Here's a map of the journey with time and location stamps in the yellow chart below.
source: Adventure Club - The 3-nd voyage of the yacht "Apostol Andrey"
http://www.shparo.com/yacht_2004_2005/yacht_2004-2005_main.htm
If we assume a flat earth Antarctic rim of 60,000 miles, that's 60,000 mi / 365 + about 80 days... or 445 days or 134 miles a day. This is a reasonable distance to travel in 24 hours by ship. If we assume 15,000 miles consistent with ball earth... the daily average travel distance is 34 miles. That seems pretty tiny. All in all, I think the fact that the journey took well over a year is consisent with the longer 60,000 miles distance and thus the flat earth. Captain Cook took a circuitous route around Antarctica that I haven't figured out yet but he took 3 years to go around twice apparently as I recall. That's consistent with an order of magnitude of once around by ship in a year and half. And that's consistent with Apostal Andrey.
Here's a video clip of that journey I found on Youtube.
PROBLEMS
1. The map in the yellow chart above shows a blue line to New Zealand and to Japan that are not on the itinerary of the 3rd trip. A detour to New Zealand is referred to as they lost their rudder and develop an incredible story of subsituting a door. What??? This is suspicious.No mention is made of the Japan tour. How is that even possible for as sailboat? Yet there it is on the map. Source.Adventure Club - The 3-nd voyage of the yacht "Apostol Andrey" - Route
http://www.shparo.com/yacht_2004_2005/yacht_2004-2005_route.htm
www.soundingsonline.com/component/content/article/189162
Jun 21, 2005 ... Nikolay Litau and his five crewmembers knew exactly what to do when their steel yacht, Apostol Andrey, lost its rudder at 3 a.m. off Antarctica.
A highly unlikely situation-- a door rudder is seen as the boat is raised for repair in New Zealand. This is hard to believe. I can't find any video or accounts of how they lost their original rudder, or how they installed this door rudder.
May 7, 2005
The yacht "Apostol Andrey" left the New Zealand.
The yacht "Apostol Andrey" left the New Zealand.
This time our yacht has to overcome more than 6 000 miles – this is the distance from Wellington to Vladivostok, the finish point of our crossing. On our way we plan to visit some of the Pacific island states.
My comment- Why go to Vladivostok after repairs? Why not continue the simple circumnavigation???
2. Position #19 must have a misprinted date of 2005. The date must be 2006.
3. This Russian crew travelled all that distance yet didn't make a stop at the Russian research station NovoLazarSkaya?
4. The maps don't show the last 3 stops at 17, 18 and 19. Why not?
5. The article about the Ham radio prepartion says they planned to be on ham air to March of 2005 but the journey lasted much longer than that through March 2006.
And for ham radio here's the best part. The skipper of the
"Apostol Andrey" is Nikolay Andrey, R3AL. He plans to be on
the air from the Antarctic area starting this December and
continuing through March of 2005. Andrey has the QSL cards
already printed for this expedition and the ship also has an
official Russian postmark onboard and a special postal
stationary envelope for this expedition.
For details on the World-Wide Antarctic Program and the
expedition, go to the World-Wide-Web. The spot is in
cyberspace at www.ddxc.net/wap
"Apostol Andrey" is Nikolay Andrey, R3AL. He plans to be on
the air from the Antarctic area starting this December and
continuing through March of 2005. Andrey has the QSL cards
already printed for this expedition and the ship also has an
official Russian postmark onboard and a special postal
stationary envelope for this expedition.
For details on the World-Wide Antarctic Program and the
expedition, go to the World-Wide-Web. The spot is in
cyberspace at www.ddxc.net/wap
www.ham.se/index.php?threads/ham-radio-sailing-the-antarctic...
Nov 8, 2004 ... It started back on September 14th, when the famed yacht "Apostol Andrey" started out to circumnavigate the area while carrying an operational ...
6. There are no time and date stamps on the videos.
youtube.com
Mar 12, 2008 - 57 sec - Uploaded by NLitau
The yacht Apostol Andrey at the South Georgia Island. In December 2004 the Russian yacht ...
youtube.com
Mar 12, 2008 - 57 sec - Uploaded by NLitau
The yacht Apostol Andrey at the South Georgia Island. In December 2004 the Russian yacht ...
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youtube.com
Mar 10, 2008 - 2 min - Uploaded by NLitau
During its third round the world Circumnavigation (2004 -- 2006) the Russian yacht Aposto
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youtube.com
Mar 10, 2008 - 4 min - Uploaded by NLitau
The yacht Apostol Andrey in the Dibble Iceberg Tongue. ... the yacht) carried out the ...
youtube.com
Mar 10, 2008 - 4 min - Uploaded by NLitau
The yacht Apostol Andrey in the Dibble Iceberg Tongue. ... the yacht) carried out the ...
youtube.com
Mar 11, 2008 - 2 min - Uploaded by NLitau
At noon on February 19, 2005 the yacht Apostol Andrey, carrying out the circumnavigation ...
youtube.com
Mar 11, 2008 - 2 min - Uploaded by NLitau
At noon on February 19, 2005 the yacht Apostol Andrey, carrying out the circumnavigation ...
youtube.com
Mar 12, 2008 - 4 min - Uploaded by NLitau
After completion in August 2006 the circumnavigation around the Antarctica the yacht Apostol ...
