Evgeny Gvozdev is a yachtsman. Evgeny Gvozdev
His life credo was the postulate that a person should create something that can be delightfully told to children and grandchildren, to do a deed that is useful for society and the individual. And Yevgeny Alexandrovich did not deviate from this motto: in his life he made two round-the-world trips, which went down in the history of navigation as the most dangerous and difficult, because they were made on tiny pleasure sailing dinghies.
Life aboard a ship
Yevgeny Gvozdev was born on March 11, 1934 in the small Belarusian town of Pinsk. The childhood of the future traveler passed in difficult conditions: as soon as the boy was three years old, his father was arrested by the Soviet authorities. Yevgeny did not see him again, his father was not destined to return from the camps - he became one of the countless victims of the Stalinist machine of repression. And soon, when the war began, an even greater loss awaited the boy: his mother died as a result of fascist shelling, and distant relatives accepted the orphan Yevgeny Gvozdev into their family.
From the age of 15, Gvozdev has been living in the city of Makhachkala. At this time, the young man begins to get involved in the sea and ships, so when the question arose about his future fate, Eugene chose the profession of a ship mechanic, which he received at the Astrakhan Naval School. For the next 35 years, Gvozdev has been working on large fishing vessels plying the expanses of the Caspian Sea.
"Getan"
In the 70s, it began to spread as a sport, and Evgeny Gvozdev began to get seriously interested in sailing and traveling. And since he was a poor man, he did not have money for his own yacht. Miraculously, the entertainer manages to get an old decommissioned whaleboat, from which Evgeny Alexandrovich built a small yacht in two years. The Makhachkala mechanic called his construction "Getan", hiding the names of people close to him in the abbreviation of the ship's name.
In 1979, Gvozdev on the "Getan" makes an unprecedented journey across the Caspian Sea along the Makhachkala-Baku route. After that, a small sailing ship with its captain made more than 50 trips across the Caspian both in summer and in winter, despite general skepticism and statements that the Getan pleasure boat is unlikely to sail somewhere. Yevgeny Gvozdev sailed and conceived an even more grandiose journey.
First trip around the world
It was 1991 and Evgeny Alexandrovich, at the age of 57, decides to go to trip around the world. A simple Russian person did not have a suitable vessel, and Gvozdev beats the thresholds of the SOVMARKET shipbuilding company. He offers to make a trip to as a test yacht. And everything would be fine, but Kazakhstani manufacturers of micro-yachts made of fiberglass could not imagine how sailboats for family coastal recreation could make any trip, let alone sail into the open ocean, as Yevgeny Gvozdev had planned.
For half a year, the assertive traveler did not leave SOVMARKET alone, until the management allocated him a small pleasure yacht Lena. In addition, a three-year contract was signed, according to which Gvozdev was accepted into the company's staff as a tester. Needless to say, the ship handed over to the stubborn navigator was in no way suitable for circumnavigating the world, because it was equipped in accordance with standard projects and had only an additional layer of fiberglass laid on the bottom of the boat.
On July 7, 1992, Evgeny Gvozdev sets off on a long-awaited round-the-world trip on the Lena boat, 5.5 meters long. The difficult voyage ended in 1996, after 4 years and two weeks. This circumnavigation of the world was the first solo trip around the world on a "micro" class yacht in the history of mankind, which was successfully completed.
At sea on the yacht "Said"
Evgeny Gvozdev's stay on land did not last long - on May 17, 1999, he set off on a second trip around the world. This time the ship was even smaller than during the first circumnavigation of the world - its length was only 3.7 meters. Since Said Amirov, the city of Makhachkala, financed the incredible idea of Gvozdev, the yacht was named “Said” in honor of the sponsor, about which the traveler will regret more than once when there are problems with the Greek border guards who mistook him for a Muslim navigator.
After the successful completion of the round-the-world trip on August 9, 2003, Evgeny Gvozdev admits that there was a ship that was more suitable for long journeys, which Canadian sponsors offered him, but he, as a Russian person, could not accept the gift and give his accomplishments to another country.
One way or another, the journey was completed and the sailor had many years of ordeals, raging waves, now and then striving to throw the ship and even a meeting with Somali pirates, from which Evgeny Alexandrovich managed to get out alive and healthy.
