Hoist the French Sail ! was the magical formula in the July logbook as, on the 8th of the month, our hardy three-masted ship momentarily deserted French waters on her way to Dublin where she was expected as guest of honour to celebrate both the 50th anniversary of the Dublin Alliance française and of course the Bastille Day on the 14th of July, .
The Roscoff – Dublin trip was a very pleasant one, as Belem skimmed the water with the southerly winds in her sails and a very joyful one too – special thanks to the 14 Irish trainees who greatly contributed to the festive mood, as you can see on the Newsletter photograph and read about in
the article by trainee/reporter Carole Verplancke.
Hoist the French Sail! was in fact the overall title for a French Week taking place in Dublin, including a series of parties on board Belem and, alongside the ship, a very successful French market set up by a number of Franco-Irish economic and commercial organisations. Irish visitors naturally took not the blindest bit of notice of the rain that obviously persisted in being a part of things, so visits on board were also a great success.
On July 17th, Belem took the route back to France, heading for Douarnenez, in Brittany, where she was to be – yet again! – guest of honour in this year's “Fêtes maritimes” destined to celebrate maritime heritage. The same southerly winds that had speeded the ship on her way to Ireland made the return journey much more difficult, although an overnight stop in Scilly did a world of good to queasy stomachs... They also made Belem's entry into the rather tight-fitting port of Douarnenez so difficult she had to spend the first day in the adjoining fishing harbour – which did not stop the public from finding their way on board for the much appreciated visits!
In August Belem is dividing her time between the Brittany coast and the Basque country, where she will be stopping at Bayonne and Saint Jean de Luz.
Then, on September 3rd and 4th she will be in Cowes, Isle of Wight on what will be a veritable trip down memory straights. She was last in Cowes nearly sixty years ago so this will be the first time she comes back to the port and moorings she had belonged to and she will be paying particular homage to the Royal Yacht Squadron whose flag she flew for over thirty years...
Carole Verplancke, co-benjamine du stage Roscoff-Dublin, a embarqué en tant que Matelot-reporter. Lauréate du concours ouvert sur le site écureuil.fr de la Caisse d'Epargne, elle a rendu compte avec talent de cette première expérience de vie à bord du trois-mâts barque. Interview... 
