Alejandro Marinus does not sail like the others. It is a kind of hybrid crossing, which mixes the wind with the code, the stars with sensors and logs with servers on board. His project “BCN – Men Live” seems simple in its description – crossing alone from Barcelona to Menorca, broadcasting everything live – but contains a sophistication which goes far beyond the bar. This is, in essence, a new way of living in the sea.
From the first minutes of the podcast, Alejandro clearly indicates that his thing is not a laboratory story: “In the end, I had a problem, which was how to calculate a direction in Vela. And of course, the programmers what we do when we have a problem is to program a solution”. This simple and revealing sentence marks the tone of everything that will come later. It is not an epic story, but a deeply functional story since (As he tells us) Each Alejandro USA tool meets a lived need.
And if something defines his way of navigating, it is adaptation. It is not a question of using the last because, but of finding the fair. Which is useful. Which does not bother. What, like Apple Watch, can wake up in the middle of the night without shock to watch the horizon and go back to peace. This is what this trip is talking about: minimum decisions which, added, transform the way of living a trip.
Navigate and program, a double entry journal
Alejandro did not start to design applications for browsers from an office. It started in the middle of the race, almost by accident. “It was in 2012, second or third, when I started to learn to program. I saw that in the App Store, there was nothing useful for navigation, so I did an application that I needed, to calculate the course. And since then I have not stopped”. There is no clearer anecdote to explain the genesis of marinus applications.
The applications he developed have been refined with each nautical thousand. Not by theory, but by direct experience. “You navigate and you see something that would make your life easier, so I think: I have to put it in the application.”. Here, the interesting thing is not that you disconnect from development when you sail. On the contrary.
The “Marinus First” sailboat is not a ship. This is a first 42S7 of 1994, transformed with sensors, cameras and connected systems. “We have a server system on the ship, a network with routers, cameras, sensors, all working in real time and sending data”. It is a kind of floating laboratory, where the equipment is mixed with intuition.
The sea as an interface
One of the most intimate moments of the conversation was when I asked him about the use of Apple Watch. * “When I sail alone, I sleep in 20 minutes. This scene, so small, sums up what technology can do when it adapts to who uses it.
It was not a technical, but human argument. Waking up without shock can make the difference between effective guard or dangerous distraction. Alejandro explained it more calmly: “This allows me to check that everything is still correct and return for calm for another 20 minutes”. In a solo navigation context, these small gestures are essential.
And just as Apple Watch fulfills a discreet but vital function, the same goes for other tools. “GPS, even if you have years, remains the most revolutionary on board. Know exactly where you are, especially when you go alone, change everything”. Useful technology is not the one that impresses. He is the one who helps without disturbing.
Share the trip, multiply the experience
The most powerful thing about the project is not only Alejandro has crossed the Mediterranean. It is that he decided to say it live, to the navigation open to the public, to convert the private sector into shared. “What motivated me was that people could see what we do in real time, that it was not only one thing for expert browsers. Let him see, from home.”.
The retransmission was more than a show. It was a conversation. “They sent us questions and I answered it when I could, we even established links with the media and interviews in full navigation”. It's not just about arriving. It is a question of inviting others to join, even from the screen.
Alejandro already thinks of what is coming: “We want to build ocean navigation equipment, represent USA in important regattas and continue to use this formula: technology, content and real navigation”. This indicates that this adventure was no exception, an isolated event. It was rather an action. In the episode of this week podcast, you will discover how this connection of technology with the sea – even with survival – is much more interesting (and vital) than we think.
Thank you for listening to our podcast! Applesfera Talks is our weekly podcast where we are talking about important news from the world of apples and its context. You can stay for free PPPLESFERA TALKS Since the favorite podcast application of you, like Apple podcasts, Ivoox O Spotify
In Applesfera | He left his “Curraz” in a technological giant to experience Apple's programming language. He becomes gold