Fatal Journey "Getan II"
In October 2008, 74-year-old Gvozdev embarked on his third round-the-world trip on the Getan II yacht. After passing the Black Sea, the Bosporus and reaching the coast, the traveler got in touch on December 1 and received no more messages from him.
On December 10, his body was found on the coast of Naples, with a gaping wound on his head, and his yacht with a broken mast was also found nearby. Presumably, the navigator got into a severe storm, as a result of which the yacht capsized, and its captain was fatally injured.
Evgeny Gvozdev is a bright personality in Russian yachting, he is a significant figure in this sport and the most outstanding yachtsman of recent decades. Even at an advanced age, without funds and support, he traveled, loved the sea to oblivion and dedicated not only his life to it - he found his death in it, like a real sailor.
1934-03-11 - 2008-12-02 Russian traveler, navigator
Life
Evgeny Gvozdev was born in Pinsk, Belarus, in 1934. In 1937, his father was arrested, and he did not return from the Stalinist camps. Mother died during the Nazi bombing. The future traveler was brought up by a distant relative.
Evgeniy Gvozdev graduated from the Nautical School in Astrakhan and for 35 years sailed as a ship mechanic on large fishing vessels in the Caspian Sea. Since 1949, E. Gvozdev lived in Makhachkala.
In the late 1970s, he became interested in yachting. For two years hard work by the summer of 1979, Gvozdev independently built a single-hull sailing yacht, converted from a decommissioned "whaleboat" (a fast boat with 4-8 oars).
From September 13 to October 20, 1979, for the first time in the history of the Caspian Sea, Evgeny Gvozdev, the mechanic of the motor ship of the Makhachkala seaport, single-handedly traveled the route Makhachkala - Bautino - Shevchenko - Krasnovodsk - Baku on his yacht. The yacht was named "Getan", consisting of the first letters of the names: Gvozdev Evgeny, wife Tatiana, son Alexander, daughter Natalya.
After the first serious voyage in the Caspian Sea in 1979, Evgeny Gvozdev conceived a trip to the winter Caspian, and in December 1982 he went to sea on the Getan yacht, crossing the Caspian along the meridian.
Working as a mechanic in the port of Makhachkala, yachtsman Yevgeny Gvozdev, full member of the Geographical Society of the USSR, crossed the Caspian in single and collective trips more than 50 times. On the yacht "Getan" he visited all the Soviet ports of the Caspian Sea, passing about four thousand miles.
1st Circumnavigation
On July 7, 1992, Evgeny Alexandrovich Gvozdev on the yacht Lena (class "micro", only 5.5 meters long) from Makhachkala set off on his first solo circumnavigation. On July 19, 1996, the journey was successfully completed. With this, Gvozdev set a kind of world record - the first and only voyage in the history of solo circumnavigations made on an ordinary pleasure dinghy.
2nd circumnavigation
Evgeny Gvozdev began his second circumnavigation of the world on May 17, 1999 from Makhachkala, where he himself built a 3.7-meter Said yacht from fiberglass on the balcony of his apartment.
Upon arrival at the Astrakhan port, the Said yacht was carefully placed on a truck and delivered to Novorossiysk, from where, on July 2 of the same year, E. Gvozdev set off to surf the oceans. From the beginning of the voyage, the traveler crossed the Black, Marmara, Aegean and Mediterranean seas, stopping at the ports of Istanbul, Athens and Calaverde (on the island of Sardinia).
After Gibraltar, the journey across the Atlantic began. Gvozdev successfully reached Brazil, mooring successively in the ports of Las Palmas, Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Rio Gallegos (the southern port of Argentina), and finally passed the Strait of Magellan, famous for its evil storms.
After that, he circled South America and crossed Pacific Ocean. But first, the brave captain passed along the coast of Chile to the north in order to "attach" to the western tropical current. E. Gvozdev took the start in this main and longest and most dangerous crossing in the Chilean port of Arica. Sailing westward, covering thousands of miles, he reached Tahiti and Samoa in four months. July 29, 2002 Gvozdev reached the coast of the North Australian city of Darwin (the capital of the Northern Territory of Australia).
