French maritime enthusiasts are scrambling to raise funds to save the replica of the 18th-century 32-gun frigate, L’Hermione. The Hermione-La Fayette Association says that to finance the ship’s restoration,” It’s now or never.“ The original frigate carried the Marquis de … Continue reading
Tag Archives: France
In August of last year, we bade a sad farewell to the Floating Instrument Platform, known as FLIP, which after 61 years of service, had been retired and was scheduled to be sent to a scrapyard. Fortunately, our reporting was … Continue reading
Eighty years ago this week, during the early days of the Allied invasion of Europe, the sea would prove to be as formidable an enemy as the Germans. A storm, the worst in 80 years, came close to wiping out … Continue reading
A recent investigation reveals that at least 440 people in distress appear to have been abandoned in the weeks before the worst Channel disaster in 30 years. On November 23, 2021, at around 10PM an inflatable boat with over 30 … Continue reading
Thousands of miles from its natural habitat, a wayward beluga whale has been found swimming 160 km up the River Seine between the French capital Paris and the city of Rouen in Normandy. The dangerously thin whale is refusing food … Continue reading
France seized a Russian-flagged ro/ro cargo ship, Baltic Leader, on Saturday, in the English Channel, in accordance with recent sanctions put in place following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The ship was bound for St. Petersburg, Russia, but was diverted … Continue reading
In what is described as the first carbon-free humanitarian logistics effort, Grain de Sail has announced that it is partnering with two non-profits to deliver unused medical supplies from New York to the Dominican Republic by sail. Grain de Sail … Continue reading
The Vendee Globe 2020-2021 has been a remarkable race by many standards. It was incredibly close, more competitors are likely to complete the race than in previous years, and the race times didn’t set any new records. For most of … Continue reading
The 2020-2021 Vendee Globe Race set off last Sunday from Les Sables-d’Olonne, France. The 24,000 nautical miles race, sailed every four years, is billed as the world’s greatest singlehanded, non-stop, yacht race. Notwithstanding the impact of the global pandemic, this … Continue reading
We recently posted about Constitution Grove, a 50,000-acre private forest maintained by the US Navy, in part to provide white oak trees used in maintaining the USS Constitution, the oldest commissioned naval vessel still afloat. The forest is part of … Continue reading
Recently, Hannes Frank was walking along Plage du Pin Sec, near Bordeaux and found a portion of a real estate sign which had washed ashore on the beach. The sign was worn and part of it was ripped away, but “Diane … Continue reading
As one who is very fond of oyster-flavored oysters, I am not sure that a raspberry, ginger, shallot or muscat flavored oyster is necessarily a good idea. Nevertheless, French oyster farmer Joffrey Dubault, 29, is working to bring these flavored oysters to the world. … Continue reading
Équihen Plage is a village on the Opal Coast, along the English Channel, in Pas-de-Calais, France. Until the early 20th century, it was a fishing village. Lacking a harbor, the fishing boats would be run aground on each tide and … Continue reading
After sailing over 24,000 nautical miles and just 300 nautical miles from the finish line of the Vendee Globe singlehanded round the world race, Armel Le Cleac’h sailing Banque Populaire VIII is holding a slim 30 nautical mile lead on … Continue reading
I am not entirely sure that I get the joke. In a year when sperm whales have been washing up dead on shores around the world; dying after ingesting plastic, fishing nets and auto parts; the arrival of a beached … Continue reading