Russian yachtsmen to follow Russia discoverer’s routes

Yesterday the Aguiney cruiser yacht started from the Sever (North) yacht-club in the northern city of Severodvinsk (the Arkhangelsk region of Russia) to England’s shores. The crew under command of Viktor Kuznetsov will have to cover about 2,000 miles to Scotland’s city of Aberdeen along the same route used by famous English navigator Richard Chancellor to reach the White Sea in 1553. The “sea dog” is by right considered the pioneer of the marine route from England to Russia (there is no other route, indeed).

As the fates decreed, Chancellor’s galleon Edvard Bonaventura found itself in the White Sea near the Yagra island in 1553 (now the island is one of the districts of Severodvinsk).

The galleon’s crew had lived in the area for several months, and many evidences were left there to prove that the history of official relations between the two countries originated exactly from the White Sea. Then monks of the White Sea monastery took Chancellor to Moscow where the latter wrote several messages to the English government which finally resulted in exchange of ambassadors between the two countries. The yacht crossing by enthusiastic historians is dedicated to the 450th anniversary of discovering Russia.

According to a nautical tradition, PRAVDA.Ru correspondent wished the crew seven feet of water under the keel. Aguiney commander Viktor Kuznetsov thanked people who prepared the yacht for a long voyage to Aberdeen. The commander says: “Key objective of the expedition is to prolong the history of relations between Russia and England. We will try to furrow northern seas the same route Chancellor did (his sea charts with the route have survived rather well). We will go through a narrow entrance of the White Sea bay, along the Barents Sea round Scandinavia and then through the North Sea to Aberdeen. By the way, the expedition on Chancellor’s route consists of five men who are mostly sailing veterans, the expedition is expected to last for two months.

Vitaly Bratkov PRAVDA.Ru

Translated by Maria Gousseva