Sailing from one continent to another is not just a question of nautical miles. Behind each stopover, you have to adapt to new peoples and new nautical challenges. From the South Atlantic to the tropical waters of the Pacific, Simon and Caroline have learned to cope with contrasting realities aboard E Pur Si Muove, a Galapagos 43.
Before heading to Asia in 2018, you mention on social networks having had an encounter with a white shark in South Africa. How did this encounter affect your perception of marine wildlife?
Simon and Caroline the meeting with the great whites took place in Mossel Bay, South Africa. This bay is home to a small island housing between 5,000 and 8,000 sea lions. Juvenile white sharks and injured adults come to take refuge here, benefiting from a virtually inexhaustible sea lion larder. During our stopover, we came across a boat on the pontoons offering sea outings with a launching cage. To attract the sharks, they used brine and attached a tuna head to one end, allowing customers to observe the impressive teeth of these giants, some of which are up to 7 meters long...
It was a fascinating experience to see these animals in their element, as it's impossible to observe them while snorkeling. However, there was a fine line between observation and baiting. We were younger and hadn't fully appreciated the consequences of such practices. It's an experience we won't be repeating.
After that, we focused on opportunistic encounters from our sailboat, although these were sometimes fleeting. We had some wonderful interactions: humpback whales, a pair of blue whales (much larger than our boat), pilot whales, mola-mola, marlin and other pelagic fish, an albino whale off Tanzania (all white, like Moby Dick), multiple manta rays, whale sharks, blacktips, whitetips, tigers, grey reef sharks, as well as dolphins of all kinds.
Some even practiced "tail sailing", a strange behavior generally observed in whales, where they take their tail out of the water, head down, for long periods, as if they were using it as a sail... The spectacle is never more beautiful than when these animals decide on their own to come and sail around our sailboat.
From Africa to Asia, how did you find the transition between your different ports of call, which may seem quite far apart in terms of culture and maritime conditions? What influenced your sailing pace and decisions along the way?
Simon and Caroline from one country to another, most standards change, even in Asia! Between Thailand and peninsular Malaysia, cultures and openness to the sea are very different.
Thanks to our desire to discover new things on a sailboat, we had no trouble coping with this constant change: culture, currency, traditions, religions and administrative formalities (although the latter can sometimes be a major source of hassle).
Our rhythm was largely dictated by the seasons. We almost never sailed in the optimum period, because, unless we considerably extended the duration of the trip, there always comes a time when the monsoon sets in and the season becomes less suitable for sailing in the region. However, this has never slowed us down (with the exception of Palawan, in the Philippines, where we cut short our stay due to prevailing winds and incessant rain, making most anchorages untenable).
One of the highlights of this trip was the fact that, thanks to a skillful âeuros chain and largely due to âeuros luck, we arrived in most areas out of tourist season. This allowed us to explore sites as if we were almost alone in the world.
At the height of the season, hundreds of boats sometimes carry thousands of tourists to the same points of interest... As our itinerary was not set in stone, we often adjusted our route based on advice from friends or encounters on the pontoons. Unfortunately, Vietnam was inaccessible by sailboat, so we decided to leave our boat in Puteri, Malaysia, just across from Singapore, and fly there. We also took the opportunity to visit Laos, which has no access to the sea apart from the Mekong River.
We also wanted to complete the trip before our child turned 3. So, even though there was no real deadline, we set ourselves one. With hindsight, we know that it's an illusion to want to see everything. For Indonesia alone, with its 17,000 islands, we could have sailed for 20 years and still discovered a hidden anchorage or a splendid bay every 2 days.
When you explored these Southeast Asian countries, what differences did you observe in sailing conditions, port infrastructures or even interactions with local sailors in these areas, compared to other regions of your journey?
Simon and Caroline the differences are indeed significant. Where Thailand offers sheltered anchorages around islands or in mangrove swamps, as well as superb marinas, Malaysia imposes a more supervised navigation.
Because of the commercial traffic and the presence of many local fishermen, it was often preferable to sail by daylight and opt for a marina at night. Unfortunately, Vietnam remains very complicated: formalities are strict, restrictions numerous and costs excessive for foreign sailboats. Singapore, on the other hand, is a megalopolis with luxury marinas, but the entry formalities are as tough as its reputation. For example, we would have had to pay 2,000 euros in fees âeuros excluding marina âeuros to stop over for a week. We therefore preferred to take the bus from Malaysia (an hour's journey, including immigration formalities!).
Overall, we spent 95% of our time at anchor, in water depths ranging from 2.5 to 38 meters (yes, 38 meters!). We stopped off on some small islands that had probably not been explored by a sailboat for a year or two, inhabited only by fishermen and their families, where English was totally absent.
Our little sailor, in spite of himself, was an excellent facilitator of encounters: he often found himself followed by a dozen or so children throughout the village, enabling us to share great moments, even without speaking the language.
We have always tried to avoid areas that are too touristy or to go there out of season, as it can quickly become unbearable with the incessant passage of tourist boats and all that this entails...
Have you noticed any specific difficulties in certain regions in terms of onboard safety, hospitality or nautical services?
