Information to the PRESS London, 4 of January of 2003

PARIS - ENGLAND Expedition

Today, the Spanish navigator Álvaro de Marichalar has arrived in London. He weighed anchor from Paris on the 30 of December aiming to arrive at the English shores, on board a small craft of 2.5 meters length. Baptised with the mythical name "NUMANCIA" this craft is the same one he used recently to set a world record by solo crossing the Atlantic Ocean. (Rome - New York Expedition Visit www.ocean2002.com) In order to obtain the required navigation permits over the Seine river, the Navarrese sportsman had to pass an exam on French fluvial regulations last November in Paris.

PARIS - ENGLAND Expedition DATA.-
Hour of departure: 12:00.
Point of departure: in front of the Statue of Liberty on the Seine river. Paris, France
Distance: 320 Nautical miles (580 Km.)
Boat: Bombardier Sea.Doo XP Di Lubricant 100% biodegradable. Clean emission.
Curiosity: The boat has over 1000 hours of use and is still highly trustworthy.

4 STAGES. -
December 30: Descent by the Seine to Poissy. Sluices caused delays.
December 31: Down the fluvial section to Oissel, during most of New Year's eve.
January 1: Oissel - Rouen - Honfleur (Seine River opening)
January 2: Honfleur - Le Havre - Dieppe.
January 3: English Channel crossing: Dieppe - Calais - Dover.
January 4: Dover - London. Arrival in front of the House of Parliament at 17:00
Most important disadvantages: the intense cold and very adverse sea conditions at this time of the year.

Information to the PRESS Dover, 3 of January of 2003

PARIS - ENGLAND Expedition

Today, the Spanish navigator Álvaro de Marichalar has arrived at Dover Marina at 13:40 Last December 30, he weighted anchor from Paris aiming to arrive at the English shores, on board a small craft of 2.5 meters length. Baptised with the mythical name "NUMANCIA", this craft is the same one he used recently to set a world record by solo crossing the Atlantic Ocean. (Rome - New York Expedition. Please visit www.ocean2002.com)) In order to obtain the required navigation permits over the Seine River, the Navarrese sportsman had to pass an exam on French fluvial regulations last November in Paris.

PARIS - ENGLAND Expedition DATA.-
Hour of departure: 12:00.
Point of departure: in front of the Statue of Liberty on the Seine river. Paris, France
Distance: 320 Nautical miles (580 Km.)
Boat: Bombardier Sea.Doo XP Di Lubricant 100% biodegradable. Clean emission. Curiosity: The boat has over 1000 hours of use and is still highly trustworthy.

4 STAGES:
December 30: Descent by the Seine. Passage through the sluices will cause delays.
December 31: Down the fluvial section during most of New Year's eve. Stop at Oissel.
January 1: Arrival at the Seine River opening. Stop at Honfleur.
January 2: Honfleur - Le Havre - Dieppe.
January 3: Dieppe - Dover
January 4: LAST LAP OF THE EXPEDITION: DOVER to LONDON

ARRIVAL TIME IN LONDON: 13:00 hours
ARRIVAL PLACE: IN FRONT OF THE HOUSE OF PARLAMENT
LONDON BRIDGE.LATER THE CRAFT WILL BE TAKEN TO THE BOAT SHOW

Information to the PRESS Paris, 30 of December of 2002

PARIS - ENGLAND Expedition

Today, the Spanish navigator Álvaro de Marichalar will weigh anchor from Paris aiming to arrive at the English shores, on board a small craft of 2.5 meters length. Baptised with the mythical name "NUMANCIA" this craft is the same one he used recently to set a world record by solo crossing the Atlantic Ocean. (Rome - New York Expedition) In order to obtain the required navigation permits over the Seine river, the Navarrese sportsman had to pass an exam on French fluvial regulations last November in Paris.

PARIS - ENGLAND Expedition DATA.-
Hour of departure: 12:00.
Point of departure: in front of the Statue of Liberty on the Seine river. Paris, France
Distance: 320 Nautical miles (580 Km.)
Boat: Bombardier Sea.Doo XP Di Lubricant 100% biodegradable. Clean emission.
Curiosity: The boat has over 1000 hours of use and is still highly trustworthy.

4 STAGES. -
December 30: Descent by the Seine to Rouen. Passage through the sluices will cause delays.
December 31: Down the fluvial section to the opening at Le Havre, during most of New Year's eve.
January 1: The "NUMANCIA" will sail 150 Nautical miles from Le Havre to Calais.
January 2: It will cross the English Channel to Dover (England) (It may go up the Thames to London).
Estimated time of arrival at Dover: 09:30 (it will weigh anchor at daybreak)
Most important disadvantages: the intense cold and very adverse sea conditions at this time of the year.

