Today Willow visited the rocky Atlantic outpost of St Malo where pirates
once set sail and the town's seamen fought Barbary pirates and
plundered English, Dutch and Spanish merchants.
In St.Malo, children are required to learn how to sail at age 10. You can see them practicing in the harbor. Each child has its own small white sailboat which is towed with others by a tug boat out into the ocean. Several instructors in motorized rafts look after them and make sure they are kept safe. While I was watching a child took a turn too sharply and his boat tipped dumping him into the water. Of course, he was wearing a lifejacket and simply swam back to his boat, pull himslef on board and kept going. They say that by the time students reach 18 they have the skills to navigate the globe alone.
Beautiful pictures! I especially love the last one!
ReplyDeleteIn St.Malo, children are required to learn how to sail at age 10. You can see them practicing in the harbor. Each child has its own small white sailboat which is towed with others by a tug boat out into the ocean. Several instructors in motorized rafts look after them and make sure they are kept safe. While I was watching a child took a turn too sharply and his boat tipped dumping him into the water. Of course, he was wearing a lifejacket and simply swam back to his boat, pull himslef on board and kept going. They say that by the time students reach 18 they have the skills to navigate the globe alone.
ReplyDelete