Simon and Caroline with the exception of South Africa, we've never really been concerned about safety on board, either when sailing or at anchor. It's essential to take an interest in the customs and behavior of the locals, but also to ask them directly about possible dangers.
Around 300 miles off the coast of Sri Lanka, it's common practice for fishermen to sail parallel to each other within ten meters of the boats, looking to trade fish for cigarettes or spirits. Some of the sailboats we came across told us they had switched on their engines to try and outrun them, when in fact it was only a matter of curiosity and barter.
The Philippines still has a reputation as a nation of pirates, but the areas concerned are mainly in the far south, between Borneo and Mindanao. This does not extend at all to the rest of the country, which offers a vast and magnificent sailing basin. Unfortunately, a certain element of chance remains: a bad encounter can happen, just like anywhere else...
When you began your sailing trip, what were your expectations in terms of discoveries, and how did they evolve as your adventure progressed? Which of your stopovers particularly caught your attention?
Simon and Caroline : We didn't really have any specific expectations, other than to discover the world by our own means and, above all, to reach Asia, which was such a dream for us.
We also wanted to get off the beaten track and into areas still untouched by mass tourism, to give priority to meeting the locals. Our trip took a turning point with the arrival of our little boy, who has been a real vector for sincere encounters.
We fell in love with Indonesia, as much for its grandiose landscapes as for the kindness of its people. We were lucky enough to meet the Bajo, a people of sea nomads, with whom we shared some wonderful moments. That said, each port of call brought us something in its own way. We came away from this adventure with a head full of extraordinary memories (and sometimes difficulties!) and a heart full of gratitude, both for the wonderful encounters we made and for having had the privilege of admiring the beauty and richness of the ocean.
However, we have also witnessed worrying phenomena that are no longer a secret and that threaten this element we hold so dear: pollution, overfishing and mass tourism. Every day, the ocean suffers from human negligence, and the consequences are increasingly visible. Once crystal-clear waters are now overrun with garbage, and marine ecosystems are weakened by excessive exploitation that upsets the natural balance. At the start of our trip 8 years ago, we observed much more underwater life and much less pollution.
In some areas, fish have almost disappeared where they were once renowned for their marine wealth, and the seabed is littered with plastic... It hasn't always been easy to watch this happen and feel powerless.
In February 2025, you mentioned playing "cat and mouse" with tropical storm Faida. How did you manage this particular situation? What lessons have you learned about managing bad weather at sea? Have you ever faced other unfortunate situations?
Simon we made our return crossing of the Indian Ocean from Komodo via Cocos Keeling atoll, Rodrigues and finally Reunion Island. With a departure in mid-December, we made this crossing in the middle of the cyclone season (unfortunately, we had no other choice). In my view, this is no greater a risk than any other when you are familiar with cyclogenesis conditions and the possible evolution of these destructive systems.
The problem with this tropical storm, which became a small cyclone just off Rodrigues, was that it remained unpredictable from start to finish for the weather models. On the one hand, its intensification or collapse remained uncertain, and on the other, its trajectory was unstable. We had a Garmin Inreach on board and I received information (from Caroline, who didn't take part in the return trip with Lucien because of the likely conditions) about the center of the depression and its range.
As the days went by, it seemed to consolidate, and set off on a west-south-west course. We were right on its trajectory, so we pushed the boat a little. We dived further south, to stay at a reasonable distance from its center of action, while keeping the possibility of passing in front of it, should it make its backing (a clear southward inclination). The following day, the low-pressure system moved northwards and then north-eastwards again, due to an area of high pressure. We therefore resumed our direct course towards Rodrigues, keeping a close eye on developments.
In the end, her climb to the NE enabled her to strengthen her position and assert her rotation, rewarding us with a fine chase. We headed south again (a dangerous semicircle, but the only one that allowed us to keep a bit of downwind) while reducing enough to limit our speed. We were overtaken and were thus able to reposition to our destination at the last moment.
Clearly, if the system had been more compact or powerful, we would have escaped to the south much earlier to stay in a zone where conditions remained controllable. We therefore had to adapt our course constantly, monitoring the evolution of the low-pressure system and comparing it with our own observations on the water. This experience reminded us of the importance of good weather knowledge and constant monitoring at sea.
You have decided to sell E Pur Si Muove to the P ort in Réunion, for ?70,000. What are the reasons behind this decision? Are you thinking of other long crossings on a new yacht?
Simon the boat has just come in and is ready to go again. We're aware that the price is higher than in mainland France, but it's based on the price of yachts in this region, where supply is far lower than demand. Of course, the price is largely negotiable depending on the future buyer's plans, as we don't want to see the boat stagnate for 10 years waiting for a possible new start.
Caroline : As for us, we're about to embark on other projects, notably a self-build or renovation of a house, to return for a while to the comforts of a sedentary lifestyle and to be closer to our loved ones. Of course, we'll continue to sail, notably on Simon's father's boat, but in other latitudes: Scotland, Norway, Iceland... The playground is vast! Perhaps one day, if the mood takes us, we'll prepare another departure for the Pacific, via the Northwest Passage. Our lives are made up of movement, and nothing is set in stone.
