Ariane and Rached left France with their 2 children in autumn 2019. Now confined due to the health crisis in Tunisia, Ariane tells how this change of daily life is not a handicap in this family trip. Indeed, isn't the aim of "Cap sur nous" to recharge our batteries together as a family? Here are Ariane's words:
Life on Maëlouna is taking its course. As immobile travellers, we are still subject to the closing of the borders and the current ban on sailing. Does the project of traveling on a sailboat that we had become meaningless without the possibility of moving? Today, our greatest ally remains patience. The faith we have in our ability to adapt helps us to withstand the current gloomy climate.
Refocusing on living together
We're refocusing on our goals, living it together being the main reason for this adventure. Sailing is a luxury offered by this new way of life
"Cap sur nous" is the story of our family, a family that dares to leave the conventional pattern to explore another relationship to life: simpler, more sober, more authentic. This project is a way of experimenting another relationship to time, space, the world as it is today, but also to living together, and to guaranteeing the education of our children. Travel is certainly a gift of this nomadic way of life, but there is something even more powerful that we have come to offer our children
The sailboat, a luxury to be earned
The yacht, synonymous with freedom, is only really so when you take into account the constraints it imposes: material constraints, maintenance constraints, space constraints, climatic constraints, customs constraints, etc. So finally, in what way are we freer?
The freedom of movement, the audacity and independence assimilated to this type of displacement, creates, I believe, all the fantasies around what sailing represents. Feeling free to chart our own course to go where only the heart tells us to go is a luxury that seems to deserve all the sacrifices.
A relationship with nature
But there's something else too. A special relationship to oneself, and to the elements. Watching the moonrise and sunset every day makes you feel connected to life. Feeling the wind, the swell, contemplating the aquatic world, admiring the wild coastline or savouring the calm of a beautiful cove, all generate a deep and authentic feeling of happiness.
In navigation, however, there is something even more powerful. Listening, focused on the state of the sea and the wind, the vigilance necessary at all times, and submission to the elements help to leave the ego to blend into the wave.
Back to basics
At sea, I just feel like I'm at sea. My identity disappears, dissolves in the immensity. I put myself in osmosis with the air, the water, the sun, the stars. I no longer question my role here on earth, or what I would like to do tomorrow. I simply feel that I exist, and the more I listen to the elements, the more powerful my sense of connection becomes.
There is nothing evil about the ego, it's just a collection of beliefs that we identify with. At sea, the ego has no echo. The sea doesn't care what we think of ourselves. Then everything becomes more intense, the rippling of the water, the colours, the sounds, the smells.
Family strength
Stop thinking about yourself and resonate with life. This is the deepest experience that sailing has ever offered me. And it's a mystical experience that it's fantastic to share as a family
In this floating, closed-door environment, landmarks mutate. The narrowness of the sailboat is no longer a constraint since we blend in with the immensity surrounding us. The sailboat becomes the promontory from which we can spend an infinite amount of time contemplating the spectacle of life
The frail boat we are on reminds us how little we are compared to the power of the elements. Little, and at the same time, the audacity of venturing into this moving and indomitable universe gives us an indescribable feeling of jubilation: the power, no longer just of being in connection with life, or even feeling alive, but of being life itself.
We are in a hurry, so eager to go back to sea, and to look forward to this special joy.
