RI1FJZ -- Franz Josef Land

From RI1FJZ Telegram channel (https://t.me/rt9k_club)

(edited by OPDX):

September 12th

📡 RI1FJZ: 140 miles to go. Already on the air!

Friends, here is a fresh report from aboard Apostol Andrey.

The passage is going without incident. There is almost no following

wind, so the diesel is doing the work — average speed 5.4 knots. Most

of the Barents Sea is astern: the yacht is now north of Svalbard's latitude,

between the archipelago and Novaya Zemlya, heading straight for Alexandra

Land.

⚓️ 140 miles remain. Entry into the 12-mile zone of the archipelago is

expected tomorrow.

🌤The weather is on our side: over Alexandra Land both tomorrow and

on Monday a steady moderate wind of some 15–20 knots is expected,

with no gale-force spikes and lighter air close inshore. Nagurskoye is

reporting around +1…+4 °C. Good working conditions for the approach

and the landing.

📻 And the best part — the team is already on the air! Aboard we're

running a SunSDR2 DX with mobile antennas by Expert Electronics,

powered from the ship's supply. On battery we put out 25 W, on ship's

power 45–50 W. The reports and feedback from correspondents have

been excellent.

Look for us on 14, 18 and 21 MHz as RW6MD/MM and R2BEA/MM.

🛥 The landing will definitely be made by boat — the new outboard has

been tested and run in. Everything is going to plan.

📍 Live tracking: https://share.garmin.com/r9lr

🌐 ri1fjz.ru