Why I sail, by Anne
About ten years ago, I was dreaming of taking a break to go explore east Asia with a camper van. Then I met Stefano. His dream was to go solo sailing around the world. Until that moment, sailing the world was not an option to me. It was something for seasoned sailors, the ones that started sailing at 3 years old along the coast of Brittany.
It sounded perfect: a camper van, but on the water. The convenience of exploring the world carrying your home with you and the romanticism of sailing and exploring remote islands.
Then we started sailing and reality hit me.
Sailing is an inefficient, scary and nauseating way of moving. To go to Japan, it would take us at least 2 years. We would have to cross two oceans, spend weeks at sea, face storms and, incidentally, spend a lot of money. Add to this a staggering complexity, ranging from boat preparation to navigation planning.
But these very same drawbacks contribute to the magic of sailing. It is as if these challenges increase the value of our destination. What we felt when finally seeing the mountains of Svalbard on the horizon after a year of preparation, a month of sailing up the coast of Norway and five days of crossing the Barents Sea had no comparison with what we could ever have experienced if we came there by plane. A mix of relief, pride, amazement and gratefulness.
I always struggled to explain this to people who have never felt it. So I was quietly delighted to find a recent Stanford study1 showing there is real chemistry behind it: effort increases the brain's reward response. My feelings were valid all along. Science said so.
Sailing is also changing me. I have always trusted my ability to decide what I want to do and when I want to do it. Sailing taught me otherwise. While you can, and should, have an overarching plan with a destination and timelines, you are not the one who decides ultimately. There is no point arguing against a storm, or the absence of wind. And still, old habits are tough to shake off. I still find myself getting enraged at a total calm, with Capsula’s sails flapping for hours and the time to arrival increasing constantly, while the weather forecast had predicted a perfect breeze towards our destination. I walk around Capsula, reset the sails a thousand times, try to tack, to find some wind, somewhere. Pointlessly. Surrender is the only solution. And it feels good, ultimately.
Once you let go and accept the slow rhythm of sailing, you finally pay attention. You see more of the world around you, and a door to Nature opens.
At sea, you have no choice but to coordinate your rhythm with the one of Nature: cycle of the day, tides, currents, weather patterns. For your own safety, you must look out constantly, at the waves, at the clouds, at the shape of the coastline. I’ve started to grow a connection with Nature I had never felt before.
And the wildlife! We've witnessed things we will never forget. Like this time when a pod of pilot whales came to play around Capsula. They were only two on the horizon. Then we heard a call and the whole pod appeared next to us, diving under the bow, jumping alongside Capsula, popping their head out close to the deck, as if checking on us. For almost an hour, it felt as if they were trying to include us in their game. Then, as quickly as they had appeared, they vanished2.
Of course, it is not all rosy. There are days when I am terrified, sick, exhausted, cold or wet. Taking the kayak to go shopping sounds exciting but can quickly become a burden, especially in Arctic waters. We have countless moments where we wish we would be somewhere else, like in the warmth of our dear friend’s apartment in Zurich from which I am writing this post.
But as of now, sailing has been the most fulfilling experience of my life, I finally start to let go of the persona I locked myself in for years: the achiever, the decisive, the successful one.
Anne – Feb 12th, 2026
PS: I also agree with everything mentioned in Stefano’s post, especially the romantic nonsense
1 - Touponse, G.C., Pomrenze, M.B., Yassine, T. et al. Cholinergic modulation of dopamine release drives effortful behaviour. Nature (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-10046-6
2- Link to a YouTube video of our encounter with the pilot whales