The next transition is across the Indian Ocean with a visit to the Cocos Islands, Sri Lanka and the Indian port of Cochin. Having crossed the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, Evgeny Gvozdev is again in the Mediterranean Sea, which belongs to the Atlantic Ocean basin.
With great difficulties, both natural (strong headwind) and man-made (the unfriendly attitude of the Greek border guards, who mistook Gvozdev for a Turk because of the specific name of the yacht), he overcame the Aegean Sea and reached the Dardanelles Strait, connecting this sea with the Sea of Marmara. It was here that his second ring around the planet closed. This happened on July 10, 2003. About a week later, he moored in the Black Sea port of Sochi. And on August 9, 2003, Evgeny Aleksandrovich was solemnly welcomed on his yacht Said in the port of Makhachkala.
After the second round-the-world tour of Gvozdev, the city administration of Makhachkala decided to build the first monument in Russia in honor of the legendary yacht and its captain on the seaside Rhodope Boulevard. Currently, the Said yacht is temporarily located in the local history museum of the Makhachkala school-lyceum No. 39.
3rd circumnavigation
The 74-year-old Evgeniy Gvozdev set out on his third trip around the world from Novorossiysk on September 19, 2008 on a specially built yacht Getan II. The launch date was not chosen by chance: in September 1979, Evgeny Alexandrovich, then a young captain, first sailed on the self-built Getan yacht in solo swimming across the Caspian
The length of the new yacht "Getan II" was 5.5 m, the width was almost 2.5 m. And, according to E. Gvozdev himself, this time he was equipped much better than his previous trips.
Circumstances of death
In early October 2008, Evgeny Alexandrovich Gvozdev reported that he had safely crossed the Black Sea and reached the city of Eregli, Turkey, not far from the Bosphorus. On November 10, Gvozdev safely reached the Italian coast near Cape Spartivento. On December 1, Evgeny Gvozdev got in touch for the last time.
On December 10, 2008, the body of a 75-year-old Russian with a deep wound on his head was found on the beach of Castelporziano in southern Italy. In the same area, on the beach named after Amerigo Vespucci, the Getan II yacht was found washed ashore, on which Gvozdev set off from Novorossiysk to circumnavigate the world. On it, the carabinieri found personal belongings, travel notes and a list of names written in Russian.
Apparently, events developed as follows: on November 29, during a winter storm in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Naples, a 5-meter yacht capsized and broke the mast. After that, Gvozdev restored the seaworthiness of the yacht and continued on his way. Didn't send an SOS signal. The last communication session with the traveler took place on December 1, after which Gvozdev no longer contacted.
According to the preliminary version, Evgeny Gvozdev died on December 2 during a severe storm near Naples.
- October 14, 2011
His name should be on a par with Thor Heyerdahl, Francis Chichester, Tim Severin ... And to be fair, it should be the first on this list!
Gvozdev was treated differently during his lifetime. Some considered him an eccentric and adventurer, others considered him a hero. He was admired and they said about him that he was a disgrace to his Motherland. He was called a brave navigator and a poor lone vagabond. But hardly anyone could compare with him in dedication and perseverance in the realization of his dreams. Joshua Slocum, Alain Gerbaud, Francis Chichester, Thor Heyerdahl, Eric Tabarly, Fedor Konyukhov - the names of these yachtsmen and travelers are known all over the world. They talk about them, write about them, make films, numerous Internet sites are devoted to them. For better or worse, but the fact remains: to become famous, you need PR, professional management, a support team ... Evgeny Gvozdev did not have any of this, and therefore his name is still known only to a narrow circle of insiders. He was not a hero of his time...
It is hard to believe
Which of us in childhood did not dream of distant lands and sailing around the world? But with age, childhood dreams are forgotten. Family, work, everyday problems - what kind of circumnavigations are there ... You have to put up with it and meekly accept the realities of everyday life. But Yevgeny Gvozdev did not want to accept. Imagine: an ordinary pensioner goes around the planet with practically no money on a pleasure mini-yacht that is absolutely not adapted for long-distance voyages. And then he builds his own boat, even smaller, on the balcony of his small apartment, and makes a second solo trip around the world on it! Finally, at the age of 75, on another miniature yacht, he sets off for the third round-the-world trip. All these are real facts, although at first it is difficult to believe in them ... Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Gvozdev was born in 1934 in the Belarusian city of Pinsk. He lost his parents early - his father was repressed, and he disappeared in the camps during the years of Stalinist terror, his mother died during an air raid at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. Eugene found himself with distant relatives, and from the age of 15 he lived in Dagestan, which became his second home. Here, in Makhachkala, he graduated from high school, then from a nautical school and worked as a mechanic on fishing vessels for more than 30 years. 
