There are moments where you understand how well you feel you can reach browsing, the minutes of absolute fullness deslizándote between the sea and the sky that compensates for all the suffering ... and it was during one such moment in the middle of the Pacific, when the idea of traversing the index to close the circle I appeared as an evidence ... While it is true that those moments are rare. 

On June 8, the French windsurfer Legouvello Raphael came to the island of La Reunion from Australia after having traveled about 6300 kilometers in 58 days on your table size. In reality, this meant crossing the Indian Ocean close the circle begun in Senegal in 2000 due to Martinique (crossing the Atlantic, about 5,000 kilometers), followed by crossing the Mediterranean (1,000 miles) in summer 2002 and of the vast Pacific (7,500 miles from Peru to Tahiti) between August and November 2003 ... 20,000 kilometers only solo contacting with the outside world through a global phone ... achieved around the world for the first time in wind ... an incredible gesture for anyone but Raphael, 46, a veterinarian by profession, looking fine and very easy on the other side of the phone, explained as if it were the most normal thing in the world ... Again, as in the case of many great explorers, in the end everything is a matter of coconuts. 

Reading your daily chronicles epic seems that in the end, there are few moments of quiet navigation in such voyages super ... Would you say that is? 
There are many difficult moments but also some good. Sometimes it is a pleasure and sometimes not. When you're planning amid the waves, for example, the sense of harmony with the ocean could not be better. 
So, you plan on the table? 
Yes, when the waves low, sometimes the table plans. 
On the philosophy of the trip, apart from slogans such as sustainable development, solidarity and education for children, surfing the conservation of the planet ... Is it also the spirit of adventure or sporting challenge which motivates you? 
The main driver for me is to throw on an adventure to surf and be in harmony with the sea. Each trip is unique and motivations have changed from one to another. When I made the Atlantic the great challenge was that everything was unknown to me, when I did the whole Mediterranean was much calmer and the Pacific was a matter of distance and time for the index had gained all the experience and this has meant being able to enjoy more of the unique moments and not have to focus on the technical side of the every day, dedicating more of my commitment to spreading the conservation of nature. 
Crossing over the water or bureaucratic journey before leaving ... What is harder? 
The main problem is the funding of the trip. Everything else is achieved on the basis of work and always know that with persistence, you'll achieve. However, if you do not have the support of sponsors, there is nothing to do. 
Are you happy with the impact that your journeys have been in the media? 
Yes, I am happy for my sponsors but more for me. Personally, the recognition is not something that I value so much. 
Do you know the people on the street in France? 
A little ... One of my sponsors is TF1, French TV, so I've left enough on TV. 
On April 15, just four days after leaving Australia, you have a good scare with a merchant that you are missing huge over in the middle of the night, was that the time of tension over the entire trip? 
No, actually I saw a few in the Indian ships, and only at the beginning and end of the voyage, while in the Atlantic saw the time. 
How to react to the alarm wake up the receiver? 
I caught the radio to communicate quickly to the boat my position. When the merchant changed its course. 
It is said that we can control our minds but not our dreams ... Remember I used to dream of the sea?, A repetitive dream?, Any nightmare? 
No, things always dreamed but never more earthly nightmares. 
So, you sleep well? 
Yes, I am a person who sleeps well, anywhere. It is something your body needs to start again the next day. 
During the first days under constant dizziness and gastritis and in newspapers is that, lying at the bottom of the table, barely swallow three grains of rice and drink some water in which you dilute a bit of jam ... The scene seems quite disturbing, sick and abandoned in the world ... How important then is the moral support through the Iridium phone? 
It is essential for me. Both for the help of the doctor for emotional support. When you are going wrong, it is important to share it with you with others. Need to know what happens and you notice the mood of those on earth, not only friends but also the general public. 
What the hell am I doing here? ... Do not you ever done this type of question during the voyage? 

Not at all. Such questions do not help anything and create more anxiety. Before starting a journey that's important to have a good mental preparation in order to analyze the problems and react. One way, for example, is difficult to think of similar moments in other crossings and remember how to fix it. It is important to analyze the causes of a bad situation, which may be due simply to the physical fatigue without you being aware of it. If so, we need to know to stop to rest. 

