezkin traveled about 600 miles.
Almost immediately after leaving the harbor, hot weather set in on Lombok. By the evening of January 3, the travelers reached Bali.
“You can see how the top of the volcano goes up into the sky in the fog. The night watch is becoming a nightmare. Rafts with nets attack us by the dozens, fishing boats scurry around. We are constantly dodging nets, then longboats, then bulk carriers," Evgeny Kovalevsky wrote in his diary.
The ocean in these places is full not only of fishermen. It also pleases the crew with meetings with its wild inhabitants.
“A large turtle swims very close to the left. A snake's head rose above the water, blinked in our direction, and disappeared under the water. Birds are sitting on various floating objects on the water. They take off when we pass by, flap their wings on takeoff, fly in a circle low above the water, almost touching the fish with their feathers, which jump out of the water right into the predatory beaks. Here we are being overtaken by a friendly pod of dolphins. Wow! They dance, prance, dive, jump, flirt with us. It's fun and blissful for us," Kovalevsky shares his impressions.
Stanislav Berezkin and Evgeny Kovalevsky. Photos of the expedition participants
On the morning of January 5, the ship is approaching a dangerous area. At least six ships are lying at the bottom here, which poses a threat to navigation. Especially now, in foggy and cloudy weather.
“Extreme caution is necessary. We observe it. We maneuver between the points indicated on the map as the places where ships sank. The space around the sailboat is steel-colored: steel water, steel sky, steel sun. A white wedge of a lone sailboat cuts through the steel space," Kovalevsky notes.
There is a lot of garbage, organic and inorganic, in the waters of the Java Sea around. It was probably blown off the surrounding shores during recent storms. Squalls come from time to time, accompanied by rain. The expedition members continue to take radiation measurements on a daily basis.
“These are joint studies on the instructions of the Tomsk Branch of the Russian Atomic Energy Information Center. In general, as always, radiation is at the background level,” said Evgeny Kovalevsky.
In the early morning of January 9, the circumnavigation’s sailboat approaches Jakarta and enters the Batavia Marina.
On July 1, 2021, Siberian travelers Evgeny Kovalevsky and Stanislav Berezkin set off along the route of the first Russian round-the-world expeditions of the 19th century: Ivan Kruzenshtern’s (1803-1806), Yuri Lisyansky’s (1803-1806), Otto Kotzebue’s (1815-1818, 1823-1826), Vasily Golovnin’s (1817-1819), Fedor Litke’s (1826-1829), Faddey Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev’s (1819-1921). The international project of the Tomsk Regional Branch of the Russian Geographical Society "Following the paths of Russian explorers" is dedicated to the 250th birthday anniversary of Krusenstern and the 200th anniversary of the discovery of Antarctica by Russian sailors. These events for a long time determined Russia's leadership in the development of the oceans and the discovery of new lands. You can learn more about the project and provide all possible assistance in its implementation on the website of the expedition.