OBJECTIVES. -
1, Sport challenge (first time that Paris-England is accomplished on an aquatic motorcycle)
2, To promote sport and adventure against drugs and alcohol abuse.
3 .To support Galicia in Paris and London, through the diffusion of the campaign of awareness and prevention of marine contamination: anchor will be weighed before a Galician flag and a placard of "NUNCA MAIS" (Never Again) placed near the Statue of Liberty in Paris. Flag and placard will also be placed upon arrival in England.
4. To promote the ideals of union between peoples, tolerance, peace and freedom. The Spanish navigator will start today from the twin of the Statue which he saw on arrival in New York coming from Rome. The flags of Spain and France in Paris will be flown together. The same will be done in England, as the Spanish flag will stand next to the British.

More information (video and photos) at: www.oceano2002.com
Miss Mónica: +34 - email: monicarduan@yahoo.es

"Lost in the infinite Universe, there is a little drop of water which lodges a great blue desert were the navigators dreams stay alive"
Álvaro de Marichalar y Sáenz de Tejada ROME - NEW YORK Expedition

LETTER OF THE NAVIGATOR

Dear friends,
I am a Navarrese navigator lover of the sea. From 1982 I have sailed in solitaire. I have been 21 years learning to respect the big blue. I always do it in a boat that measures two meters long and a meter wide! Thus sailing, the sea is really near one it feels on the skin and without any protection one is always wet to the bones. You fall time and time again of your small craft but you swim again back on and continue making to your objectives possible.

I have fought at sea (and on earth...) to overcome sport challenges. A hard fight. The sea has taught to me. There, in my solitude, I can see and feel innumerable things and experiences. Mainly the constant and moving presence of God in the limitless empty horizon. I have felt the calm; the infinite blue; the sweet dawn; the calmness... Also the night; the cold; the storm; the fear; the total anguish... I have sailed accompanied by dolphins at times and sharks at others, as my only witnesses. Since years I had a dream: to cross the Atlantic Ocean on board of a water scooter… A few months ago I sailed in solitaire throughout 10,000 Nautical miles (18,000 Kilometers) I weighed anchor of Rome dreaming to arrive at New York. With the aid of God, I arrived.

Between the things that I have seen, I want to speak to you from the terrible outrages to our oceans. I cannot describe what I feel when I see the sea used like a great waste basket, as I man my very small craft and I avoid those immense oil tankers on the high seas while they spill with impunity crude to "clean" their deposits... When at night, frozen cold I must plunge into the water and dive in order to remove those enormous plastics that enter the turbine. In petroleum contaminated waters. It is not easy to imagine what it is to see close by, so real, a freighter undoing enormous containers loaded with illegal waste. Sometimes radioactive substances. They send them to the sea without scruples. It is incredible to see them drifting in the solitude of the high seas. And to fear them; mainly at night. To hit them, for my boat means immediate collapse. Some of these things that I see, I can film with a small watertight camera that I take on board of my small boat.

Our Planet is water. A lost drop of water in the infinite Universe. We are water. To respect the sea is basic; it is to respect our origins, our present and future. It is to respect ourselves. Today we undergo at close quarters something that happens constantly far away: the continuous spills of crude in the sea. It makes an impression to us now but because we see it. We do not have to allow it to happen again. We do not have "to move away" the problem. "NUNCA MAIS" (Never Again) Now more than ever is it necessary to be all united and to help according to the capacities of each one of us.

The past day 22 of November I was in the Real Club Nautico of La Coruña (Galicia) giving a chat about my expedition from Rome to New York. In those days I could see, admire! the coast that I had sailed so many times . This time from inland. Like so many enamored with the sea, Nature, Galicia; I could see, touch and feel the horror of the black poison.

Greed causes that our small Planet is not respected . The logical safety measure are not taken in the transport of dangerous merchandise. Soon the people who live of the sea will pay to it, while, Mother Nature receives blow after blow. Till when? The contracts of these petroleum transports are drawn in different cities. Good part of them in London and Paris...

Next day 30 of December I meet in Paris with loving French and Spanish friends of the sea and nature. They are going to wish me a safe passage in my attempt to reach (God willing) Great Britain from Paris. I will place a placard "NUNCA MAIS" in front of the Statue of :Liberty on the river Seine. If I arrive in England, I will also put it there. I believe that it is not bad that they see our Galician placard in the rest of Europe. Our problem is now a European problem, repeated every day, although we only see it when the black poison arrives so near our garden...

All the navigators are with the Gallegos and Galicia. Now more than ever. A Hugo,

Álvaro de Marichalar y Sáenz de Tejada
PARIS -ENGLAND Expedition
www.atlantik2002.com
www.ocean2002.com