Traveling across the world

From childhood, many dream of the endless expanses of seas and oceans, of visiting uninhabited islands in order to feel the breeze of the sea wind and the force of the elements. The most cherished dream - to make a round-the-world trip on a yacht, see different countries, continents, islands, get in touch with the culture of peoples living in distant countries, see and learn the fauna of the planet, plunge into the sometimes fabulous nature of unfamiliar lands. Ronaldo (45 years old) also had such a dream. And if for many this dream remains a dream for a lifetime, then Ronaldo did everything to make his dream come true and make it a reality.

He organized his business so that he could manage it from a yacht. When we met, he told me about his plan and I, Sarah (30 years old), gladly supported him and agreed to go with him on a catamaran around the world. I think I have always had the conviction that "the world belongs to people who dare to dream and who take the risk of realizing their dreams, people who try to do it at their best." Therefore, I did not hesitate to agree to such an adventure ...

Ronaldo is half Lebanese and half Italian. I am half Lebanese and half Canadian. We started our journey in June 2008 from Le Saber d'Olonnewhere we received and launched the yacht. From there we headed through Bay of Biscay to the western part of the Mediterranean (Corsica, Sardinia and Balearic). Before crossing the Atlantic, we entered Morocco, on Canary Islands, Senegal, Cape Verdethen we crossed Caribbean sea... From there we went through Panama Canal to the southern part The Pacific.

How to formulate our plan for you: no, we didn't have any plan! So we decided with Ronaldo before starting our voyage on board "Malikalalou". Ronaldo was an experienced yachtsman, and it was his initiative that gradually became the meaning of our life.

I am convinced that if something does not make us happy, we should forget about it. We must invent a new story for our future life, and I believe that Ronaldo and I are on the right path - the path of new discoveries and adventures.

The best time of our life came when we moved to live on a sailing catamaran. Everything you need for life is here. On a yacht, the world becomes smaller and, at the same time, larger. The horizons of our travels are not precisely defined. Nature, air, sea, food, adventure ... all in close proximity. Time passes more slowly, life becomes larger and, thus, we enrich our inner world.

What pleased us most about the trip was the opportunity to be far from the comfort of our home and be closer to nature.

And the first such adventure for us was Senegal... Our first independent stop was at Sine Saloum delta... There we visited villages that were lost to civilization. Residents get there for many days on foot or in donkey carts. I remember our amazing Christmas among unearthly rocks in tropical lagoons, lovely fishing villages along the coast, with fishermen's stories about their lives and customs.

We continued our journey to Cape Verde... The weather was clear, but Ronaldo, like many sailors, missed the good wind and tried to catch the "trade winds" as soon as possible. He caught the direction of the wind with a kite. Our first goal was to cross the Atlantic from the Canary Islands. I had complete peace and harmony in my soul. I was fascinated by the study of culture and traditions that combine African and European influences. When the trade winds finally blew out, it took us two weeks to cross the Atlantic and reach Antilles.

Visiting the Caribbean Is a special experience. It is pleasant to visit a yacht in the Caribbean not only thanks to the hospitality of the locals, but also because of the stunning beauty of the islands.

Despite the fact that the Caribbean is the largest tourist destination in the world, these islands still have unspoiled amazing natural areas. Here's how Troy, our guide in Trinidad, shared with us one important lesson he learned from the islanders: "To learn to enjoy the Islands, you must learn to relish being on them like you savor a lime in a cocktail."

The rich nature of these places has endowed the island with clear waters and amazing nature. The beauty of these places helped us broaden our horizons and learn new things. For example, on the shores of Trinidad, we watched leather turtles lay their eggs! You don't see this every day.)

We visited natural areas inaccessible to many tourists and experienced moments of unprecedented pleasure.

We walked, driven by gentle trade winds, to the archipelago Kuna yala, which centuries ago was considered a brilliant and charming neighbor of the Caribbean islands. And famous Sun Blass - an archipelago that includes 365 islands scattered across the Atlantic Ocean, between Panama and Colombia. More than mounds of white sand surrounded by turquoise water, it is a surviving culture that has stood the test of centuries.

Kuhn's 37,000-member society is matriarchal. It is customary for them for a woman to ask for the hand of her future husband, and the young family begins to live in the house of the wife, who is the head of the family and directs all the assets of the family. Everyone follows the unspoken rules. It takes time for a modern person to understand the life and culture of Kuna. Everything is quite simple and straightforward, so some sailors, having sailed here, become residents of Kuna.

For example, Doug and Mary, after two voyages around the world and thirty years of navigation, returned to the archipelago and anchored there forever.

Doug told us that even in the South Pacific, we couldn't find a better place than this. Many sailors would agree with Doug because Kuna Yala is "the best yachtsmen can find: culture, privacy, islands, turquoise waters, a free trade zone, and it's all close to civilization."