Never do you put these crossings with someone else? 
Yes, initially I was looking for someone to accompany me but did not find anyone. 
Did not find anyone or you are not convinced that the candidates? 
Yes there was someone, a champion in sailing, but I saw that was not motivation enough, so I thought maybe even it would be easier to go by myself. 
Can you conceive of a voyage and without the daily telephone contact only with a GPS, charts and a beacon for ransom in an emergency? 
The telephone contact is vital, in that it is not technically necessary, but I can not imagine traveling without this contact. It's something I've wanted one. 
But sometimes, for example encontrándote sick at the beginning of the journey and having to speak with a journalist, is it not this more an obligation than a pleasure? 
Well, it depends on the journalist. With some I felt more comfortable and less. 
When there are waves of four meters and 35 knots of wind, having to keep resignarte within the table, sailing adrift amid the storm ... One must feel very small in there, right? 
Yes, you feel very small, is a humbling but at the same time, in these extreme conditions I felt good, happy for myself. 
Do you speak with the board, with the sail, the sea, with the wind? 
Yes .. Neither much! It is something spontaneous. 
What say? 
I talk to the sea or the table is never anything but aggressive. If you are moving apace in the sun, I tell the table that this is magnificent stuff. 
An hour to rig and one for desaparejar ... every day should be drawn around the bow locker and then save it in the afternoon ... This routine, as you start the day and finish after completing the day, were special moments? 
Yes, when a ritual is very important ... It is also a time of hard work and that we must pay close attention to do everything well. In the morning you have to choose the appropriate candle confused because if you almost miss the days of losing ... In the afternoon, supposed to end the day, you did and it's time to rest. Sunset times were really magical. 
The days of calm or storm, the entire day within the table ... Are endless? 
Yes, they were very difficult days. 
The overturning of the table, which happens a few times during the voyage, it seems very serious, but listening to you think that you take it as a minor incident ... ¿Both rely on the latter's air bag system to give back to the table? 
Yes, that is. We tested this system many times during tests at sea and had full confidence in that work, as it was. Dump did not represent a crisis very important to me. 
But in crossing the Atlantic does not bear, is not it? 
Do not bore the table but was much heavier and it was not overturned. 
What other differences or improvements included in the chart for the Indian (2006) over the Atlantic (2000)? 
Basically, the Indian board is much lighter and more fluid than the Atlantic. After all the electronic navigation and communication was also much improved. 
At night, always closed the hatch before you fall asleep? 
Sometimes, when time was real quiet, I could choose to leave the normally closed but open. 
Were there moments of silence? 
Never. He was always the sound of water against the hull. 
Not a wing in two months ... Finally, I do not think there are so many sharks in the Indian! 
There are sharks, but obviously not in the same density in the ocean close to shore ... anyway, no I did nothing to attract them! 
Is it not rather have seen a shark during the voyage? 
Yes, I was prepared for it. Really bothers me that you have not seen. 
When you say you were ready I guess you mean these pictures where you go diving with sharks in an aquarium ... What sense was this? 
In these photos I am an expert in diving with sharks and explains how they behave and how important it is to keep quiet so as not to draw attention. 

Somehow, these pictures are not a marketing coup? 

No, mine was an idea that was part of the mental preparation. 
During the voyage will not wash unless you fall from the table ... Are you afraid of bathing in the sea? 
Usually not, but when you have 6000 meters deep under you ... challenge anyone to bathe there ... And then we talk! 
How does it shield the anti sharks? 
It is a South African invention that has been marketed in Australia. Is a device that you atas to the leg and emits an electromagnetic wave that repels sharks. 
Always you were tied to the table? 
Always less when I was absolutely within the table. 
What about the time of pee? 
Yes, if I had to leave at midnight, I tied a wristband with a place of safety. 
By crossing with a Formula board, after ten minutes on the same board feet start to hurt, did not have this problem? 
Yes, I had to do stretching from the foot every hour and half and tried to switch Socks occasionally. 
And hands, how are you? 
I had no problems because he had used creams and gloves. Anyway, I needed the first fifteen days to get your hands really tanned. 
How does the drinking water from salt water? 
It is a reverse osmosis system, a kind of filtering water at high pressure. Electricity for its operation occurs with the solar panels. 
Was it good water? 
Yes, perfect. 
What security had that was not going to spoil all of a sudden? 
Like carrying a spare and another independent manual operation. 
On May 7 announced a wind against which the West will desandes a handful of miles traveled ... Remember how bad you hit this discovery?, Was a hard blow? 
Well, I knew that that could happen, I was prepared for it. The ability to read the forecasts with time you can anticipate and know how to react mentally. 
And how to react? 
To sail across from north to south and from south to north. It is always best to stay navigate within the table. 
How to pass the time during the voyage? 
Time is more dense. 
What do you mean? 
Obviously the feeling time is not the same as when you're on land. Living with the sun and the moon. We live more intensely. 
What were you thinking during the hours of navigation? 
All, but if the conditions were a little hard trying to concentrate on navigation. The six times I fell to the water was being distracted, not to pay attention to navigation and think about other things. 
The May 20 encounter a sailboat after about forty days without seeing anyone ... What does this encounter? 
It was the first time you saw a person in a long time ... people are social animals and we all need to interact with others but at the same time being something completely unexpected, it was somewhat difficult to digest, something that broke my rhythm. 
On June 8 to get to La Reunion ... Was the expected end of the journey or the end of a dream? 
It was the end of a cycle crossings which closed the circle. Basically he was happy to see the whole world and be able to take some time to turn the page. 
What are your plans for the future? 
I'm not thinking about it but sure to be something in there.

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