Somewhere in the late 50s, Gvozdev first read about a solo circumnavigation on the yacht of the Frenchman Marcel Bardiot, and at the same time he had the idea to do something similar. He began to collect information, re-read everything that could be found in the libraries. He was particularly impressed by the book of the world's first solo circumnavigator, Joshua Slocum, "Sailing Alone". Eugene decided at all costs to fulfill his dream and, following the example of Slocum, go around the globe. In 1977-1979, Gvozdev rebuilt the old wooden whaleboat he inherited into a sailing yacht, which he called "GETAN" - after the first letters of the names: Gvozdev Evgeniy, Tatyana (his wife), Alexander (son), Natalya (daughter). At the end of that year, he set off on his first long voyage under sail. In stormy conditions, Evgeny traveled along the route Makhachkala - Fort Shevchenko - Krasnovodsk - Baku, twice crossed the Caspian Sea. 
In subsequent years, he proceeded along and across the Caspian Sea, leaving 4000 miles behind the stern of his "GETAN". Having gained the necessary experience, Evgeny Gvozdev considered himself ready for a solo ocean voyage. However, he could not leave his family and work for a long time. And getting a passport with an exit visa for an individual traveler in those years was almost impossible. In general, the struggle of the future circumnavigator with the Soviet bureaucracy is a separate story, and it is not known whether he could have emerged victorious if it had not been for the collapse of the USSR ... An old dream took on real shape in the spring of 1992, when Gvozdev convinced a businessman he knew to provide him with a micro-class pleasure yacht to sail to the USA for the celebrations in honor of the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America. This transition was supposed to be a good advertisement for the products of the little-known Sovmarket shipyard from the Kazakh city of Aktau (FortShevchenko). 
The yacht - a 5.5-meter dinghy "Lena" - was indeed transferred to Gvozdev, for temporary use. However, due to difficulties with the execution of all travel documents and permits, the yacht was stuck in Novorossiysk for a long time and was late for the anniversary sailing regatta in America. When the paperwork was over, winter came, and the owners of the shipyard decided to limit themselves to the transition to Istanbul and back. Based on this, an estimate of expenses was also drawn up - $ 100 and 50 thousand rubles, at the then exchange rate, in total, this is a little more than two hundred "green". 
But it turned out that after leaving Novorossiysk on December 15, 1992, Evgeny Gvozdev returned only three and a half years later - on July 19, 1996. During this time, he crossed the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic, went through the Panama Canal to the Pacific Ocean, reached the coast of Australia, and from there to the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. And all this without the slightest international legal, financial or even moral support from state and diplomatic bodies. He repeatedly found himself in a difficult situation, starved, was captured and robbed by Somali pirates and miraculously survived ... But nevertheless, the risky journey was successfully completed. It was the world's first solo round-the-world trip on a pleasure dinghy. 
But the Motherland did not appreciate the feat. The few mentions of Gvozdev in the media presented his swimming as more of a curiosity. In the "dashing nineties" there were other heroes in the country ... Evgeny Alexandrovich actually did not expect special attention to your person. He did not pursue fame. Having returned the Lena yacht to its rightful owner, he immediately took up new project. He decided to repeat the circumnavigation, but on his own homemade yacht. Which he undertook to build ... on the balcony of his "Khrushchev"! It took three years to build the new boat. It turned out to be quite miniature - its fiberglass body had a length of only 3.7 meters (the maximum that the size of the balcony allowed). The design feature was the keel, which fit 120 kg of lead; he provided the ship with high stability. The baby yacht was named "Said" - in honor of the mayor of Makhachkala, Said Amirov, who provided financial assistance to Gvozdev. The yacht was removed from the balcony by a crane, and after a short test, its designer set off on her second round-the-world trip. June 2, 1999 "Said" left Novorossiysk and headed for the Bosphorus. 
