Nuclear Free Seas Flotilla 2002
Lenght
Beam
Draught
Rig Type
Construction
Owner/Skipper
Home Port
KekilistrionOlivier Pauffin
11.8m
3.7m
1.8m
Cutter
Ferro cement
Olivier Pauffin
Ushuaia, Argentina
Kekilistrion

Olivier Pauffin

Olivier Pauffin is 46 and was born in Algiers. He has been sailing on his boat since 1982 in the Mediterranean, Africa, across the South Atlantic on his own, done long cruises on the Atlantic coast of South America and undertaken many expeditions to Cape Horn, the Patagonian canals and Antarctica.

Together with his wife Mariline, they built their boat Kekilistrion. It is the ancient greek name of the hills where they built the boat, close to Marseilles in the south of France. They started building Kekilistrion in 1976 and left France in Kekilistrion in 1983. Since leaving France they have sailed to a number of places including the Ivory Coast, the Congo, Brazil and Argentina in 1988.

Olivier has been opposed to the nuclear industry since the 1970s when the industry started developing and he was still living in France. A huge debate started when the French national electricity company won the licence to produce electricity using nuclear energy.

"I participated in anti-nuclear protests during the seventies in France and more recently I have been involved in the Finisterre Association to protect the Patagonian forests against timber companies such as Trillium. Since 1994, Finisterre has managed to postpone the clear cutting of tens of thousands of hectares of "lenga" (Notofagus pumilio).

The anti-nuclear flotilla protest represents another nick in the finger of the nuclear industry.Whatever the outcome , of our protest it will certainly help to draw public attention to the nuclear problem. Moreover it will contribute to the discussion about the future of Argentina as a nuclear dump".

"Now I have the opportunity to act in a positive way against the nuclear industry. I am completely against the plutonium shipments transit through these wild southern seas, which I know really well and where serious problems can occur. One is never a hundred per cent sure of the sea. This is true in Cape Horn or on any other route", explains Olivier.

"If the environment is destroyed, life will disappear rapidly The mistakes we make today will be paid for by our sons and daughters in the future and I donīt know how many more generations would suffer if there was a nuclear accident ."

Kekilistrion is currently in Ushuaia, Argentina. Olivier takes passengers from different parts of the world to Cape Horn, Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica, South Georgia, Falklands and the Valdes Peninsula where majestic mountains, crystalline waterways, whales, seals, soaring Andes condors and ice-blue glaciers that shimmer like jewels can be admired.