Cur non?

Recently I saw a wonderful report about the frigate "Hermoine", an exact reproduction of General Marquis de Lafayette's 18th Century ship that he brought to America to fight along side General Washington in the Revolutionary War (1780). The project was started about 20 years ago, a group of folks deciding to try to reconstruction this very famous ship.

It's taken a long time (beginning in 1997), and a lot of money, I'm sure, but today the work is completed! It is the most authentically built tallship in 150 years! It set sail from France recently in April of this year, with a destination to the United states for this Summer 2015!

The journey started from the River Charente in Port des Barques where General Lafayette originally came aboard in March 1780, a 38-day passage, arriving in Boston. He reported to Gen. Washington, and played a major role in the victory achieved on October 19, 1781.

This new crossing to the US has taken a little under a month. On July 6th, the event culminated in the ship's arrival in Greenport's harbor, Long Island, NY, in time to be a part of the four-day Tall Ship festival! You can imagine what a magnificent site!

The Marquis' motto was "Cur non", or "Why not?" Why not, indeed! Nothing really great is accomplished without taking the big chance! And this endeavor was truly worth the effort. Not only exciting to see Hermoine sail again, but the preservation of history is the most important aspect of the reconstruction!