7. If the average speed of the boat is 10 knots (roughly mph or nauts-- nautical miles per hour-- which for our purpose is close enough)-- then sailing 10 hours a day = 100 miles. They should have covered the 15,000 mile ball-earth perimeter in 150 days-- /30 = 5 months. It took them 15 months... consistent with a 3 X 15,000 = 45,000 which approaches a 60,000 Antarctic rim. These numbers are not proof of a flat earth rim Antarctica but they simply raise questions right now. I wish my results were not so ambiguous.
8. The Russian crew is pictured with a ball earth behind them.
Adventure Club - Photo Exhibition
http://www.shparo.com/photo/Yacht-3/Album/album_yacht-3_13.htm
If they actually carried out this trip as they say, could they have fooled themselves? Shouldn't they have realized that they were taking a much longer time to cover the estimated distance than they had imagined? Captain Cook is noteworthy for his journal entries noting that his own calculations were off by 20 miles a day.
9. This trip was partly to celebrate Bellinghausen's Antarctica trip 185 years before-- but I think Bellinghausen was not conclusive either. I didn't have as much data on that trip. See the index below.
But the most significant achievement had become the discovery of the Antarctica in 1820, made by Faddey Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev. In summer 1819 the sloops "Vostok" and "Mirny" sailed from Kronshtadt, 185 years later the yacht "Apostol Andrey" will also start its route to the shores of the Antarctica.
http://www.shparo.com/yacht_2004_2005/yacht_2004-2005_main.htm
10. A New Zealand publication noted the Apostel Andrey's stop at Dumont D'urville-- an interesting official receipt that I'll be on the lookout for in the future.
OPOSTOL ANDREY
http://www.newzeal.com/theme/Ships/Russia/apostolandrey.htm
11. The official card showing the route indicates more stops than the Adventure Society's map that sponsored the trip. See the Adventure Society's map at the top of this post... then view this.
Why are there more stops on the map just above? Who is Cbeta? what is the other logo?
source: http://www.newzeal.com/theme/Ships/Russia/apostolandrey.htm
OPOSTOL ANDREY
12. OH NO!!!! -- Check this out. This explains the map that shows the trip up to Japan.... which is actually a trip to Vladivostok... in this sail boat. Sure. Why is this trip not noted on the yellow log chart at the top of this blog? Why is this trip touted as a circumnavigation when in fact it was not? It was a TWO PART TRIP that is now too hard to verify. A similar thing occurred when I looked carefully at Bellinghausen's trip 200 years before.
2006 Re-Commencement of Voyage.
After spending some time in Wellington for repairs and because of the lateness of the season, the decision was made for the "Apostol Andrey" to return to Russia and then come back to New Zealand at the end of the year to complete the circumnavigation. The yacht sailed to Vladivostok and then returned to New Zealand arriving at Lyttelton on the 12th of January, 2006.
The "Apostol Andrey" is shown at right sailing within Lyttelton Harbour.
source: OPOSTOL ANDREY
http://www.newzeal.com/theme/Ships/Russia/apostolandrey.htm
13. A big deal is made on this site of postcards with postal stamps. Maybe I should look at these more carefully. MAybe this simple method can be used to examine other circumnavigations of Antarctica. It's possible that Ham Radio and Postcards might be used to verify a true continuous circumnavigation. There's actually an Antarctica Philatety Society (!?) and website.
http://www.newzeal.com/theme/Ships/Russia/apostolandrey.htm
http://www.newzeal.com/steve/antarctica.htm
14. Here's a complete diary of the entire trip that will take awhile to go through. I'll examine it in coming weeks for more clues as to what really happened here.
http://www.shparo.com/yacht_2004_2005/yacht_2004-2005_news.htm
Some entries in the diary include coordinates and dates. My interest in this trip is from Jan 1 2005 at the Sandwich Islands.
January 1, 2005
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At last the wind appeared. And we took a course to the East. The forecasts promise us good life till Christmas. And for the present our coordinates at 17:00 GMT 04.01.04: 56° 56' S, 18° 38' W, south wind of the rate 8-10 m/sec; the temperature of the air: +2° C, the water: -1° C. Today we saw something looking like a sun, we constantly observe icebergs. Our spirits are in normal state.