The new voyage was more difficult. Firstly, the tiny size of the vessel forced to save on everything: take a minimum of water and provisions, even the outboard motor "Veterok" had to be left on the shore and go only under sail. Secondly, the route was now laid not through the Panama Canal, but around South America. Gvozdev had to follow not only in tropical waters, but also to wade through the "roaring forties" latitudes. The second voyage, like the first, dragged on for years. The Canary Islands, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, the Strait of Magellan… The Pacific Ocean was conquered with great difficulty. The diminutive size of the yacht did not allow taking a sufficient supply of fresh water, and the desperate traveler went on a four-month voyage, hoping for rain, which, unfortunately, was not there. For three months Gvozdev suffered from thirst. Next - Tahiti, Australia, the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea ... On July 10, 2003, Gvozdev arrived in Sochi, and on August 9 - in Makhachkala. Here, a joyful meeting awaited the traveler, and the mayor of the city handed him the keys to a new apartment. But Gvozdev could not sit at home. In less than 75 years, he again went to the ocean. On the new 5.5-meter boat "GETAN-2" (an improved version of the serial yacht of the St. Petersburg company "Ricochet" with a new keel fin), he set out to go around the world for the third time.
The famous navigator and brave man Yevgeny Gvozdev again takes on the conquest of the globe. In September of this year, the traveler goes on another trip around the world. The new yacht "Getan-2" is being prepared for testing. The Moscow Yachting School will cover the entire campaign of the famous sailor.
-What are you going to conquer the seas this time?
This is a walking dinghy of the Lena type, which is designed for four people. Launched in Makhachkala. You can go to Sulak or Kaspiysk without any problems. I made my first round-the-world trip on such a dinghy. By the way, this is the first and so far the only voyage around the world on this type of vessel. Our yacht has a strong hull, but the superstructure, however, is rather weak. Instead of a centerboard, a keel is installed and due to this, of course, it will be more seaworthy. But it will still need modifications. It is necessary to do something on it, to bring to mind. I believe that if a yacht is thrown into the water from a height of three meters and it does not crumble, then it can go out into the ocean. But most importantly, it must be unsinkable.
- There is only one ball. Will you follow the same route as before?
There are several routes. The most difficult - "roaring forties". An easier route is along the equator. But it all depends on how ready the yacht is. And then we must not forget - I am already 74 years old. In short, swimming will be serious, much more difficult than the previous two.
The first time I went on the Lena along the route: Gibraltar - Las Palmas - Panama Canal - Tahiti - Torres Strait between Australia and Indonesia - Indian Ocean - Red Sea - Suez Canal and home. The second time already went through the Strait of Magellan. And everything else is the same. Now I want to go down, go along Africa, well, and so on. But for now it is a bit premature to write about these plans. I'll get to Gibraltar, and there it will become clear to me whether to go south, or along the equator.
What is the difference between this yacht and the one that stands in the lobby of the Makhachkala Lyceum No. 39?
The school has a yacht - "homemade" "Said". It was built on a balcony. Length - three meters seventy centimeters. With her own weight of three hundred and fifty kilograms, she took on board seven hundred. And the new yacht has a length of five and a half meters.
- In fact, you went around the world twice in a "basin". Isn't it scary to tempt fate for the third time?
Scary. If I'm not scared, I won't go to sea
-But you're still going. Why?
Well, if I lie at home on the couch, then I will go to a meeting with the Almighty earlier (smiles).
- What thoughts visit the high seas?
On the first voyage, he crossed the Atlantic - he did not see a single shark. Just passed the Panama Canal and on the first day I saw a small shark. Right on the stern. I grab a harpoon and straight to her head! Blood flows, the excitement of the hunter! The shark broke loose and swam away, leaving a trail of blood. Half an hour later I thought - why did I do this? I wasn't hungry! I still feel like I did something stupid.
-When you go out of the sea into the ocean - something happens? Water, wind others?
All the same. But the most interesting thing is when you meet other people there. And when you get into a hurricane. Tropical. You come out of it whole - you begin to respect yourself.
What to do if a person is lost at sea?
Sit down and think. You know, “lost”, “broken”, “fire”, “hole” and so on - all this is nonsense! First of all, there is no need to panic
What is the worst thing in the sea?
