Adana Mam Legros
Artist & Activist
Sailing Across
the Mediterranean - Atlantic
Suzanne
Build in Taiwan in 1978, Suzanne is a Ketch measuring 50 feet long, weighting 56000 pounds. She’s an old soul. She’s been resting for 30 years in Marina Baie des Anges, Villeneuve Loubet, France. After 6 months of intense work, she’s finally ready to take on an adventure across the world.
This week is a big departure for her and her crew, crossing the Mediterranean through the Atlantic Ocean for Cuba.
The Crew
Our Captain
Pierre Legros
I call him, Capitaine Fantastic. My father is a dreamer. He showed me that dreams are possible to achieve. He started as a biologist in Africa, then continued his way to South East Asia where he dedicated 15 years of his life in humanitarian aids. After 30 years in Cambodia working on multiples projects, he decided to buy a sail boat.
‘’One day I will find my father in the sea and bring him back’’, 4 years old dad talking to his mother who was weeping for the loss of her husband who drown in the middle of the sea.
Julie Cottenceau
Julie spent 8 years abroad, within her travels she stopped by Moroccan desert as well as Central Africa, Quebec and New Zealand. She came back to France in April and started working in the Marina port. She’s an experience sailor, working as a deckhand on water yacht.
Seeing her enthousiaste for Suzanne and the love of the sea as well as the adventure life style, we suggested her to join us for Transatlantic wish she gladly accepted.
Yannick Roton
Yannick spend 15 years living in his boat at Marina port. He's been working in the harbord since then. He is also an artist, he does photography and acrylic paint.
Chief Mechanics
Jean-Baptiste Lanquetin
This young electrician from Lyon, France meet Pierre in 2017 during their training of boat maintenance in Marseille. He decided to join us in our journey to Cuba from France. AKA JB, always have a big smile on his face, even when nothing on the boat is working.
Our Journey
We’re making 5 stops before arriving to Cuba. First stop will be at the Balearic Islands, second stop in Gibraltar, then Canary Islands, after Cape Verde. We will drop off Yannick and Julie in the Martinique and finally we will arrived to Havana. The trip will be a month and a half long depending on the weather.
We are still hesitating to stop by L’Ile de Gorée, Barbados Island, Tobago Island, Príncipe Island and Jamaica Island.
The Prep
Jean-Baptiste and Pierre have been working 8 months non stop on the boat, under the heat of summer to the cold wind of the French coast. After the purchase of the boat, they’ve done a total refit of the boat from electricity, to mechanics and plumbing.
About the food on board, we prepared about 600 meals. We will stop by each coast to buy more fresh food as well as refiling our stock of water (1300 Liter) and gazoline (1000 Liter).
Life on board
Living on a boat is not simple. We can use up to 5 Liter of water per person each day. As our water is very limited, we will use sea water to cook, take shower with salt water and rince ourselves with clean water.
Cooking will be mission impossible has te boat will be moving and lean a lot. All the garbage will have to be clean and put properly back in small closet.
Philosophy
I can't wait to gaze at the millions stars, wake up to a unique sunrise every morning over the deep infinite horizon, swim in the clouds reflected by the sky.
This journey is going to transform, elevate and awaken us in so many level. Sailing into the sea, comes with great courage and responsibilities, only to find freedom with full awareness.
Crossing the Atlantic Ocean is taking the risk going out of your confort zone. Confronting mother nature in all her formes, being constantly under threat of life and death, being hit by enormous waves, not sleeping nor eating enough in a cold humide boat.
This experiences will build a strong character, a fearless and wise mind. Learning to live again. Learning to enjoy the little things, learning to admire our world with all its complexity and beauty. Learning to be reconnected to our nature, once again.
I’m ready to turn this chapter of my life, starting my 23 years with this journey across the sea.
Latest News
HYÈRES, FRANCE
22.11.2018
We're a bit late on schedule due to some electronic problem. The crew is being very patient but in our mind we already left to the exotic places in the world.
5pm we decided to leave Marina Baie Des Anges for Hyères, which is not far away from where we were. It took us 11 hours to arrive. The weather was suppose to be good but instead it was raining with a lot of wind.
JB and I immediately got sea sick. The crew have been running non stop since 5pm. Finally we anchored behind les Îles de Hyère at 4pm.
During our Anchorage, a dolphin swam around our boat, looking at us with curiosity. What a magnificent creature ...
All in all, last night was a very tough and rough night for everyone, with very little sleep.
23.11.2018
At 6 am, the sunrises and we were already on our way to Hyères. The weather was terrible. Rain and wind. The Mediterranean is considered as one of the most difficult sea to navigate due to it irregular wind and wave coming from every direction.
