L' Hermione Has Her Sails!

[Thagarr]

In a ceremony over the weekend L' Hermione received the last of her sails, and she will soon be fully decked out in all her canvas glory! The ceremony was held on Saturday May 17'th, and featured a lot of shanty's by the crew and a hundred students and future members of the crew. Here are a couple of Youtube videos of parts of the ceremony.

According to the translated French news articles I read, the next milestone is June 21'st, when she is set to receive the last of her 28 guns. She will spend the next couple of months welcoming visitors, while her crew make the final preparations for sea trails that are slated to begin on September 6'th, 2014. A large crowd is expected to be there to watch her sail down the Charente river estuary and into the ocean under her own power. In October, she will visit the French city of Bordeaux, where she will welcome visitors from the 10'th - 12'th.

If all goes according to plan, she is scheduled to make her historic voyage to America in April 2015. I am seriously considering making a trip to the east coast to see this gorgeous ship in person when she pulls in to Boston. This will be a once in a lifetime event for sure!

You can find out much more about the project over on their web page HERE, and they also have a fantastic PDF brochure detailing quite a lot about the ship and her 2015 voyage which you can download HERE!

 

[Hylie Pistof]

This is a big deal and I am looking forward to seeing more of this ship. Vive La France!

Why can't anyone else do this? For instance the CEO of Disney made $4 Billion in 2012. He could build something like this with his pocket change.

 

[Thagarr]

That's a good question mate, projects like this are few and far between. The general population are far more concerned about things that mean absolutely nothing, they couldn't care less about history, their heritage, or just how they got the freedom they enjoy today.

Most people couldn't even tell you who the Marquis de Lafayette was, let alone what he did, or comprehend just what a debt we owe to him and France!

 

[Armada]

It is truly magnificent to see a ship like this fully rigged in this day and age!
Wonderful to see her being treated like a real ship instead of a museum piece, which keeps the spirit of sailing alive.

 

[Thagarr]

Aye mate, she is a real beauty! I can't wait to see her plowing through some waves under her own power. I understand the need to have engines on her, but it is unfortunate she can't be sail only, at least they count those engines as ballast!