TELL HARI
By Hari Bedi
Surfing the Net to Stall the Sea
Paru dans le Phuket Gazette Année 2000
If there were a list of Phuket people who cannot simply be stereotyped, Frenchman Bruno Paulet will be close to the top. If Bruno had told me he was designing delicate jewelry for the four beautiful sisters married to the king of Bhutan, I would have readily believed him. If he had said he is researching why monarch butterfly caterpillars fed on pollen from genetically modified corn were dying in such large numbers, I wouldn’t have batted an eyelid.
I would have even accepted, without too much trouble, his current ownership of a computer business. But I just stood there with open-mouthed disbelief when he told me he had been around the world on a 12 meter long schooner, covering 21,600 nautical miles (40,000 KM). How could this gentle, refined, well-groomed and almost fragile youngman of forty have undertaken such an arduous expedition? But as I listened further to Bruno talk passionately about his adventures at sea, he gradually took on the apparition of a bearded, weather-beaten old man who had barely escaped malignant melanoma from exposure to high ultraviolet levels.
The transformation was complete. The only link between Bruno the computer man and his seafaring alter ego was the pipe which both of them smoked. As he took another deep puff, he described his schooner, named Ilboued (appetite), with loving tenderness. His father, a professional boat designer, who is now retired and writes historical novels, designed it. The aluminum-built two-mast schooner with a center keel had three main cabins and a 40 HP engine, which was scarcely used.
The coastal people of Lorient in Brittany where Bruno was born are well used to youngster’s sailing boats. But Bruno claims that he was still in diapers when he sailed together with his father. Obviously his dream of sailing round the world took shape quite early in life. Still in early teens and at school in Lorient, Bruno red every book about sailing adventures he could lay his hands on. When it was time to go to university at Brest, he chose computer science party because it appealed to his logical mind but mainly to make quick money to finance his dream.
He left France in July 1994 in his schooner accompanied by a longtime friend who was "almost like a sister" to him. As a geophysicist with the French Petroleum Institute, Brigitte had her own dreams of adventure and Bruno’s expedition looked tailor-made. First there was a lot of planning to do, part of which was to sail together to such places as Spain and England covering over 2,000 nautical miles. Planning says Bruno is the most critical aspect of this type of adventure.
Then Brigitte took a year off from work and Bruno jumped at early retirement offered by Fujitsu with whom he worked as a consultant in Paris. The separation pay was almost a year’s salary, which along with other savings was enough to finance the journey. They sailed from Brittany across the Atlantic to the Caribbean Islands with stops at Canaries Islands and Cabo Verde, and across the Pacific via Panama canal with stops at Gallapos archipelago, French Marquisas, French Polynesia (Tahiti, Bora Bora) and New Caledonia. From there, Brigitte flew back to France and Bruno continued his journey alone to Darwin, Singapore and onto Phuket via Langkawi, arriving here in November 1995.
Their longest trip without seeing land was 25 days. They were blessed with favorable trade winds both while crossing the Atlantic and the Pacific and the only rough patch was when they hit heavy winds near Panama. "But otherwise life was pleasant,"says Bruno, "We were on auto-pilot all the time. We never touched the wheel." They shared the night watch, one taking the 9.pm- 3am shift and the other handling the 3 am – 9 am shift. During the day each took a three-hour nap. Brigitte did almost all the cooking and Bruno took care of the repair work and general maintenance. There were about 500 books on board and both caught up with a lot of reading. "A boat is like a home," says Bruno contentedly.
Bruno stayed in Phuket for just over a year, mooring his boat in Chalong Bay and working for a local company writing software programs. Then he set sail again for a six month journey back to France to complete his round the world trip which took him to Sri Lanka, Maldives, Oman, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Suez canal, Rhodes Island, Athens, Sicily and Corsica. This time he was accompanied by his 12 year old nephew and and an English woman, both of whom had flown to Phuket to join him.
A rousing reception from friends and relatives awaited in Lorient and Bruno had the happiest three days of reunion before he fell down a concrete staircase and broke his leg. "Life is funny," he says. " I had no mishap on the sea and I break my leg in three days in the safety of my home!" It took him three months to` recover and then he flew back to Phuket which by now had become a second home to him. After working for a French company to develop software for eight months, he startedhis own business - AllForPC in Ranong Rd, Phuket Town.
Talking as enthusiastically about his business as his world trip, Bruno said proudly that he started a year ago with only two persons and now has a staff of ten and a monthly turnover of one million baht. If there is anything in common between the two Brunos, it is the thoroughness in planning. His employees are among the most pleasant anybody could meet in a computer shop. "My principle is never to be bossy with employees.I never complain, but if I want something changed I push it everyday. If nothing is done after several days, maybe my idea is wrong," says Bruno with good humor, "But everybody is agreed on our motto – Pamper the Customer."
Beneath the computer expert surfing the net still lurks the adventurous soul seeking the high seas. Out of the scores of places where Bruno moored on his journey, he remembers Bora Bora most fondly." It is paradise", he says, "It is very small, very expensive, very French." As the story nears the end, Bruno replaces the pipe on the ashtray and turns into a businessman again ready to greet a new customer for the AllForPC popular computer package priced amongst the lowest in Phuket. I cannot help feeling a little sad at the thought that Bora Bora and Ranong Road are as far apart as Bruno the seafarer and Bruno the computer man. The irony is that greater the success Bruno has with his computer business, the longer he will stall the seductive call of the sea.