How it all began The dream of a life at sea

I would love to travel the world with my own boat - would you be up to that?

That was Thierry's question for me over the phone. He was hanging out somewhere in French Polynesia, I was sitting in a reading chair in Büren an der Aare. "I don't see why not?" was my answer.

Shortly after, Thierry ends his journey from Panama to Ecuador and across the Pacific to Tahiti after eleven months and flies back to Switzerland. But he doesn't want to stay here for long, because we have been bitten by the travelling bug! The dream of being free - discovering new countries, learning new languages. A dream that we both share. For him, who has now spent nine months on a friend's sailing boat and crossed one of the world's great oceans, the vision of travelling the world on his own boat is within his grasp. It all sounds like an adventure to me at first, as I only know life at sea from YouTube channels and Thierry's stories. However, I know that I love the sea, even though I've only ever explored its secrets below the surface.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

Now that's a motto, friends. But said and done! We look at ships for sale on the Internet. We make business plans and minimise our fixed costs. I'm clearing out my much-loved little kingdom with a smile on my face and a tear in my eye. Some of the furniture is going to the attic in Münchenstein, and what is no longer needed will be sold or given away. Thierry has it a little easier this time, as he already took this step a year ago. As we don't have a boat yet, we still have to pimp the van so that we can live in it in reasonable comfort. We buy boxes, make curtains and fit a roof box (reserved for Thierry's kite material). And then comes the difficult part: what do you take with you on a journey into the unknown? A good mood, good shoes... if only it were that easy 😄

So at the end of June 2021, packed with our most important possessions and a Linzer cake from Thierry's mum, we get into the van in Münchenstein and set off. To where? First of all to France. There we have a rendez-vous with Xavier, who we met on the internet. After taking a year out to cruise the Atlantic, his Feeling has had its day and he wants to pass it on to good hands. Well, our hands look pretty decent to me anyway.

Past the Atlantic coast of France

So we cruise through France, past the Chateaux de la Loire and the Tour de France to the west. In "Les sables d'Olonne", our first sea breeze blows around our noses. Hello ocean, I think we're going to get to know each other even better. The Atlantic coast of France draws us into its magic, the towers at the entrance to la Rochelle, the incredible sand dune in Pyla. We meet Xavier in the huge harbour of Arcachon. His Feeling is moored outside, a berth in the marina is too expensive. We leave the harbour basin in his Zodiac and a few minutes later I am standing on a sailing ship at sea for the first time in my life. I had never been sailing before I met Thierry. Xavier and his girlfriend Manon show us their boat, we take a short trip and three hours later we are back on the quay in the harbour. It takes us a few days of arguing back and forth to finally decide against buying Xavier's boat. Somehow the spark didn't ignite. But we have time!

We really did. We then drive down to Biarritz and along the Pyrenees, with a stopover in Andorra, to Leucate. Three things are on the agenda here: work, searching a boat and kitesurfing! Almost two weeks go by until an advert on Facebook steers our plans in a new direction. We make another stop at the kite spot in Beaduc and travel from the south of France to the south of Italy within two days. Napoli, to be precise. Ivan's Océanis has taken a shine to us, and after the tour we are on cloud nine. Is this the spark that Xavier was missing? After the test drive at the latest, we know: yes! Negotiations take time, and so we spend a few weeks in the area. After a lot of back and forth and bureaucratic hustle and bustle, we finally sign the purchase contract for our new home in Castellammare di Stabia on 8 September 2021. Wow, who would have thought it?

Off on an adventure...