Panama - a window to the Pacific Ocean

From Panama we went to the Pacific Ocean and reached the archipelago, I could not wait to start exploring unknown territories for myself.

The immediate target after leaving Panama was the islands Galapagoslocated about a thousand miles southwest of Panama. The Galapagos has such a diverse fauna; here you can meet sea lions, penguins, sharks, gannets and many other amazing animals and birds.

I swam with sea lions for the first time! It turns out that the leader of the pack keeps a little distant from his pack, but if you get too close to his territory or to his females, he will immediately catch up and bite you. Females and baby sea lions are very playful. If you get their attention, they will gladly imitate your movements.

We felt such strong positive emotions that it seemed we could already set off on the road, but we could not leave without watching the hammerhead shark. Only 10 minutes after diving to 20 meters, young hammerhead sharks surrounded us. They moved in search of a warm current. We had to stay close to the rocks so that the warm current would not swirl us.

From the Galapagos, we set sail towards an unforgettable experience called French polynesia... Nowhere on Earth will you feel such serenity and peace of mind from rest as on the islands of this archipelago. These islands have attracted, fascinated and delighted all visitors ever since they were discovered.

In the depths Fakarav v Tuamotu situated Disneyland for divers, one part of which is called the shark wall. We have heard so much about this that we personally wanted to be convinced of the unusualness of these places. Hundreds of black and white shark fins formed an endless wall against the backdrop of color coral and seascapes. The sight I saw was so mesmerizing that I felt like Alice in Wonderland.

Located west of Tuamotu, the most famous islands in French Polynesia are: Tahiti and Bora Boraare the pearls of the Pacific Ocean. Bora Bora is known for its pearlescent lagoons and Tahiti is often referred to as the "Island of Love" by tourists. The Polynesians glorified Tahiti as the Land of the Double Rainbow, the Queen of the Pacific. It feels like you are in a fairy tale! A light wind gently touches the water, which as if invites you to the underwater kingdom, the coral garden, where yellow, red, blue fish swim with you between the coral flowers.

For those tourists who prefer a secluded vacation, the island Tuamotu Is the perfect place. This is the younger sister of Bora Bora. The most mysterious island, far from the hustle and bustle of the world.

Wherever we went, to whatever islands, everywhere we enjoyed the beauty of lagoons surrounded by colorful coral reefs, tropical fish in a beautiful underwater world and deserted sandy shores around ancient, submerged volcanoes.

We only planned to spend the night on the islands and move on, but apparently they have some kind of magnetism that we stayed there for a week.

South Pacific, as we expected, turned out to be very friendly to us. The ocean gave us freedom, and at the same time led us to new lands. He allowed us to make new friends. A sailing yacht is not just a challenge to the forces of nature, but an opportunity to test your own strength. First of all, it is the joy of sharing experiences with people who have different traditions and cultures behind them.

In almost every marina, we made new friends who brought live emotions into our lives.

If it were not for the hospitality of Mark and Blandida, we would not have lingered on the Marquesas in Fatu Hiva and would not have seen life outside civilization, according to the laws of their ancestors. Mark showed us how you can pluck bananas from a palm tree and pin fish with a regular hook. Thanks to Blandida, her recipes using coconut milk and more, we have enriched our menu on board "Malikalalou".

In Suwarrov it was Appy and James. Their kindness, sense of humor, love of nature brought life to the island. They were the only inhabitants here, taking care of the island and helping the needy sailors.

 Each had their own responsibilities, for example, Appy hunted crab every day with the help of a coconut, fished, which allowed James to do the harder work.

We didn't have a clear purpose for the trip. We came to this stage of life, and it was worth it. There are new discoveries and joys here! We are a friendly family crew and we love being together!

We met the end of the 2010 yachting season by flying a kite, scuba diving, kayaking. We were just happy.

And now?

We are now in Fiji, this is the beginning of our yachting season.

It has been three years since we set sail from Corsica to what we assumed would be the end of our journey. But as it turned out, this is just the beginning ...

During this time, my memory turned into a kaleidoscope of colors, blurry landscapes, storms and calm, changing sails and anchoring. My ears are filled with the gurgle of strange tongues, the sounds of the sea at night, and the honking of ships in distant ports.

Why catamaran

Before choosing a catamaran, we went only on monohulls.

We have come to the conclusion that a multihull vessel is better suited for life at sea. She is a spacious and more stable vessel than a monohull yacht. And also on the catamaran you can retire, even when we receive guests. The cockpit is well protected and having two engines is always better than one. If one hull is damaged, the other keeps the yacht afloat.

The choice of a yacht is very individual. The main criteria in choosing a catamaran were quality and comfort. We opted for Privilege 445... It took us three years to get used to life on a catamaran and to understand what additional amenities we would like. Now we have everything the way we wanted and we can proudly call the catamaran our home.

13.03.2012