VIDALIA &8212; A man&8217;s home is his castle but to Mike and Irena Pobor of Russia, their home is their ship.

Monday Mike and Irena stopped at Vidalia Dock and Storage because their ship was leaking transmission fluid.

The ship is a replica of the 18th century vessel &8220;Saint Paul,&8221; in which Russian explorer Vitus Bering discovered Alaska and the Northwest Territory of North America in 1741.

Mike said his is the first voyage to replicate that of Bering&8217;s.

&8220;Many people recreate the voyage of Columbus to the Americas but few know that it was the Russians who discovered the northern part,&8221; Mike said.

According to Mike and Irena&8217;s Web site, the two built the ship at their home in Vladivostok, in 1991.

The ship is made of soft white pine and plated with copper and has a very shallow hull, Mike said.

On June 27, 1991 Mike and Irena sold their home and possessions, and set sail to relive the voyage of Bering by sailing from their home through the Japanese and Okhotsk seas to Kamchatka Russia.

From there they crossed the north Pacific and visited the Aleutian Islands and Alaska.

But Mike said he would not stop there.

&8220;I&8217;ve been everywhere in Russia but it wasn&8217;t enough,&8221; Mike said. &8220;I wanted to see the rest of the world so I decided to keep going.&8221;

The two traveled down the Pacific coastline, through the Panama Canal, through the Gulf of Mexico and up the Atlantic coastline.

In El Salvador pirates boarded the ship and demanded money from Mike and Irena.

&8220;The coast guard warned us about them and how they don&8217;t care and they will kill anyone once they have their money,&8221; Mike said.

Mike said he scared them off by using a pair of flare pistols.

&8220;It was 6 a.m. and very foggy,&8221; Mike said. &8220;After they jumped off and we sailed a while the fog lifted. It was then I had time to be scared.&8221;

Last summer, the two sailed through the Great Lakes and wound up in the Mississippi River.

&8220;Going down the Mississippi in this boat is like going down a mountain on a bicycle with no breaks,&8221; Mike said. &8220;And the barges are like big trucks. They don&8217;t care about you and are very dangerous.&8221;

Mike said he is scared that the boat will run aground on the river&8217;s sandbars or be turned over by the river barges.

&8220;We respect the Mississippi River, but we&8217;ll be glad to get out,&8221; Mike said.

Tuesday, when he gets the transmission fixed, Mike said he hopes to be in Florida by November.

Irena paints and creates other artwork for money to pay for fuel and food.

The two also rely on the hospitality of the ports and marinas of the places they dock.

&8220;Very rarely have we had to pay for mooring (paying to dock) and most of the time people are very friendly,&8221; Mike said.

The one complaint Mike said he has about the river is that it does not have any Marinas for recreational boats to stay for long.

&8220;I would like to stay for the balloon races but we have no place to dock for the week so tomorrow I go,&8221; Mike said.

To learn more about Mike and Irena&8217;s voyage visit their Web site at www.pobor.com.