In the port of Garavan, in Menton, in the Alpes-Maritimes, at pontoon n ° 7, Cyril Martini has just taken his 7-year-old daughter to school. He drinks coffee aboard his Schooner, a 20-meter sailboat, which has the distinction of having two identical masts. For a year and a half, he has decided to “leave the earth” and settle permanently on his boat.
“The click was a separation,” he says. I had just bought the Schooner so you can tell it was the right time. My desk [il a repris le centre de plongée Palmes Beach] is at the end of the alley, I travel by bike most of the time, I have food and drink, there is network. My daughter is having fun. Everything is modern. It’s awesome. It’s like an apartment but with freedom. “
Cyril has always been immersed in the marine world. Around the age of 13, his parents enrolled him to take sailing lessons. He will continue until he is 18 before leaving for Paris. “Every summer, I came back to sail,” he recalls. The native of Toulon first bought a first 6-meter boat, then 8-meter, “I had a 12-meter rental and the last one was a 10-meter. This is the first time that I have had such a big and beautiful one. As soon as I got in it, it was obvious. “
“Watch out for the postcard”
Farm, as the captain decided to name it, “because she’s a girl, she’s a Schooner”, is 20 meters tall, she has two identical masts, has four cabins, a large saloon “very bright living room”, a kitchenette, toilets, a bathroom and even air conditioning and a flat screen. “In the end, it’s like a studio,” comments Cyril. After that, it’s personal, it’s up to you to configure it as you wish. I renovated everything but I really like this side where you feel that there is a soul, that it has lived. It’s an expedition boat, to go around the world. He’s already done it twice! This is what its owner is preparing it for “in the next five to ten years.”
In particular, it has installed an electric power station which allows it to observe its consumption. “The worst is the coffee machine! It’s funny but with this way of life, you become aware and it makes you think differently. Your life boils down to batteries so you have to adapt, especially if I want to leave. And then, everything has its place. We learn to purify, to be a little minimalist. I still have a suit just in case for dates. »On the practical side, sanitary facilities and washing machines are available at the port. Then, “water and electricity are included in the rent we pay”. For a 12 meters, “it’s 800 euros per month”, indicates the Mentonnais. To know that to get a place in the port, you “have to make requests, there is a waiting list. It’s like that on the Côte d’Azur, it’s in great demand. “
The owner of the dive center warns all the same: “Watch out for the postcard effect. Not everyone can live this way. He adds: “Most people in port live on their boat as a second home. Because winter is something. You apprehend. And then there are material constraints, annual maintenance, additional charges. Taking care of Farm for a living takes time and for traveling even more. “
Freedom at the end of two ropes
Cyril accepts these “inconveniences” because, ultimately, “one thing is worth all the others: my terrace is the world,” he smiles on the deck of the sailboat. I’m free. As soon as I feel like it, and I can, I remove the two ends of the ropes that hold me to the port, and I leave. In Cannes, in Corsica, in Genoa. “
He continues: “And then finally, it is like in a small village. Everyone respects their neighbor for nuisance, for example. There are between ten and thirty people who have chosen this way of life in Garavan. A family also has children, my little one has fun with them. Afterwards, there are also those passing through. In August, it’s completely crowded and in winter, it’s deserted! “
At 44, he does not regret this choice of life and is thinking about how to use this new universe in which he has immersed himself. Before setting sail for a world tour, the owner of the diving center intends to develop “diving cruises” for a day, a weekend or the week for four months in the year, for the rest, it will be “anywhere at sea”.