I so believe in the power of childhood. It’s the busiest period to generate dreams, unlimited desires, unrealistic lives, unconsciousness, and innocence. It’s a time where education -along with frustrations- has a key role in building who we are.
I come from a family where the sea constitutes the essential element to live a life of true happiness, and since generations. I often say that I was born on a sailboat -even if not technically true- and that I spent almost half of my life living at sea. I could swim before being able to walk and I used to sheet the headsail when I had no idea how to ride a bike. Until I was 12, the only perfume to comfort my soul was that iodine fragrance which brings seasickness to most people. That halyard sound was my favourite lullaby when the waves were not enough to make me fall asleep. Oh! And that sarcophagus for bed covered with hundred of sailboat sketches I used to draw during endless sea crossings…
All these years, dad for only captain and mom our teacher. Walking barefoot and half dressed when we touched the ground, we had everything, even that vertiginous land-sickness I will never forget.
The sea taught us the value of life because the sea does not forgive. Nothing had ever drunk me as violently as the sea itself. It taught us the value of things, food, water, family, and love. I was so little but no choice, I had to absorb it all.
At sea, you don’t grow up, you become. And you quickly understand that challenges build resilience, reactivity, imagination, and strength on the logbook of your life.
These years reading the wind and anticipating the waves definitely contributed to this nomadic life I’m living today.
Sailing will always be my first love and my favourite dream, and I always fight for my dreams…
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