January 2007

Hello everyone,

Happy New year to all
A new year is the right time to sum up the previous one ; this summing up, for me, has taken place, for a change... on board an airplane, the Airbus that takes me to Los Angeles and France, after sailing Banana Split back to Tahiti : Seeing the perfectly preserved Peninsula rise from the Ocean is always a fascinating sight !
The past twelve months have been pretty busy:


> Sailing: about 4500 nautical miles or 7500 km, one sixth of a circumnavigation : a good average, as most world cruisers take from five to eight years to cruise around the World.
> Travel by air : one round-the-World trip , about 48000 kilometres, plus the present trip, here I have had the pleasure of celebrating the approach of the New Year in the cockpit and with the flight attendants.
> Travel by road : 4000 km in New Zealand, 1500 km in the Western United States, more than 3000 km in Québec
> Stays in the islands I like, my preferred lagoons in the Tuamotu Islands, and a wonderful discovery this year, the peaceful and spectacular lagoon surrounding Raiavavae, in the Austral islands : more than six months altogether
> Two days in Thailand to shoot two new TV ads for my sponsor; I can be seen surfing and kite-boarding!
> Many weeks spent working on my autobiography, due for publication in March; plus many hours spent filming and editing my next documentaries
> Stays in Europe for 2006? 24 hours !

Next year, I will spend more time there, beginning with a tour of talks in Switzerland and in France; I will be on the road for about 12000 km; then will come the publication of my book... my return on board Banana Split, planned for April, seems very far.

So I wish myself courage, and I wish you courage too, thank you for your wishes, I send you mine : may the realization by people that it's high time to do something to protect our Planet from Global Warming, may this realization not be just a temporary fashion; and may 2007 bring changes in the way the people that govern us treat our planet; so that at least half of the wonders I like to show you in my films and books do not disappear in the next 30 years... beginning with all the World's beaches, that would not resist the Ocean rising 4 to six foot... Can you imagine a World without beaches?
I wish you for 2007 many beaches of happiness.