Monthly Archives: September 2019

The centenary of SKØIERN at Grimstad

Grimstad route goes trough Douarnenez, where we meet again our carpenter and friend Jean Yves, Gwenaël the farmer, Fred the sailmaker…then l’Aber Wrac’h, were “Bel Espoir II” turns into a new “Bel Espoir”we hope to meet some day on the seas, Lézardrieux were the friend Gilles is waiting to drive us in his woods, Boulogne were the ancestors of Capi, the Flahaut and the Bacquet reigned centuries ago….

In Kristiansand we meet the fanatic sailors of the “Hestmanden”, from 1911, the only one who escaped from WW II among the 1000 of norvegian merchant ships , then the Blindleia and at least, Grimstad !

Dans les bois de Gilles : Au pied de mon arbre, ce géant de 34 m dans les bois de Kermarie, à Loguivy de la mer, vaut le détour : 34m de hauteur, 8,30m de circonférence, c’est un géant. Il aurait été arrêté à un moment de son existence, cet incident aurait provoqué la croissance de 5 ou 6 troncs qui lui donnent l’aspect d’une pieuvre. Les Bretons, grands voyageurs, auraient ramené des graines de pin de Monterey (pinus radiata), de la baie californienne du même nom. La météo du Goëlo semble convenir parfaitement à cette espèce de bord de mer. C’est impressionnant de voir vieillir ces arbres venus d’autres continents. A 140 ans le pin de Loguivy  est probablement l’un des plus anciens introduits en France, et le plus imposant en Bretagne, assurément ( d’après Mikaël Jézégou, technicien forestier des Côtes d’Armor)

 

July the 28, in front of the Jørgensen og Vik shipyard, now a private museum of the Bergshav shipowner, “Skøiern” ex “Mars”, meets again her sister “Lady III” ex “Liv”, a century later ! The emotion is strong, the sight of these two boats fantastic, as it is full of chance, wills, perceverance to make these two boats, nearly the sames, meet again.
Fredrik Gude and his family will welcome us as friends, we will be amid wonderfull classic boats comming from all parts of the Oslo fjord, we lived an historical moment.

We were there :
Anne Marie Della Casa, Patrick Chalmeau, Stéphane Chalmeau, Manon La Brousse, Enzo Chalmeau, Fredrik Gude, Cecilia Gude, Thomas Gude, Allman Gude, Chris Ennals, Peter Ennals, Mona and Arne….Zoé and Iris…

With Manon we sailed up to Oslo, still host of Fredrik at the Osloforening, on Herben island, and there we make her discover the Bygdøy museums : the Fram of Nansen, the Gjoa of Amundsen, the Kon Tiki of Heyerdal, who Capi met one day in Djibouti, the Viking museum, and in Oslo we fell under the spell of the sculptures of Gustav Vigeland in the Frognerparken and of the Munch paintings in the Munch Museum.
Later, still at the Osloforening, Capi will meet again his great swedish friend, Pele…

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The centenary of SKØIERN at Port Lay

The winter storms have passed, our boat is ready to sail for Britany, the winds turned, then we left Santa Maria, said hello to the friends, and headed North East. It will not take us long to reach A Coruña, only one tack from the quarter…Just the time to admire this wonderfull town and we sailed again, still with the wind from the quarter. And with a good wind we arrived at the island of Groix in little more than two days.

We have only one month to prepare our feast, time flies, but June the 9, as scheduled, “Skøiern” is dried in Port Lay to welcome our families and friends. How great it was ! To see our hundred years old boat, honored in this tiny harbour, where the Captain lived, at the times of “Jeunesse et Marine”, more than 50 years ago ! In Port Lay rare are the ones who were not in the merchant navy, when it was not in the same Companies as us…. and merchant navy sailors, they are a lot to celebrate “Skoiern”, the friends are here, from all the corners of France, as for our families.
The feast started a day before, in the reunion, in the evening of June the 9 we tried to eat, and to drink, all what was left, without succeeding indeed, the following days we will go on apreciating this island we love so much.
It has been a great feast, full of emotion, reunion, friendship, with our “Skoiern” more beautiful than ever, been admired alongside as when dried.
The people of Groix, and especialy those of Port Lay welcomed us, they helped us, we savoured what they prepared for us, we couldn’t have made a better choice to celebrate the century of our boat.

We were there :
Anne Marie Della Casa , Patrick Chalmeau, Emilie Cintas, Manon La Brousse, Kylian La Brousse, Enzo Chalmeau, Dany Nollez, “Nono” Nollez, Madeleine Nollez, Sophie Tallard, Jacques Chalmeau, Sophie, Alain Charpiat, Gaëlle Charpiat, Vincent, Lily, Elisa, Daniel Suzzoni, Pascal Basset, Paskal Morvan, Julien Lacote, Hanane Lacote, Lina Lacote, Reina Lacote, Jean Pierre Charrier, Brigitte, Pierre Fermon, Colette Fermon, Edith Lepage, Hervé Lepage, Eric Beyo, Martine Beyo, Fred Gourlaouen, Alain Jourdan, Patrice Menard, Gaëlle De Labrusse,Tao Morvan De Labrusse, Lucie Morvan De Labrusse, Rodolphe Rohart, Claude Guillot, Jean Guillot, Georges Maréchal, Jocelyne Maréchal, Claudine Gauguin, André, Monique Suzzoni, Eva Petendi, Thiery Froment “the storyteller”,Yvon, Bernard,
Zoé and Iris,
By phone : Maurice Bertoni, Henriette Millan, Hervé Lopez.

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