The diary states the miles they'll sail... and the time
quote: Now the yacht will start its sailing in the "violent sixtieth". The crew will spend three months behind this parallel, which is the official border of the Antarctica. Three months in a company of icebergs and wandering albatrosses, in the waters which temperatures never have risen above zero. The yacht will sail almost 10000 miles before a full completion of the Antarctic circuit.
end of quote
Note that his estimate is 10,000 miles not 15,000 miles which I thought would be closer to the mainstream idea of a trip around Antarctica. As well, the actual trip was 15 months, not 3 months...
January 13, 2005
There are actually no news…
There are actually no news…
There are actually no news, slow, monotonous sailing. There was almost no wind during the last two days. The speed of the yacht Apostol Andrey was around 2 knots. A fog was replaced by a drizzle, and drizzle – by wet snow. There are no traces of life, sometimes we saw a lonely petrol, passing by.
MY COMMENT-- No wind? Unlikely around Antarctica.
January 14, 2005
The thirteenth...
The thirteenth...
At last the wind started to blow after two days of light breeze. By night the wind increased up to 15 metres, and we had to reef. The day was over and I decided to take the next watch. I came up to the deck and took a steering wheel from Andrey Balymov and when he disappeared in the hatch, the grotto flapped on a wave and I saw an enormous hole in the sail. At the first minute of the thirteenth January
MY COMMENT-- a HOLE in the sail??? How likely is this? Note that there are no lat and long data on these entries... I'm beginning to wonder if the entire trip was pure fiction.
January 20, 2005
Fishermen or pirates?
Fishermen or pirates?
When the re is light breeze, a sailing is going on smoothly and without incidents. While our moving to the south, the wind goes away to the east, but it allowed us to go by the wind along our general course till today. The roughness of the sea is small. A pressure has come to a standstill five days ago. This sailing to some extent reminds us of our sailing under trade winds. The main difference is only in temperatures, occurrence of icebergs (but now we meet them not so often) and absence of heavenly bodies.
In an hour before supper we had an unexpected meeting: a small ship was moving in opposite course from leeward side. We passed each other at the two cable's length. This ship did not have any name, nor flag or other tokens. They did not show any interest in us and told us that they were fishermen from Peru. May be this is true, but fishermen usually do not like to confess that they are fishing in this area. We wished each other happy journey and a mysterious ship disappeared in a snow squall.
Yours sincerely
Nikolay Litau
Nikolay Litau
MY COMMENT-- How convenient! No verification of crossing paths with another crew is possible.
February 9, 2005
During a month to the south of the 60-th parallel.
During a month to the south of the 60-th parallel.
We met the last one on previous Sunday, when the yacht "Apostol Andrey" did not manage to sail even 50 miles in daytime
My COMMENT-- I was about right in terms of order of magnitude distance expected per day. I said they should move 135 miles a day. Here we see 50 miles is disappointing... thus 135 miles should be a favored norm, approximately.
March 3, 2005
The yacht "Apostol Andrey" interrupts its circumnavigation.
The yacht "Apostol Andrey" interrupts its circumnavigation.
A message from the board of the yacht "Apostol Andrey":
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.
Yours sincerely
Nikolay Litau
Nikolay Litau
MY COMMENT-- So here we see the problem develop with no reference to lat and long positions or normal ship diary accounting as I understand it. No mayday is issued on the ham radio. No distress call. They're in big trouble. They "do not lose presence of mind" despite being ruderless 1300 miles away from land. Hmm... Are they taking Valium?
April 1, 2005
The yacht "Apostol Andrey" has arrived in Wellington, New Zealand
After passing more than 2000 miles without the rudder the yacht "Apostol Andrey" has arrived in Wellington. Here the yacht would be lifted from the water and all necessary repair works would be done. After that the skipper and the crew would take a decision about the further destiny of their third circumnavigation.
Press-Service of the Adventure Club.
MY COMMENT --2000 miles without the rudder?
May 7, 2005
The yacht "Apostol Andrey" left the New Zealand.
The yacht "Apostol Andrey" left the New Zealand.
This time our yacht has to overcome more than 6 000 miles – this is the distance from Wellington to Vladivostok, the finish point of our crossing. On our way we plan to visit some of the Pacific island states.
My comment- Why go to Vladivostok after repairs? Why not continue the simple circumnavigation???
August 6, 2006
Connection of times, or 185 years later.
The third circumnavigation was completed. 49 650 miles were left astern, this distance is more, than the length of the two equators.
MY comment-- the mileage includes a trip to Vladivostok and back and to New Zealand... so it's impossible to determine the recorded official mileage around Antarctica-- another boondoggle just like the original trip by Cook and Bellinghausen in years past. They called this a success?
The crew looks far too happy for the 2 part dangerous mission-- was it all a hoax? Possibly.
keywords - andrey, apostel andrey, flat earth, rick potvin, antarctica