1925 to 2026 · The Mediterranean
In the wake of Bonita
A hundred years ago, in 1925, five young women set sail on an extraordinary 1,200-mile journey from Marseille to Athens aboard a boat named Bonita.
Now, a century later, we’re retracing their steps and inviting you to come aboard, thanks to Bonita 2025 project.
1'200
NAUTICAL MILES IN 1925
5
Women sailors
100
years later
Bonita in the Mediterranean, summer 1925
Our project
We are five passionate sailors, united by a love for the sea and a spirit of adventure.
Our goal? To follow in the wake of five pioneering women who dared to dream big.
Their names were Hermine de Saussure, Ella Maillart, Marthe Oulié, Mariel Jean-Bruhnes, and Yvonne de Saussure. All between 20 and 25 years old, they embarked on a two-month voyage across the Mediterranean in a weathered yawl named Bonita. With nothing but a compass and a few maps, they navigated from Marseille to Athens.
Now, 100 years later, we’re setting sail in their wake - to celebrate their incredible journey!
Follow our journey on the blog and be part of the adventure!
The story that started it all
Quand j'étais matelot. Cinq filles en Méditerranée (When I Was a Deckhand: Five Girls in the Mediterranean), Marthe Oulié, 1925
Aline Albisati
No nickname yet
INSTAGRAM LINKEDIN
Valérie Bauwens
The driving force behind the project · known as Flash
INSTAGRAM LINKEDIN
Carinne Bertola
The project's historian
FACEBOOK LINKEDIN
Esther Challandes-Stamm
known as Jumpy
Dyna Mlotkowski
Our skipper · known as Yodyna
Danielle Rosset
known as Sunny
Leg in preparation
The 2026 crew
Six women aboard for Sardinia, with their crew nicknames. This year, everyone is at sea.
Travel Through Time With Us
This blog is meant to be a journey through time. For each leg of our voyage, we invite you to read our own accounts alongside those of our five deckhands of 1925.
How has the world changed in a hundred years? That is the question we will leave you to answer.
We hope you enjoy the read, and that you take as much pleasure in following us as we do in sailing.
Aline, Valérie, Carinne, Esther, Dyna, Danielle and Yvonne
Words and photographs 1925.
Compiled by Carinne Bertola from Ella Maillart's logbooks, various other works, and Marthe Oulié's account Quand j'étais matelot. Cinq filles en Méditerranée (When I Was a Deckhand: Five Girls in the Mediterranean), with commentary by Éric Vibart.
Words and pictures 2025.
Find them on our blog, written mainly by Valérie Bauwens from the reflections and memories of the 2025 crew.
Subscribe to our blog
One episode for every leg: our stories from today alongside the accounts of 1925.
Our bibliography
To bring this project and this blog to life, we devoured a good number of books. Here are the three main ones.
Quand j’étais matelot
Marthe Oulié · CLAAE
View the book →
Ella Maillart, navigatrice
Carinne Bertola · Glénat
View the book →
La Vagabonde des mers
Ella Maillart · Payot
View the book →
Contact us
A question, a wish to join us, an educational project? Write to us. We answer every message.