Discover new outdoor sports sites
In 2015, Erwan Le Lann, from Brittany and passionate about high mountains, embarked on a journey with the objective of discovering new outdoor sports sites around the world. If he has already traveled a lot for mountaineering and climbing, he now wishes to discover the oceans.
"I am not a sailor, even if I have already done some sailing sessions when I was younger. Having already traveled a lot on land, I wanted to leave with the idea of a slow trip, to get to know the different climates and better understand the people I was going to meet. Before, I used to fly a lot and I was dropped into different climates, without understanding the seasonal characteristics of the place. It was hard for me to acclimatize locally. So I wanted to move slowly to better understand these issues explains Erwan.
For his expedition, he buys in 2014 a Trisalu 37, a weighted aluminum dinghy. The idea is to make it an expedition base on which he will embark sportsmen ( Editor's note: his job has allowed him to build up an important network of athletes ) throughout his journey, allowing them to practice their activity in incongruous places: mountaineering, climbing, paragliding, skiing, base-jumping, highlining, surfing, snorkeling, walking and sea.
If from the beginning he wishes to integrate a scientific or environmental cause to his project, he first wishes to discover the voyage by boat, the learning of navigation. The idea is to discover the Great North, with the Northwest Passage, to arrive in the Pacific (Polynesia), to pass Cape Horn, to navigate in the Great South and to reach France without passing through channels dug by man, like Panama.
The crew of 5 left Aber Wrac'h on February 8, 2015.
"The idea was to have a crew with different skills, to be able to lead an expedition of 1 to 2 months. For each expedition, the crew members change. On this first one, heading to Iceland to do ice climbing in Iceland, I was accompanied by Jeanne Grégoire, who has sailed a lot in Figaro, a journalist photographer and two mountaineers. Jeanne taught me how to sail. It was the middle of winter in the North Atlantic, we had storm after storm! We also sailed under the northern lights with nights of 17 hours! It was magical" says Erwan.
Awareness of an environmental need
After a month of sailing and a passage through England, Scotland, Ireland and the Faroe Islands, the crew continued to head north. With a new crew - including Éric Loizeau, navigator and mountaineer - Erwan headed south to Greenland at the end of March, perfecting his training. After two years, interspersed with returns to France to keep a foot in the "real" life and not to marginalize himself, Erwan realizes that he can bring another aspect to his journey.
"After sailing along Greenland, crossing the Northwest Passage and reaching the Pacific, I realized the richness of this journey. I discovered climates, populations, know-how; became aware of pollution. I acquired a new knowledge of the planet. I was lucky to be able to travel, but I found it futile to keep it to myself. I wanted to share my discoveries. Marion was finishing her missions abroad and joined us to establish a diagnosis of what was possible, given her experience in humanitarian work. This sport trip allowed me to discover the planet, places where I would have never thought of going and to meet unknown people and cultures. But how to capitalize on this learning and how to use it? The environment is enormously impacted by human activity, even in remote places. But the environmental aspect without education is useless explains Erwan.
That's how Marion and Erwan created the association Maewan, to work on and for the environment, through education and support for young people, sharing knowledge learned by others. The association also raises awareness for the general public through films, articles and social networks. While continuing this discovery through sport.
Discover different life habits along the trip
"When we made the Northwest Passage, we rarely saw villages. The boat is like a mini-island, the only one on which we can count and use our resources. We pay attention to our way of living, our consumption. This life on board, we find it on an island, on the scale of a country, on the scale of the earth, which itself is isolated from the universe. If we don't take care of it, we won't have the necessary resources to live. We try to make people aware of the value of our natural resources.
Everywhere the habits of life and use of the environment are different. We try to propagate the learning that the different peoples pass on to us. For example, in Rapa Iti, the southernmost island of French Polynesia, the community leader keeps valleys available to accommodate climate refugees due to rising waters. On other Polynesian islands, civilization has grown so large and modernized to the point of having consumed all resources. On Easter Island, they cut down all the trees, could not build boats and found themselves too numerous without anything to eat. The natural resources were a cause of extinction of the population. But there is no community that does not care about the environment, except for modern cities explains Erwan.
