February 2000

Hello everyone,

How time flies. for a few months I have been appearing to a certain extent on the television screens, just to present you the new films and books, the time has now come to board the Banana Split once again, which in Saint Martin has just been prepared for our next trip; the tasks to be carried out were quite considerable, putting two engines, propeller shafts, propellers, electrical circuits, cooker, refrigerator, etc. in working order: after ten years of worthy and loyal service, a good deal of things on board had to be arranged; I am coming to the end of this work and have just received the maps for the future ports of call .

Banana Split is beginning to champ at the bit, to pull at its moorings . in just a few days, unless there is a technical problem at the last minute, I will sail towards the West, always towards the West, with some islands I do not know yet in my path, which have appealed to me for quite a long time: Culebra, "the Adder", off the coast of Puerto Rico; The Isla Beata - the Island of Devotion, a name like that you simply can't invent, at the border between the Dominican Republic and Haiti; the Ile à Vache, to the South of Haiti, Cienfuegos, the gardens of the Queens, on the Caribbean Coast of Cuba, and Providencia, the Colombian island in the heart of the Caribbean sea, before going back to San Blas islands off Panama, and then to pass through the canal, to reach the Pacific islands once again .
This is the schedule, in theory. because, you know me, my plans may change unexpectedly, by chance an unexpected island could succeed in seducing me . Therefore, I am also curious to see what the months to come will bring . I will tell you all about them, in pictures, in videos, or simply in my next messages on this web site. Thanks to all of you who have placed your trust in me and who have travelled beside me, through the three new films, in the Atlantic, the Mediterranean and the Great Pacific islands. Due to a request by some of you who can't find a specific film of the 12 films in the series "Once upon an island" or a certain book in the shops, the good news is that an on-line shop at this site will soon open, enabling you to complete your collection, in all the standard versions (in French: Secam for France, PAL for Switzerland and Belgium and NTSC for Quebec; in Italian: in PAL format, or in NTSC or PAL for the English version).

A gust of wind from the North due to a cold front has stirred up the mooring in Saint Martin a little, even throwing an unfortunate little Haitian cargo boat up onto the sand; the island licks its wounds after the José and Lenny cyclones (French forests have had their share of misfortune too, without forgetting the terrible oil slick attacking Atlantic coasts). In some days, Easterly winds, a bit too strong in January, are expected to ebb: and it will be time for me to sail yet again.