The Return of L'HERMIONE An authentic French frigate sets sail for America

摘要

"You have to see this!" my French cousins told me when I visited them in the coastal community of Char-ente Maritime in 2001. They were speaking of a new wooden-hulled ship under construction, and sharing my interest in sailing they knew I would find the project as compelling as they did. With my daughter Madeleine, 11, and son Ben, 8, in tow, they led the way to the historic naval dockyards at Rochefort, where L'HERMIONE, a faithful reconstruction of an 18th-century frigate, was still in its early stages of construction.