It is easier to imagine a sailor living alone than being accompanied. And yet, Olivier de Kersauson shares the life of a woman well. (born in 1980 from his marriage to , a woman who unfortunately died in 2005 at the age of 47), he is now in a relationship withwhom he married religiously in 2014 on an atoll in Polynesiaa year after their civil marriage in Brest. In his book Before memory fades, some maritime remarks (published on November 21, 2024 by Editions du Cherche Midi), Olivier de Kersauson makes some brief confidences on the latter. And in particular one of his criticisms.
The famous navigator takes advantage of this marine testament to talk about the woman who now knows him better than anyone. It was in Polynesia that the couple met, the place where Sandra was born. What do we know about the latter? That she is younger than him, and that she prefers to stay quiet in her islands on the other side of the world, where the navigator, who overcame lung cancer, found peace. But now thanks to Olivier de Kersauson’s confidences in this book, we also know that the less social side of her man can sometimes bother her.
“I’m not social, not antisocial, but not socialwrites the 80-year-old man. I don’t think I’ve ever spoken to anyone first. My wife blames me for it, she says to me: ‘You should see people…’ I answer her: ‘I don’t want to see anyone.’“Their life in Polynesia must therefore be very peaceful since Olivier de Kersauson does not even seem to enjoy dinners in company. “I don’t go out to dinner in Tahiti, I don’t have any friends. Oh, twice a year, and even then… Or I don’t go“, he writes. The couple’s public appearances are obviously very rare. However, in 2017, they appeared together at the Ponant company’s speakers’ lunch at the Le Jules Verne restaurant (Paris).
Olivier de Kersauson: it was in Polynesia that he married
On the subject, Olivier de Kersauson had already indulged in some confidences. “If you are lucky enough to meet someone with whom such a crazy experience, because it is crazy, is possible, in my opinion, you should try it.“, he told Paris Match about life alongside his wife, who “a gift for gardening“. It was on the small island of Fakarava that they were married religiously: “Since we have the chance to live a real story, I will try to live it further. If the marriage persists, it is because it has reasons to exist. You have to give yourself the chance for a romantic relationship to be even stronger, less selfish. I won’t be afraid of marriage, it can only be better…”.