Probably when a person loses his sense of humor and sense of reality. The ocean - it is the ocean-element, hostile to man
- Have you thought about going with someone?
It was offered. I know a family that has been traveling in the ocean for nine years. By the way, it's very convenient. I always dreamed about it, but it was impossible to do it on my boats. For example, the problem of lack of drinking water could become very acute.
Have you tried drinking sea water?
-How did you have fun?
No time for entertainment when the whole day is busy. After all, it is necessary to manage the yacht, wash, cook food. So there was no time to be bored.
- Is it true that when you go ashore, a characteristic sea gait appears?
Not really! Although, for the first time, of course, it happens
-By the way, how are your “languages”?
In Australia, there is a restaurant in the Darwin Yacht Club. On Sundays, regulars gather there to eat and chat. I was asked to speak and tell about myself and my swimming. They invited an interpreter” - a German from the GDR. I feel that I don’t have time, and I don’t know the terms of the sea very well. Well, I myself broke up in English: "ay dount speak English - ah speak Australia." All this was filmed on video. Already at home I showed my daughter-in-law, who teaches English. He says: I understood everything, but I almost died laughing! For me, it is a pleasure to talk with some native and in "pure" English, but with an Englishman - hard labor! In general, schoolchildren often ask what language I spoke. I'll tell a story. On my first voyage, I am standing in the harbor of San Juan Puerto Rico. Fit two divinely beautiful girls from the staff and ask in Spanish: -Señor, banyo problemo?. Well, who does not know what a bath is! Therefore I answer: but, signorita! I show a bucket, depict how I pour myself out of it and rub myself. The girls were blown away by the wind. Then I found out that it turned out that they, showing hospitality, asked if I should go to the toilet. Imagine what they thought of me!
-Is there a difference in how we and abroad get access to the sea?
There it is very simple. You stood in the harbor, got ready to leave - they will simply tell you how much to pay for gas, water, electricity. Paid and goodbye! And with us, when I left for the first voyage, in Novorossiysk, twenty-three agents processed my departure. The country still does not have a procedure for sailing a small sailing private vessel. A private person who owns a sailing yacht has no legal status! Going out to sea for a small yacht just five miles from the shore is formalized in the same way as going out to sea for a huge tanker. Here you have customs officers with border guards, and pilots with tugboats. For example, they require a sailor's passport. And it only happens to professional sailors. Where can we talk about amateur sailing!
You sailed for the first time as a Soviet person, and for the second time as a Russian. When you go out to sea, all this is perceived, probably, differently. The ship has a flag. What flag do you have inside?
I think, after all, Soviet. I would never start from, say, Singapore or Australia, like some people. But from Vladivostok, Novorossiysk, Riga - easily. I was born in Belarus - at 11 o'clock on March 11, 1934. He spent the war there. He was brought up in an orphanage, wandered around the Union. Back in the good old days I read about Shamil. That's why I decided to come here - I climbed the mountains where Shamil had been. Well, this is a long story. I personally define myself this way: "Dagestanis of Belarusian origin."
-They say in the Moscow yacht club you have a monument?
No, my first round-the-world yacht Lena is standing there. And before that, she was lying in a garbage dump.
Let's get back to the upcoming voyage. How are you going to keep in touch with the world, who else has expressed their willingness to help organize a round-the-world trip?
I will keep in touch during the trip through Daud Mukhumaev. On land or not far from the coast, I will communicate by mobile phone or via the Internet. But in the open ocean, this will not work. On my first voyage between the Canary Islands and Barbados it took me fifty-four days. All this time I was cut off from the world.
It would be possible to maintain communication in the ocean using a satellite phone and special solar panels. If I begin to do this, for example, once every ten days, at least for two minutes, then for sure it will be of interest to the readers of Novoye Delo.
Whether it will be possible to acquire this technique depends on how much sponsorship money or donations will be collected. However, most of the tasks have already been solved. If the yacht is “shamanized” a little, prepared, then with the available equipment I can go to sea even now. By the way, the information that I'm going to the third circumnavigation is already being discussed on the Internet. Someone sends some money, someone sends spare sails. People help. Including the Dagestanis. For example, the general director of the Makhachkala Commercial Sea Port, Abusupyan Kharkharov, was very pleased. He promised to provide support, including financial support. Thank him very much! With his permission, I calmly prepare for sailing in the harbor of the shipyard. I decided to call the yacht "GETAN-2", which means: "Gvozdev Evgeny" and the initial letters of the names of my first wife and children. A deuce - because I already had a yacht under that name. At one time, I used it more than fifty times to go across the Caspian.
