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Françoise
Vincens
Born in Abbeville, France, her father initiated
her to sailing at a very young age and she sailed extensively in the
Channel between France and England with excursions ranging from the
Sily islands to the north sea harbours. She met Pascal Landa in 2013
and patiently constructed this new life style over 3 years.
Pascal
Landa
US
citizen born in France. He
started his life early at sea crossing the atlantic at 9
months old on the Queen Mary. He was raised in early childhood in New
York where he often went with his parents at friend's house in the
surroundings, owners of small motor boats, who loved to have Pascal
“drive the boat” …
Sailing
began at the age of 18 hitch-hiking on boats around the french
Atlantic, Spain and the Mediterranean. He would get a free ride from
skippers in exchange of helping out, sailing and maintaining the
boats. At the time, rudimentary navigation equipment required long
hours at the helm and extensive routing calculations to insure safe
night harbor approaches considering both currents, light house
readings and gonio cross identification.
At the age of 20 he hired out on a motor yacht
as a cook and sailed the French and Italian coast for a few months.
After his bachelor's degree in 1977 he worked
with a man who owned a 9 meter Beneteau Evasion in the San Francisco
Bay area. Sailing out of Richmond, Pascal had the boat available
whenever he wanted. This enabled him to gain serious autonomous
skills in sailing as the islands in the Bay Area provide interesting
wind situations, currents and contrasting weather. Sailing out of the
bay along the coast up to Point Reyes and back occasionally was quite
challenging. In 2 years he sailed over 50 days in all types of
conditions.
In the next 10 years, as an IT specialist he
was invited on several occasions for sailing excursions. In Australia
in 1982 he had the occasion to sail to the barrier reefs.
IT Director for Ernst & Young, coordinator
for Southern Europe, he had the occasion to sail to England and back.
On one of the cross channel journeys, the captain and Pascal were the
only ones still functional in the rough seas that rose on the return
journey. The channel is a most difficult area to sail with the ship
Rails, the currents and the channel that proposes fast changing
difficult situations. On several occasions he was invited by major
companies in sailing weekends.
With his children regularly in the spring, he
would spend a week at the Ile de Batz on the coast of Brittany and
play with hobby cats or sail on an ancient fishing boat.
In 2010, he rented a Hanse 41 and sailed to
Corsica and Sardaigne with his family. The improvements in
navigational equipment made life much easier on board.
In 2011 he joined a captain in the Caribbean
and conveyed a 15 meter english Ketch across the Panama canal, to the
Galapagos, the Marquises, the Touamotu islands and finally to Tahiti
island. He then sailed around the southern Polynesian islands for 3
months.
In 2016 he helped convey in rough seas a 42 ft
sailboat from Gibraltar to Marseille.
Pascal Landa is both a seasoned sailor who
respects the sea, an international traveler who has had a successful
career in leading IT technology firms (Ernst & Young, Steria), a
mature entrepreneur who ran his own firm for 10 years and a family
man. Competent in technology he masters both the physical and the
technological aspects of sailing while remaining humble towards the
sea.
His plans for the next 10 years is to sail 9
months out of he year, progressively going around the globe. He will
leave the boat in shipyards yearly for maintenance and return to see
friends and children.
GENESIS
From the reading above you'll have gathered
that deciding to change life style and engaging on a journey of this
magnitude is something that has it's roots very early in the journey
of life. One never really knows when it all begins. The Cousteau
documentaries, the personal experiences, the round the world trip at
30 when Pascal first met Tahiti which in 1982 was still very provincial …
probably all and more, but two events can be said to have changed the
dream into reality. Initially it became evident that after a very
intense professional life as an IT Director, who birthed into
operational solutions all the technologies that run our lives today,
he longed for another life style. At 58 he discovered that his CIO
put banana peels under his feet to be able to hire her friend and
negotiated early pre-retirement in the context of the french social
system. Thus he was able, thanks to a friend who suggested he might do this, to accompany a man who wanted to bring his boat from Panama
to Tahiti. Crossing the Panama Canal, stopping at the Galapagos,
sailing to the Marquises, the Tuamotus and finally arriving in Tahiti
after 2 months of life aboard convinced him that sailing, being able
to meet locals and explore relatively virgin seabeds, could be a way
to live. In today's world where even remote locations are being
destroyed by pollution and over population, it might be a last
opportunity to still meet authentic nature.
At 65 you have only a few years left to do things that require physical strength and mobility. With two major back operations, despite staying in shape and doing remarkable journeys (see blogs), Pascal and Françoise as well realise that in 10 years this would probably no longer be possible. Ageing has both advantages and constraints. If you do not accept them, plan for them and manage your life accordingly, then you head strait for disaster. This disaster may take many forms, sickness, accidents, or just "bad luck" ... but it is like most situations in life, if you refuse to accept what life proposes then you surely are going down the wrong road for yourself.
At this time we cannot say what tomorrow will be made of. Is that not true of all periods of life? We have prepared for the last 3 years for this moment when we begin the journey. We invite you to join us to discover what it will be and share the joys and sorrows that may come by.
Good wind to you, we are VERY LUCKY people to be able to enjoy life as much as we do.
At 65 you have only a few years left to do things that require physical strength and mobility. With two major back operations, despite staying in shape and doing remarkable journeys (see blogs), Pascal and Françoise as well realise that in 10 years this would probably no longer be possible. Ageing has both advantages and constraints. If you do not accept them, plan for them and manage your life accordingly, then you head strait for disaster. This disaster may take many forms, sickness, accidents, or just "bad luck" ... but it is like most situations in life, if you refuse to accept what life proposes then you surely are going down the wrong road for yourself.
At this time we cannot say what tomorrow will be made of. Is that not true of all periods of life? We have prepared for the last 3 years for this moment when we begin the journey. We invite you to join us to discover what it will be and share the joys and sorrows that may come by.
Good wind to you, we are VERY LUCKY people to be able to enjoy life as much as we do.
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