Yes, I did it: I travelled around Europe, all by water, in a rigid inflatable boat, the ArgoFram! After three stages, I arrived here in Marseille, closing the circle – happy, but exhausted. Rémis recognised this (without knowing me) and brought me to my senses. Thank you!
This has brought this work of art – portraying all the important encounters at all the ports during the third stage, highlighting what connects us and placing it in a continuous context – to a successful conclusion. It was a good idea; 64 times I took out the red pentagon, listened attentively, asked questions to clarify my understanding, and wrote down what I found in brief, without judgement. The pentagon has served its purpose and can now remain folded up … I will continue to practise the basic principle of approaching people without prejudice.
I used my mooring in the ancient, magnificent harbour here in the heart of Marseille as an oasis of calm. – How should I proceed? Should I have the ArgoFram picked up and travel back to Basel by land? Or should I continue this circumnavigation of Europe and travel via the Canal du Midi to the Bay of Biscay, around Brittany to Dover and Rotterdam, up the Rhine to Basel?
It’s crazy, somehow, how nonchalantly I’m thinking about a voyage at this moment, once again “on the outside”, alone and in the rather stormy autumn … I ask myself this as someone who, just three years ago, as a nautical novice, hardly dared to venture out to sea …
Here in Marseille, it’s pleasant (although the city itself seems to be completely out of control; the omnipresence of the police speaks volumes) – I visit individual neighbourhoods on foot (I’ve disposed of the clattering scooters), go swimming at the public bonsai beach, eat well, sleep a lot. And yes, I am filled with pride.
Having the ArgoFram picked up now and simply disconnecting my project here is somehow not possible. I’ll give her and myself a little more run! – My new training consists of fetching a few cans of petrol every day in a shopping trolley from the (nearest) petrol station about two kilometres away and filling up the ArgoFram while the strong wind and bad weather outside the coast clear up.
On 20 September, after five days, I say goodbye to Régis and speed across to Narbonne in about four hours – I want to enter the Canal du Midi… but that’s not possible because the canal is closed here due to a lack of water. So back to the sea, another hour north to Adge, and from here into the canal. Now begins a journey that initially feels painfully slow (8 km/h) via Carcassonne to Toulouse, where I arrive on 26 September and stay for three days because I like this city so much.
On 29 September, I continue towards Bordeaux, where I arrive after another four leisurely days of sailing – during which I have really recovered well – and immediately continue on to Royan, where I already stopped on my first stage two years ago. The harbour master’s office remembers me, provides me with all the support I could possibly need and puts me in touch with an experienced mechanic to change the oil and filters in the engines one last time. Conclusion: I feel perfectly comfortable again and ready to tackle the tricky circumnavigation of Brittany at this time of year.
On 5 October, I set off via Lorient, around the fast-flowing western tip of Brittany at Le Conquet to Roscoff, and on to Guernsey. – Once again, I am extremely lucky with the weather, and the ArgoFram masters the fast-flowing passages between the many rocks and lighthouses with bravura.
After Guernsey, I continue through the English Channel to Dover and back across to the continent towards Rotterdam/Stellendam, where I enter the Rhine via just one lock. – Now I’m heading up the Rhine (in Germany, there’s no speed limit on that river!) … In Worms, I meet Franz and Mechtild, a sailing couple I got to know two years ago on my maiden voyage in Sweden – and who invited me to visit them if I ever came to Worms! I stay for a few days, give my first travel talk at the clubhouse of the Wiking Worms sailing and motor sports club, and say a big thank you … And on 20 October, one month after my departure from Marseille, I arrive in Basel, passing the cathedral!
Just one day later, Marko picks up the ArgoFram in Weil am Rhein. It goes back to Tallinn, I stay in Basel. That’s fine.