Bordeaux was the Belem's last port of call in France on May 16th and 17th, before sailing across the Atlantic towards Quebec. Or rather, towards the ship's only stopover along the way, the Portuguese island of Madeira, to be reached on Thursday May 29th.
Leaving from Bordeaux was a logical idea, since the capital of Aquitaine is twinned with Quebec. On top of which the Belem is always a popular guest there: over the week-end, crowds of people come to see and visit her as she lay in state, berthed along her usual quay at the foot of the magnificent Place de la Bourse. The Mayor of Bordeaux, Alain Juppé, and his guest of honour, the Prime Minister of Quebec, Jean Charest, came to say their official goodbyes, along with a choir of 400 singers – a Basque male choir and a children's choir who had actually composed a song about the Belem and her more famous adventures. On the 17th, after some 1000 visitors had finished roaming along her decks, the Belem welcomed aboard 46 trainees, all raring to go, happily looking forward to the ten-day trip along the coasts of Spain and Portugal, “en route” for Madeira.
The first day at sea was rather calm, for want of prevailing winds, so the Belem ran mostly on her engines although, according to Captain Joël Guéna, the sails were indeed unfurled from time to time. Captain Guéna was nevertheless hopeful that, once Cape Saint Vincent was overtaken, the Portuguese trade winds blowing from the North would speed the Belem on without too much help from modern machinery. It is in fact because of the winds that the Belem is taking the south-west route towards Madeira instead of just going straight west from Bordeaux, since Quebec is practically opposite, on the same latitude. The Belem being a tall ship, she is following the route they always took when sailing across the Atlantic towards America, and will go on having to adjust to the winds throughout the voyage although nowadays, of course, she can rely on the daily information provided by Météo France, the French Weather Bureau.
If you want to know all there is to know about the Belem's historic voyage to Québec, you can find all the details in the French articles included in this Newsletter,
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Le Belem a quitté Bordeaux le week-end dernier, prenant enfin le large à destination du Nouveau Monde et de Québec. Après 2 jours intenses en festivités et en émotions, le navire a sonné trois coups de corne pour dire au-revoir aux milliers de Bordelais venus lui souhaiter « Bon vent ! ».
Les premières nouvelles du bord, en route pour la traversée de l'Atlantique nord : mer calme et vent faible, les stagiaires et l'équipage mettent à profit ces premiers jours de mer tranquilles pour assimiler l'émotion du départ de Bordeaux, se préparer à affronter le grand océan...
La famille du Belem était au grand complet pour accompagner son départ vers l'Amérique du nord. Michel Pery et Jean-Alain Morzadec, les deux autres commandants du Belem, ont joué les lamaneurs de luxe, le temps d'une escale, pour porter chance aux navire et à son équipage.