In addition to the overconsumption of resources, Maewan also raises awareness of the population, especially after crossing the two continents of floating plastics.
"It's extremely shocking to be over 2,500 km from the coast and be in the middle of a garbage dump. Ducie Island is 5,000 km from the first coast of Peru. No human has ever lived there and few boats pass by. We were able to land on the island. It is a paradise of fish, birds and corals. And yet, the island is entirely covered with waste of all kinds: toys, shoes, lighters, bottles, vacuum cleaners... It is rare to sail a day without seeing a floating waste. It's rare to sail a day without seeing a piece of waste floating around. It's important to choose reusable things rather than single-use ones. It will never be too late to change things" continues Erwan.
But the association does not only share dramatic facts. It also explains the good ideas for the environment. Like in Greenland or in Denmark.
"There are no gimmicks, only solid, reliable products. They import good, durable products. And that's one of the basics of recycling, whether it's plastic products or not. If they have a long life, that's a big difference. For water, there are a lot of regulatory systems to protect drinking water, to not make it dirty, to keep the streams clean. In Vanuatu, in the Solomon Islands, they have stopped using plastic bags. They weave baskets of leaves in which they pack their products. It's more work, but I can't think of a more sustainable solution. It is the countries that may seem the poorest that are working to save their environment explains Erwan.
Educate people through workshops
To raise awareness, Maewan offers two types of workshops, depending on the age of the children. For 8/13 year olds, they have worked with the Water Family and developed their own educational materials.
"We amaze them with our trip, with the extreme sports, the animals we meet... Through these themes, we make them aware of the planet's balance. We intervene during the different stopovers of the boat, but also in France in local schools since the base of the association is in France, in Haute-Savoie" says Erwan.
In all, since the beginning of the expedition, 30 schools and 1,000 children have been sensitized by the association.
For teenagers, from 14 to 21 years old, the association offers support on a professional project, through the examples of sportsmen and women on the boat.
"Through the examples of athletes who have remarkable titles - there are about a hundred of them who have joined us on board - and our world tour, we set up an educational project showing them how to achieve a result, a success. We look at their motivation, their desires. We have seen so many young people, so many places, that we are able to extract the particularities of each person. We then accompany them towards a professional project" continued Erwan.
Erwan and his team also offer support to territories with ecotourism projects. A project to discover in the video Macatea, on the association's YouTube channel.
"Macatea is a jewel with a traumatic history. Exploited for its phosphate for 70 years, the mine was stopped overnight. The locals were left alone, isolated, with no electricity, no transmission of knowledge, no more activity, with a passing boat every ½ year. It was a real trauma. The population had a desire to develop outdoor sports activities. We accompanied them to put in place safety processes, training and develop this project of sports ecotourism on the island. We are conducting projects of this style in France and abroad explains Erwan.
Financing needs
To bring this "small stone to the building" and "to accompany the future generation", Maewan finds its financing through sponsoring, patronage and donations and public subsidies.
"The association was founded 2 years ago. We are getting more and more stable, but we are still looking for funding. Having seen our planet in this state, I don't give myself the choice not to work for a cause like this. Today this is our life with Marion, the president of the association. We focus 100% on the association, the boat..." adds Erwan.
After sailing up from Cape Horn a ½ month ago, Erwan and Marion are currently in Brazil. After a stop in Rio to work in a favela with young people, the boat will head to the Amazon for a report on the climate and the forest, through the gathering of natural cocoa seeds. Afterwards, they will head for the Azores, where they will be joined for the second time by the Lost in the Swell. This is how this first loop will end.
End of the world tour in November 2021
For its return on November 13, 2021 in Aber Wrac'h, Maewan is organizing an "Ocean Festival" from November 13 to 14. Expedition boats, racing boats, old riggings will be gathered for a big debate on "What is a round the world trip on the oceans, the difference between racing and cruising".
"This party will mark the end of a first round started in 2015. It is a concept that we validate today. We already have ideas for other world tour loops, while continuing to travel for outdoor sports. It allows us to discover the planet as rarely and to share this learning to the greatest number. We have a lot of ideas for development" concludes Erwan.
