The Price of a Dream. Life After Antarctica :)

The Price of a Dream. Life After Antarctica :). Ice and flame: returning from the Ice Continent to Tierra del Fuego. Working while on a break. How many hours there need to be in a day to get everything done in a week. What you pay with—and what you pay for—when you set off on a round-the-world expedition with your children. And the first photographs from Antarctica! Returning to Ushuaia 15 March. No sooner had we fired off into space our report about the strong headwind than the wind in the Beagle Channel eased off a little, the waves subsided, and we happily sped towards Ushuaia at higher revs. Chilean Puerto Williams floated past the window. But we kept closer to the Argentine shore on our starboard side, and I stood by the wheelhouse window to get a look at the gloomy yet dark-green forest, with patches of red breaking through here and there. Dense, tough, and undoubtedly fragrant. In Antarctica the air has no smell—unless, of course, a colony of penguins and assorted seals has set up camp nearby. But on the neighbouring continent, the sweet scents of earth and forest beckon you to go hiking. A small cruise ship overtook us, the “Diamond of Antarctica,” or the Diamond of something else. By dusk, we were approaching the world’s southernmost city (according to the Argentine version). The nocturnal glow from its blazing lights, tangled in the clouds, could be seen from as far as 70 miles away, at the entrance to the Beagle Channel. There were no familiar vessels in the main harbour. It was autumn, and there were fewer yachts in the AFASyN marina than there had been three and a half weeks earlier, when we left for Antarctica. Among the familiar ones was the Polish Selma. As it turned out, this was the last yacht of the season to make one more voyage to the sixth continent. They seem to be the toughest of the lot around here :). They would leave on 18 March and return in April. On the previous voyage, Selma’s captain, Piotr, had brought three polar researchers from Ukraine’s Vernadsky Station to Puerto Williams, but we never crossed paths with them. In the blaze of lights, Lady Mary rafted up third outboard from the American yacht Karma. The husband-and-wife crew told us they would be leaving at eight in the morning, so we would have to re-moor. That put an end to staying up until midnight; there was little chance of getting enough sleep by half past seven, but at least there was some :). We managed to pop up to the club’s library attic and post something half-asleep on Instagram . After that, our strength ran out. Sleeeeeep! Life on the Road—What Else Is There? It feels strange to write this report normally, rather than for transmission by satellite. With the right number of spaces, no need to replace em dashes with hyphens, and no need to separate each indented paragraph with a hundred pairs of full stops. There is even hope that the photographs will go through, though that raises the question of sorting them. ... Can you see the gentle, cuddly leopard seal on the right? Some people think life on the road is easy and carefree. In reality, if you do not simply want to wander around the world, but to contribute to its exploration and popularisation, inspire people to pursue their dreams, and keep four pairs of waterproof trousers in working order, there is far more work than rest involved. And that is before I even mention how radically life aboard a yacht in the Mediterranean and warm latitudes differs from life off Antarctica and in the Southern Ocean. To keep two decent blogs going—one written and one video—plus Instagram and social media, and to move another project forward—the Gingerbread House Hotel in Altai —you have to work your backside off. Because somehow we did not get an inheritance from a millionaire uncle; we have not found any buried treasure yet; the beloved country our income trickles in from is mired in a prolonged crisis; and the expedition has to continue. So whenever we reach solid ground beneath our feet and even a weak internet connection, we find ourselves facing such a backlog that even if there were 50 hours in a day, they would not be enough. For example: This Week’s List of Blogging and Journalistic Tasks: Edit and write up an interview with the legendary Nikolai Litau for Yacht Russia magazine. Oh! We have not told you yet that our third article will soon appear in this brilliant magazine, have we? The first two were about the peculiarities and difficulties of visiting Easter Island and Pitcairn by yacht. Finish several articles for My Planet . Correspond with the editors. Add masses of details to the journal and turn them into three plus three separate reports. Do two guest livestreams for the projects “ Na100yashchaya Zhizn ” and “ Meta-Mama: Lessons on the Go .” And at least one livestream of our own. Select footage and edit three months’ worth—13–15 video episodes—about the Expedition to the Phantom Islands of the Pacific Ocean , the Pole of Inaccessibility, rounding Cape Horn , and Patagonia . After Ushuaia, the internet will disappear, and we promised everyone that the videos would be released regularly. Upload the series to our YouTube channel and write an accompanying text