A well-known Russian traveler, 75-year-old Evgeny Gvozdev died, presumably on December 2, during a severe storm near Naples. This was officially reported to the relatives of the yachtsman by the Italian authorities. On December 2, his body was found on the presidential beach near Naples, and a few days later the Getan II yacht, on which Gvozdev made the third solo circumnavigation of his life, was found a few miles further on the beach of Amerigo Vespucci.
The body of a man with a long white beard, about 50 years old, with a deep wound on his head, was found on the presidential beach in the Castelporziano area (the country residence of the head of state is located there. - Note), the Italian newspaper Il Messagero reported on December 2. The body was discovered by the Italian carabinieri during a survey of the coast.
And on December 8, a few miles from the place of the first find, on the beach named after Amerigo Vespucci, a small yacht was found washed ashore with the inscription “Getan II” on board. On it, the carabinieri found many personal items, travel notes and a list of names written in Russian.
The deceased, who was found on the presidential beach, turned out to be the famous 75-year-old Russian traveler Yevgeny Gvozdev, who had already twice sailed around the globe alone, and in September 2008 from Novorossiysk set off on his third solo voyage around the world on the Getan II yacht.
The death of Gvozdev was reported on the forum of the Boats and Yachts magazine by a user with the nickname Davud, who since the beginning of December has been in touch with the Russian consulate in Rome and the Italian coast guard.
Apparently, events developed as follows: on November 29, during a storm off the coast of Naples, a 5-meter yacht capsized and broke the mast. After the repair, Gvozdev restored the seaworthiness of the yacht and announced this on the radio on December 1. Didn't send an SOS signal. But after that, the traveler did not get in touch anymore.
“For me, Gvozdev is the greatest and brightest Soviet/Russian yachtsman-traveler of the last 20 years. It is a symbol of the fact that a simple poor person, having retired (or earlier), can fulfill the dream of his life - to make a "round the world" - even with a minimum of money and without much yachting experience, but with a great desire, - a user writes on the yacht forum Vladimir. - Few people believed in the success of Gvozdev's first round-the-world trip, and he not only successfully completed it, but also made a second round-the-world trip. Throughout his life, he showed that if you really want and make every effort to achieve this, then you can make any dream come true.
And although I communicated with Gvozdev only by phone and via e-mail, he is so close in spirit to me that I perceive his departure as the loss of a close relative.
Evgeny Gvozdev can be safely called a legend of the Russian sailing. After retirement, a full member of the Geographical Society of the USSR crossed the Caspian in single and collective campaigns more than 50 times. On the yacht "Getan" (the first letters of the names of the traveler's family: Gvozdev Evgeny, wife Tatyana, son Alexander, daughter Natalya), he visited all the Soviet ports of the Caspian Sea, passing about 4 thousand miles.
On July 7, 1992, Evgeny Alexandrovich Gvozdev on the yacht Lena (only 5.5 meters long) from Makhachkala set off on his first solo circumnavigation. On August 5, 1995, Somali pirates attacked Gvozdev's yacht and almost killed the traveler. It was only by a miracle that he managed to escape. 13 days after the incident, practically without water and food, Gvozdev safely arrived at the port of Djibouti.
From May 1999 to August 2003, Evgeny Gvozdev made his second round-the-world voyage on the ultra-small Said yacht, only 3.7 meters long, which he built on his own on the balcony of his Makhachkala apartment.
After Gvozdev's second round-the-world tour, the city administration of Makhachkala decided to build Russia's first monument in honor of the legendary yacht and its captain on the seaside Rhodope Boulevard. Now "Said" is temporarily located in the local history museum of the Makhachkala school-lyceum No. 39.
Evgeny Gvozdev set off on his last journey from Novorossiysk on September 19 on a specially built yacht Getan II.
The editors of the VZGLYAD newspaper express their condolences to the family and friends of the traveler.
