Happy Birthday, Captain Andrey Klochkov!

The captain and I have only been this far apart once before, seven years ago. He flew to the Canary Islands to prepare the yacht for our round-the-world voyage, and we were supposed to join him a month later. It turned out to be five months. So he celebrated his birthday without us. But the captain’s next birthday, in 2016, we celebrated in the Amazon, on the Mahury River, with three dozen French sailors, their children, and some tough Dutch channel dredgers. 31 October 2017 found us in Colombia. After sanding the yacht’s hull, we had a picnic in a little room at the shipyard. Fellow sailors from France and Poland, just as dusty from boat repairs as we were, came to visit, along with Eudaldo, a Cuban. In 2018, the day found us on the island of Moorea, near Tahiti, in the very heart of French Polynesia. Together with our close friends—the crew of the yacht Theophania, Maxim, Natasha, Ksyusha, and Polina Ivanov—we threw a proper celebration: a hike through the jungle, a fantastic anchorage in the most beautiful bay in the world, turquoise water, and corals teeming with fish. And songs accompanied by guitar on deck. Moorea Island near Tahiti In 2019, the captain’s birthday caught up with us in South Africa. Over the course of the year, we crossed one and a half oceans, rounded Cape Horn twice, and sailed to Antarctica. In South Africa, we were welcomed like family, and there were lots of guests at our picnic near Cape Town. In the spectacular year of 2020, the captain celebrated his birthday in Australia. The grown-ups’ celebration coincided with Halloween, when children dressed as bogeymen went hunting for sweets. We welcomed guests at the yacht club, and then made jolly fools of ourselves with a song at a concert held by the Prichal Club ). I’m making a toast—that’s why I look so funny To compensate for all that merriment, the following year’s birthday had to be spent in philosophical reflection. And 31 October fell on day 57 of our non-stop passage from southern Tasmania to the middle of the Pacific. It had already grown warm, and we drank children’s champagne aboard the yacht in the open ocean. There were 28 days left until land. Today, it’s like this And now it’s 2022. For once, we were planning to celebrate at home, surrounded by those closest to us. But, “If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.” God scratched His head and said, “Well, Andryusha, how about you go to the Philippines and warm up a bit!” And so, on his 48th birthday, the captain is keeping warm aboard Lady Mary while we bundle up in Altai. We haven’t been apart for seven years. Anyone who knows about life cycles, tell me—is seven years the magic number? There’s a typhoon in the Philippines right now; it has even been given a name, Paeng. The skipper has had quite the run of typhoons over the past month. The solar panels from the bottom of the sea would agree ). But fortunately, Andrey isn’t alone: Artyom and Lyosha are with him. Guys, we’re so very glad about that. It seems I must have done something good in a past life, for the Lord to reward me with the good sense to choose the right (totally wrong, actually)) man and somehow manage to keep our family together. Thank you for the happiness of being your wife, the woman you love, and your friend. Thank you for the way we managed to take that strange assortment of materials—which, besides treasures, also included... duct tape and sticks—and build our imperfect, happy family. We all feel that you are close. Your strength, support, and wisdom (which in no way conflict with your dashing, goofy appearance). Thank you for everything we have done together and for all the achievements still to come. The most important thing in difficult times is to look in the same direction and share the same values. Thank you for the foundation we share. Not just walls and wings. It is so important to be able not only to talk, but also to sit together in silence about that-which-must-not-be-spoken-aloud. It makes our shared wings stronger. Thank you for the happiness of being on your crew, literally and figuratively. We wish for you never to give up, and to feel our support even on another planet. Because you are the core. Without you, I have only one wing, Andryush... I can’t fly, but I still have legs )... so I’ll have to run. We’ll definitely figure out how to live in this world that has gone off the rails, and once again catch the wind in our sails (in fact, you’re about to replace them, repair Lady Mary, and then we’ll race towards each other). Be happy, our bravest, wisest, funniest, strictest, and strongest captain of the ship! We love you beyond measure. About gifts and happy things! Friends, if you would like to give the captain a gift, it’s easy! You can do so through https://sobe.ru/na/travelyfamily We thank Alexander Borisovich M. for topping up the ship’s kitty and for the gift. Hugs to you! For our friends abroad, the captain has an account with the following details: AUD account details. Account holder: Andrey Klochkov BSB code: 802-985 Account number: 719820835 EUR account details. Account holder: Andrey Klochkov BIC: TRWIBEB1XXX IBAN: BE40 9671 5563 6563 USD account details. Account holder: Andrey Klochkov. Routing number: 084009519 Account number: 9600000000054897 Happy birthday to Andrey Klochkov—master mariner, almost a polar explorer, and twice a circumnavigator! And to you, friends, we wish peace, happiness, and kindness! Thank you to everyone who travels, lives, grows, worries, fears, overcomes, and copes alongside us. The adventures continue!