Finistère… Where the land ends and the ocean begins… It is the easternmost point of our metropolis, studded with pitfalls, bristling with countless rocks, sculpted by violent currents, theater of Dantesque ocean storms and cemetery of a multitude of wrecks… One of the most dangerous maritime areas on our planet, infrequent, some would say, and yet… What a fascination these landscapes exert on everyone, what an attraction close to hypnotism for all the sailors who frequent these water for pleasure, or professional necessity!
To protect them, and warn boats of its dangers, but also the first link and guide between the open sea and the land, there are essential guardian angels, unwavering sentinels watching over them for centuries, architectural prowess, unwavering colossi: Our headlights!
Fabienne d’Ortoli, three-time kitesurfing world champion, lives close to them when she’s not wandering around the world during her numerous expeditions. Ideally installed in the Baie des Trépassés at the tip of Finistère, it can see the simultaneous beams of the lighthouses of La Vieille, the island of Sein, Tevennec, and the Black Stones, further to the north, at night. In contact with them, the idea of the “Across the Oceans” project was born: go visit them, or rather pay homage, in order to tell their story and brush past their imposing silhouettes with your frail kite wing.
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I’ve always had a fascination with lighthouses, standing tall despite all the storms
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Fabienne tells us: “I’ve always had a fascination for lighthouses for what they represent, but also because despite all the storms they’ve weathered, they’re still standing. I want to pay homage to them by going to visit them by kite. Beside them, I feel like dust”. The fact remains that the nature of these honors is a matter of sporting prowess in a hostile environment…
The adventure therefore begins during the summer of 2021, when on the return from a long navigation, Fabienne and her companion Cyrille develop and then carry out the crazy project of rallying the mythical Armen lighthouse, from the coast, 25km away. On the strength of this feat, they are developing an expedition to connect them all in kitesurfing, an ephemeral and unusual link, going beyond sporting prowess, because this time it is a question of adding a large-scale human dimension and to talk about solidarity in the broad sense! Dimension made possible thanks to the involvement and interventions of the association and sailboat “Maewan”, which in addition to being the logistical support as a floating base camp, will be in charge of interventions with the schools of Landeda, the islands d’Ouessant, Molène and Sein to educate young and old about solidarity.
On May 5, I joined “Maewan” and his crew on the island of Ouessant… “Maewan” is a small 11-meter sailboat, designed for expeditions on all the seas of the globe. But much more than that, “Maewan” is the extraordinary story of Erwan Le Lann, a high mountain guide whose origin of name fools no one! Breton at heart, Erwan one day becomes aware that the wonders of the world require going there in a gentle and gradual way, to apprehend and understand them as well as possible. He therefore imagined an expedition aboard “Maewan”, which would then serve as an advanced base camp to allow extreme athletes from many disciplines to go to new and difficult to access spots. The trip that was supposed to last 3 years lasted… 7!
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We are not scientists, simply great witnesses of our planet
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Seven years of a long initiatory journey around our planet, with his companion Marion, during which the discovery of the world through the quest for sporting exploits slowly evolved towards the compelling conviction of having to bring a strong social and environmental dimension. “We left French, we came back citizens of the Earth” confides Erwan. “We are not scientists, simply great witnesses of our planet having experienced the power and beauty of our nature, but also its fragility”.
Gather, raise awareness and amaze through sport
Today, “Maewan” is a sustainable development association, recognized as activist of the year 2018 by the NGO Communication sans frontières. With Marion, president of the association, co-leader of the expeditions, they are convinced that it is urgent to reconnect with nature and people. They seek to bring people together and amaze through sport in order to raise awareness among as many people as possible of the need to protect our environment, to educate, and to support the territories on sustainable development projects, on our territory and during the next major expeditions planned for this summer in Ireland, then in the Mediterranean, Africa and Asia. So for them, “Maewan”, beyond the association, is a strong family commitment and a real way of life.
Also read. Morocco: Discovering Dakhla, the mecca of kitesurfing
Finally, the last player in our expedition, and not the least when it comes to safety and solidarity: the SNSM (National Society for Sea Rescue) responsible for the safety of Fabienne and Cyrille during the crossings. Embarked aboard the star of the Ile de Sein, I had the chance to meet Serge, a former lighthouse keeper, retired from lighthouses and beacons, boater and volunteer diver at the SNSM of the Ile de Sein. Serge spent 42 years guarding many Breton lighthouses, a lifetime of watching boats from all over the world and their passing sailors, protecting, alerting…
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When I kept the headlights on, I never felt lonely
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A whole life a few meters above the ocean in an enclosed space yet embracing the immensity, both in communion with the environment and set back from the world…and when asked if he suffered from loneliness he replies: “I’ve never had the feeling of loneliness. That’s not loneliness. It was more like confinement. I have plenty of good memories: life to the rhythm of the sun and the tides was a luxury”. But of course, there are also all the dramas that mark and leave traces… Today, the vast majority of our headlights are automated. “I closed the Sein lighthouse in 2016. It was the end of the job. It was important. It’s a whole life that has disappeared but even without their keepers, the lighthouses remain essential. Light is security”.
Also read. SNSM: the sea was the strongest
It is in the richness of these dimensions that our journey took place, many times modified from its initial plans by the whims of Éole who for once had decided to be discreet and inconstant, preventing the wings of Fabienne and Cyrille to express themselves completely… but who cares, “Across the oceans” is on its way, with an international dimension to come. As for the beautiful message of solidarity, so important in these troubled and uncertain times, it remains well marked in the wake of “Maewan”, transmitted in order to be relayed. And soon little Hoël, 4 months old, baby ship’s boy of the expedition and son of Marion and Erwan, will also carry loud and clear the values of a future citizen of the Earth….