And yes, we are not just 6 waterwomen on this big catamaran! To carry out this project we had to call on specialists in every important discipline we needed.
First point:
We needed a captain! A boat without a sailor… complicated! So we called on Elohim Carrau, a multi-tasker as he likes to say! Captain and adventurer since 2012 years he sails through the oceans, such is his real place of life. What seduced Elohim to take part in this adventure is the unusual side of our quest, he also admitted to us that he had never taken part in a crew between girls! But rest assured, everything is going wonderfully well.
Elohim is a lover of French Polynesia and will also take the departure with us during our final expedition, the opportunity for us to make him perhaps relive one of his most beautiful memories of sailor that “to be still on the boat approaching an island but without really seeing it, to smell the scent of this Tiare flower…”
Alain Borsotti, owner of the boat, by profession shipbuilder. We are currently living on his main living space which is his catamaran Abel as he calls it that he built himself in 2005 but first launched only 3 years ago!
Second point:
The medical side, how to prepare for the recovery of such an effort, surround yourself with good people and especially how to compensate for an injury or illness…?
To answer these questions, we have called upon two specialists, Patrick Joyeux, a physician and surgeon specializing in breast reconstruction and breast cancer, who works in Belharra and who will also take part in the final project if we manage to find a replacement for a period of approximately 3 to 4 months.
And we have Elodie Pichot, our sports physiotherapist and osteopath in Tosse in the Landes. She is an integral part of the project and is dedicated to this cause which she finds noble to be able to help sick children but also inspire adults. It all started with a meeting with Stéphanie Barneix, creator of the Hope Team East association (holder of the Cap Optimist project) and this interview was decisive for Elodie. Indeed, on such physical efforts, Elodie soothes our aches and pains of an intensive paddle, our possible contractures, our pains. She also has an important role in the safety of the boat. She helps us a lot in the kitchen and in storage!
In order to immortalize all our adventures and journeys, we have Jérémie Gabrien, photographer and cameraman living in Capbreton in the Landes. Jeremie is also a summer lifeguard and it is quite natural that the contact was made years ago with the girls on board. During our test expedition 1 Bordeaux-Biarritz he was already there, capturing those precious moments! His primary motivation for joining our crazy adventures is to be able to transcribe the truth about this crossing. Our emotions, our doubts, our fears but also and above all our determination. Jeremie has at heart to be able to tell through these images a story, our story. He is also very involved in the writing and composition of a documentary film that will trace the entire Cap Optimist project with the help of the Horn sisters, Annika and Jessica, daughters of Mike Horn.
The beginnings were complicated for Jérémie at the beginning of this expedition test 2 because a huge sea sickness nailed him for a few days. Now after a good week of sailing he is much better and above all has shown a great ability to adapt to the situation.