We took shelter at the Port of Hyères and decided to stay few night to repair the Auto Pilot, who is not working and to stay away from the storms.
24.11.2018
After hours of work, JB and Pierre couldn't fix the problem with the auto pilot. We are looking for to buy a new one and continue our adventure.
For now, we will be stuck in the Port of Hyères until Wednesday until the storm ends. The weather is not good and might not get any better. We are still determine to leave soon.
Next stop, Balearic Island
While the guys were working on the boat, Julie and I went to the Flea Market.
Next stop, Balearic Island
In the meantime, Julie, Sarah (a friend in Hyères) and I took our time to prepare delicious meals to feed the hungry guys. We also cleaned the boat, fixed few more stuff and enjoyed the bright blue sky.
We are all impatient to leave but for now, we have to learn patience.
We might have been stuck one more week on land, but we’ve been spending lovely moments all together. At night, after a nice dinner we would gather around two small candles, the red light of the marin lamp and our disco ball. With a smooth music accompanying the good taste of rhum, we would be captivated by the stories Dad would tell about his adventurous life.
28.11.2018
We were supposed to leave Wednesday 28th but the boat wasn’t ready. So our next departure is pushed to Saturday afternoon. The reason we have to wait 3 more days is due to the strong wind on Friday and Saturday Morning, which can be dangerous.
The red areas are winds at 30 knot (55.56 km/h).
29.11.2018
After days trying to fix the auto pilot, we finally took Suzanne out for a ride and it was amazing. We did 4 hours of navigation around an island. We had lunch in a very cozy area.
It was a peaceful feeling being surrounded only by the sound of the wind, the heat of the sun and the blue color of the landscape. We could even sea dolphin swimming near by.
We make a great team…
Tomorrow is the big day. We are finally leaving. Like we all say in the boat, ''On se Casse!''
We won't have internet for a while. Let the weather be nice, let the wind lead us to where we want to go. Let the goddesses & gods of the sea be with Suzanne.
Here we go.
THE BALEARIC ISLAND
In only 3 days of navigation in the Mediterranean, there are so many stories to tell. Life on sea is not easy, there’s always something happening, something to do, to see, to feel..
Landscapes:
The most important thing I could share now, are all the different landscapes we’ve seen. It surpassed all my imaginations. Left me completely speechless. Overwhelmed, full of different emotions, feelings, sensations. Filed my empty soul with wonders of the world, that most of people haven’t yet discovered.
At night, you could see millions, infinite of stars, even galaxies from each corners of you eyes. You could seat watching them for hours and hours without seeing the time past by.
Around 2-3 am, the moon would come out going up in the sky followed by that one star. They would be out until the sun rise. A half bright moon and star in a pink, yellow blue sky… How magical..(We still have no clue if it is the polar start or maybe even Venus - L’étoile du Berger)
When the sun goes down, the water splashes becomes gold. In the afternoon, the sun is so bright that the reflection on the water looks like thousand of sparkles lighting up the sea.
There are always Dolphins swimming by, jumping near the boat.
Julie was seating in front of Suzanne saying to Yann how she would want to see dolphins swimming by, under her feet. 10 minutes later, the great creatures of the sea came to say hi.
The Balearic Island, Menorca:
Arriving at the Balearic Island was magical. This beautiful island hides another small island inside of it. The water is so calm we could almost think it’s a lack. When the sun goes down or rise up, the water takes the colours of the sky, it turns into pink, orang and yellow. This island looks like a paradise.
For now, JB and Dad are fixing the boat again. It seems to have a leak in the water supply, which doesn’t look good. Hopefully they can finish by tomorrow and we can continue our journey to Gibraltar.
In the meantime, Yann, Julie and I did tonnes of laundry, cooked, visited the island and played guitar under the sunset in front of the other tiny island.
Life on the sea:
We all got sea sick for 3 days. The sea wasn’t calm, there were big waves coming from every directions making the boat bounce up & down, from left to right. It was impossible to stay inside. Standing up or walking was a nightmare, wait until you have to use the bathroom.
We would hit ourselves in every corner of the boat. Making food was something else. Every movement was athletic. Even when It was freezing cold outside, we prefer to stay out. We only went in the boat to sleep.
Handling a sailing boat under this condition was very difficult and risky for our life.
We felt like caveman. We didn’t eat well nor enough, we couldn’t showers, brush our teeth, comb our hair. We had to wear the same cloths for days. Back on land, we felt civilised again.
What’s amazing about it, is that we don’t take for granted the small things. Being able to take a hot shower, washing our faces, eat properly together was a gift.
