VLADIVOSTOK, February 28. /ITAR-TASS/. World-famous Russian traveler Fyodor Konyukhov, who continues his solo rowing voyage across the Pacific, has reached islands in French Polynesia, in the center of the Pacific Ocean.

He started his voyage in Chile’s Concon on December 22, 2013, and for the first time in 67 days saw the land, Fatu Hiva, the southernmost island of the Marquesas Islands. In 1937 famous Norwegian traveler and researcher Thor Heyerdahl and his wife lived on the island.

In his communication session with Moscow late on Thursday Konyukhov said this was a milestone day for him.

“Yesterday at the sunset I saw rain clouds on the horizon near Fatu Hiva,” Fyodor said. “At night I practically had not slept, as the wind blew to the north and at once turned to the south throwing my rowboat from side to side. In the early hours the wind started blowing stably from northeast and this helped me to row near the island at a safe distance from the south.”

Konyukhov said his quiet life would come to an end beginning from Friday. On the left from his Turgoyak boat the Tuamotus, a group of islands in French Polynesia, was stretching.

“This is almost 700 miles of large and small islands, reefs and atolls,” he said. “My task is to row safely for my boat not to be carried away or thrown ashore.”

“My life is changing drastically, a new stage of my voyage begins,” the traveler added. “Today I saw sharks. Two shark fins approached my boat and started spinning around.”

Konyukhov said at the first stage of his trip, from South America to French Polynesia, he saw no shark.

For more than two months the traveler has covered 4,184 miles. To reach his final destination, Australia’s Brisbane, he has to cover another 3,963 miles.