for each video. The captain said not to mention another couple of tasks, so as not to make a public commitment that we might not manage to fulfil within that timeframe. Promote the project. Both projects. Using special internet methods. On an internet connection that is either nonexistent or very limited. Junior Crew Member and Doctor on Bellingshausen Additional Tasks for the First Mate (Me) This Month: Finally write the report for the Russian Geographical Society on our scientific and practical investigation of the phantom islands of the South Pacific. Make a film for the Russian Geographical Society. Contact the Russian Geographical Society to clarify details and requirements for the texts and films. Prepare a report for the Russian Geographical Society on the first Russian family Antarctic expedition with children. Sometimes I ask myself: “Why?” After all, the fees are very small, and the blog does not bring in the amount of money we would like. And we invest an order of magnitude more than we receive in material gain. Why? One of the reasons was wonderfully articulated by Maxim Ivanov, the captain of the yacht Theophania , whom we love dearly. One fragrant Tahitian evening, sitting in our cockpit, the head of the first Russian cruising family with children (the Blagovestiye round-the-world sailing voyage) said that for a long time we had taken knowledge, impressions, emotions, and opportunities from the world... among them an unprecedented journey, for example, and an escape from “the Matrix.” The time had come to Give Back. To the world. ... And we want to give back. To share our experience, to make the world easier to understand, more accessible, and kinder. To light up the eyes of thousands—or better yet, millions—of people and help them make their lives more meaningful. ... Because really, what is the point of dreams if they do not come true? Climbing a Snowfield We Also Need to Find Time For Yacht repairs—the main task connected with our survival and the success of the voyage. Today or tomorrow, if the rain stops: Remove the windvane self-steering gear for running repairs, then secure it back in place, sealing the bolt holes so that the mattresses in the aft cabin stop floating in a salty puddle. Seal the hatches that worked loose during Antarctica . One thing that cannot be done here and now is to find and eliminate the minor leaks around the shrouds and stanchions. To do that, we would have to remove all the guardrails and shroud chainplates one by one (the steel wire ropes that support the masts). If we do not do this, water will continue to seep down the walls, into the lockers, and onto the beds. Come up with and find covers for the vents that will stop seawater pouring into the yacht in heavy seas. Repair the mainsail. Explore the options for ordering and receiving new sails—the largest one, the genoa, and the small but brave staysail. We cannot continue the expedition without them. Find a place that can repair the small staysail , which is beyond DIY repair. It will probably be Punta Arenas or Buenos Aires. Find the money for all of the above. Besides that, there are heaps of routine housekeeping jobs and minor repairs, plenty of which have accumulated since our return from Antarctica. And then there is our seven-year-old junior crew member, who needs playmates, teachers, and educational activities. Our 17-year-old sailor also needs supervision with his studies. There are only two teachers, repair technicians, lecturers, plumbers, writers-journalists, directors, editors, and mechanics: the captain and me. The children lend a hand. In short, paradise for a layabout :). When you set off on a round-the-world voyage with your children, you need to understand that you will have to meet all their needs yourselves. And if there is not enough money in the drawer, you need to find a way to keep patiently putting more into it. And Finally, We Have Some Wonderful News to Share! We have just received a big, substantial, warm, and much-needed parcel from Russia! It came from a Person we have never met in real life, but whose heart definitely beats in unison with ours. As we unpack the lovingly assembled gifts that found us at the end of the earth, we are glowing with joy. And we very much want to meet Dmitry Samoilov in person, representing Jonacor Marine —an international yacht agency and the official distributor of the yacht-building company Hallberg-Rassy and many other well-known brands. Thaaaaank yoooou!!! In the next report, we will write about the gifts making their way from St Petersburg to us on the other side of the planet, and the various travellers who are carrying them :). A separate, heartfelt thank-you to our growing shore team—to those fuelling the first Russian family round-the-world expedition with children via PayPal.me/TravelyFamily ! We thank Oleg G., Anton K., and Mikhail E. for the motivation, for keeping our morale high, and for their tangible involvement in our awesome (I am not afraid to use the word) project! Let’s decorate this post with photographs from Antarctica 🙂 This was the first and easiest time we woke up among the ice and you’re so cold... An iceberg creeping up astern The leopard seal was sleeping under the bowsprit