Mahón - Menorca
The leak on the water tank is finally fixed, for now!
We decided to spend one more day to visit Mahón, the capital of Menorca Island. It’s a very cozy and peaceful little catalan town. We really enjoyed walking around looking at the architectures of the area.
Julie had her first ever Jamón and a real Paella from Spain! She is very satisfied and devour the entier dish… well, we all did. We feasted!
Tomorrow early morning we’re leaving beautiful Menorca. We haven’t decided yet where to stop next. We have two options:
First one is Ibiza, another paradisiac island…
Second one, depending on the weather, Cartagena… Looks wonderful too
It will take around 2 to 3 days of navigation to get there.
After we will go straight to Gibraltar to refuel and continue our way down the canal.
Beautiful Menorca - Balearic Islands - Spain
MALLORCA
Porto Cristo & Porto Palma
(EPIC TIME)
From Porto Cristo to a bigger port, Porto de Palma to fix Suzann
MALLORCA
Not only is Suzanne an old boat
but she was stuck in the port for 30 years.
This is actually one of her first journey on the sea.
Our old soul has been navigated quite well until multiples of things went wrong...
7-8-9.12.2018
After our beautiful departure from porto Mahòn in Menorca, Suzanne started to get tired. We made our first stop in urgent in Porto Cristo because the direction broke down and we couldn’t control the boat. It was very hard to morn in the port without an actual direction. We were very lucky we weren’t far away from land!
The next day, we start our navigation toward Gibraltar but we decided to stop at Cartagena to fix the direction properly before attacking our way into the Atlantic Ocean.
On our way, around 9pm, Pierre noticed something wrong. There was a leek in the engine oil system. We had to stop completely the boat to be able to fix it. This could have cost us the destruction of the engine if Pierre didn’t notice it.
We were slowly drifting away for 3-4 hours. Pierre and JB were in the engine trying to find the leek. We were all sea sick as the boat was getting hit by waves. There were too much wind to put the sail on. Finally, at 1am they were able to fix the problem. After fixing the boat and spending a lot of energy in it, the Captain continu the night shift until 4 am. He only got 3 hours of sleep before arriving in Palma port. It was the most tiniest space to mourn but team did a great job. Rough!
Everyone was tired and sick, we all slept 7 hours and woke up a 5pm.
14.12.2018
After hours and days in Majorca trying to fix the boat engine and the direction, we finally made it.
Tomorrow we will leave early morning to Gibraltar. We won't make the stop in Cartagena as we have lost to many weeks in Europe.
It will take us around 5 days to one week of navigation to get to Gibraltar. After we head to Carpe Verde. We won't be able to have much connection from now on as we won't be stoping to any ports.
Hope all will go well and Suzanne will be able to make our dream come true by bringing us safely to the other part of the world.
Torrevieja
From Torrevieja to Gibraltar
On the morning of Saturday the 16th, we had the sad news that a part of our crew, our family had to leave. Jean-Baptise, for personal reason had to end his journey with us. It was very hard to say goodbye. This adventure wouldn’t have happen without his help.
He gave 8 months of his free time to help Pierre to repaire Suzanne. He even came to visit us in Cambodia few month ago. He is like a son to some, a brother to other and a good friend to all of us. We miss his purring noise when he likes the food, his smile, his brilliant brain. We talked about him most of the time. He was the genius of the boat. We miss him a lot.
On our way from Palma to Gibraltar we decided to make a stop at Torrevieja port because of the weather condition. We had a confortable night at the port. We finally got some peaceful sleep without having to wake up every 4 hours for our shift.
The next morning, dad had to fix a bit more of the boat and we were on our way to Gibraltar.
On our way, we had the most beautiful sunsets. It was perfect for dad’s birthday on the 18th. We also had a lot of visit from our fellow friends, the mermaids. Everyday, those beautiful curious creatures come to swim around the boat and give us a magical show.
On this trip, there were not much wind, the sea was very calm and the sun was mostly out. The sea had a very interesting and wonderful texture. The water changed colours as the sunsets and became purple at some point. It was one of the most beautiful sunset I’ve seen.
Tonight it’s the full moon. We’ve arrived safe and sound at Gibraltar and can’t wait to sleep!
Gibraltar - Canary Islands
Few days before our departure from Gibraltar, Yannick and Julie had to leave us and go back to Nice, due to personnel reasons. We already miss their presence and hope they are well.
Dad and I decided to continue our road. On the 25th morning, Suzanne was ready and so were we.
