Diego, Espagne

« I came to this journey with many unanswered questions, and I leave with new ones that will accompany me for the rest of my life. I boarded this sailboat knowing no one, and I leave with a heart full of wonderful people. Beyond technology, beyond the everyday routine, I discovered simplicity, the purity of the human soul, and the inexplicable beauty of our world. I found love, peace… but also understood how difficult it is to avoid war and conflict. At times, I lost hope for a better world, feared for the fate of this planet, got angry with humanity, but I understood that happiness doesn’t always require much: sometimes friends, a task that gives us purpose, a place to sleep, and something to nourish our body and soul are enough.

On that boat we were sailor-philosophers, fishers of men like in biblical tales, peripatetics in the style of Aristotle, missionaries of hope, young people searching for the meaning of life.

Nature offered us astonishing gifts: dolphins leaping alongside us at the bow of our beloved net, the glow of plankton at night, and others more discreet like the wind, the waves, and the sun. It didn’t matter which God we believed in, or if we believed in any at all; what mattered was protecting creation, caring for the seas, and embracing the earth.

Today we live in the most artificial era humanity has ever known, yet I discovered that the divine essence still resides within us. There is still hope, even amid destruction and the noise of genocidal powers. Music, guitars, nightly songs, and the freedom of our bodies and minds resounded as strongly as the waves of the Bel Espoir.

All that remains is to give thanks: to God, to the friends who sailed with me, and above all to life, which, after so many ups and downs, allowed me to be there and live the greatest experience I’ve ever had. This sailboat was a miniature society, with its frictions and disagreements, but it was also full of magic and love. The essential ingredient to building peace is to keep sailing together, respecting our differences, and fighting for freedom. Because in this life, we must also learn to give in order to receive… because, as my grandmother used to say: “Hands that don’t give, what are you waiting for?”

I couldn’t explain the feeling of waking up each morning among the wooden planks of the sailboat as the sun rises, or the sensation when the waves tilt us to 90 degrees, or when the Mediterranean Sea becomes our shower. But I know we made history, and centuries from now someone will study this project, see our photos, and smile. Though we don’t need to wait that long, every time I look at these photos, I will smile and be glad I lived this relentless search for love toward humankind. I hope our words echo among leaders, that the cries and joys reach Rome, Brussels, Washington, or New York, and that they help change this world, or at least save it from ourselves. »

Diego