A small video of some beautiful moments on the sea
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25.12.2018
Getting out of Gibraltar was pretty rough. The weather was supposed to be good and smooth. To our surprise, the wind was very strong and went up to 30 knots! As we were getting out of the Mediterranean to the Atlantic Ocean, the waves were very violent. We were still learning how to navigate a sailing boat. We did few mistakes that put us on some risky situations but we managed to sail and we’ve learn pretty fast.
The two of us made a great team. We were quick, fast and efficient. It’s very interesting how sailing with the sea can teach you few lessons of life. Things I would take years to understand and to realise. Through this experience, this journey, it only took me 2 months. Of course, more you know and less you know.
On our way out of Gibraltar, we’ve seen something unreal, something I always wanted to see but never have I ever though I will see it with my own eyes one day. The beginning of a rainbow, it’s tail.
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26.12.2018
The second day was a beautiful and sunny day. The weather was perfect. Around 4pm, the dolphins came to visite us but this time, it wasn’t 2 nor 3 nor 5 but more then 20 beautiful creatures swimming, jumping, looking, observing our boat. It was magical…. once again.
They never cease to impressed you. The way they look at you, the way they enjoy swimming next to you, brings about a deep feeling of joy. I couldn’t stop smiling.
They make you think about the connection you have with them, with the sea, with the world around you… that world that you don’t really see because you won’t, can’t take the time, to just stop… and observe, feel, be.
Here comes the night…the sunset… the colours reflecting on the water, the soft blue sky, the bright orange followed by a light yellow and intense red turning into pink.
That night was different. The moon didn’t appear until midnight letting the space for thousands of shining stars.
Those moments for me… were mesmerising. There’s not words to define, to explain this experience, the feelings, the sensations, the beauty….
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27.12.2018
The third day was the beginning of a disaster… The wind started to rise up, the waves became stronger and bigger. For 4 days, we had an average of 20 to 30 knots of wind (37 to 55 kph). Believe me when I say, it’s violent and agressive. The boat was moving from left to right, from a 30 degree angle to the other side. As the wind grew stronger, so as the waves. We had 3 to 5 meters of waves pushing, pulling, hitting us constantly, making impossible even to sleep.
You can see the beauty of nature in her most violent form.
As we were only two, we decided to have a shift of 3 hours each, day and night. Because of the strong waves, the rough situation, none of us really had any sleep. We slept around 4 hours per day for almost a week. We didn’t eat properly because cooking was difficult and the exhaustion made it impossible to swallow anything.
Even if this five days were quiet difficult but the things you see on this adventure makes it worst it.
On the fourth day, I’ve seen something that made me tear up for a couple of minutes. I’ve always tried to imagine what it would look like to see the ocean turning into glitter, like a Disney animation….
Here I was, outside doing my shift at midnight, listening to M83 in the harsh cold and windy weather. I looked at the sea and saw one white, yellow dot. I looked again and saw a second one.
I took a step back… and here was the beginning of a magnificent show…
All the water was covered by plankton's, sparkling, firing all the surface around the boat. It look like thousands of fireflies, of tiny lightning bolt in the ocean. I could imagine the stars conversing with the planktons.
I felt overwhelmed from the beauty of this planet.
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28.12.2018
On the fifth night, dad and I were a part of another miraculous event. For at least 10 minutes we were looking up at the sky wondering if we were having an alien invasion, or if our mind were playing tricks with us.
Sometimes, we could see one or two satellites flying by. You can recognised them by a white light, looking like a star, going faster then a plan.
This time… I saw about five of them flying, so I called dad. As we were looking at them, we discover that, there were at least more than a hundreds of flying white light! It was crazy! We really did though it was an alien invasion… but let’s be realistic, or maybe let the imagination take over and let’s say they were aliens.
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30.12.2018
We finally arrived at Lanzaroth in the Canary Island at 2 am… We’ve never been this exhausted… We also had some small injuries during the 5 days trip. We might have lost some weight too.
To summarise, the week sailing with dad, just the two of us, with extremes conditions, transformed us. We are happy and proud of our adventure, of our hard work. I finally found what I was really looking for. Dad accomplished his mission as a father, once again.
We decided to end our journey here, in the Canary Islands as the goal has been reached. It is not the end of the journey but all the experiences, all the moments in between point A to B that matters the most.
We got what we were looking for. The journey across the Atlantic and the Pacific is not interesting anymore as it is not pleasant. We enjoy the short navigations from port to port, island to island with beautiful and sunny weather. We made a choice to not struggle any longer. We will ship the boat back to Singapore and sail back to Cambodia from there. We will enjoy our small navigations on the coast of Asia.
On this journey, you challenge yourself in every level, you test your limits, your fears, your anxiety, your patience. You test it all. You learn the notion of time.