Guirec is an incredible adventurer. Of those sailors who embark on a journey without knowing what he is heading for, without even having the slightest money in front of him: only the will to discover the world.
Not well suited for school, at 18 he left for Australia to finance his dream: to buy a sailboat to sail. On his return, he bought an 11 m steel sailboat (an amateur construction from 1985) which he renamed after the island of northern Brittany on which the family house is located: Yvinec.
With this largely rotten boat (the hull is pierced in several places!) he embarks on a crossing of the Atlantic. In the Canary Islands, he decides to take a pet. Surprisingly, he chose a hen he called Monique.
With Monique, he will travel through the West Indies before deciding to go to Greenland for the winter. Stuck in the ice, he will spend the whole winter risking several times to lose his boat not really studied for this type of expedition.
But Guirec has an incredible faith that allows him to move mountains. Once out of the ice, he embarked on the Northwest Passage before discovering Alaska. Then he draws a large line towards the south passes the Horn and discovers Antarctica. Still with his Monique hen! The loop is completed when he returns to Brittany with this incredible navigation. Guirec is barely 25 years old...
This story is told in his book: "The world according to Guirec and Monique. A sailor, a hen, an incredible journey" and illustrated in a second book: "The fabulous story of Guirec and Monique". These two books are complementary of the children's book "The hen who went around the world" already presented in these columns.
When I saw these two books coming, I wondered where to start. I opted for the pictorial version. The logbook (Édition Arthaud) retraces the whole trip in pictures with small bubbles that briefly recounts the adventures. The images are crazy whether it is the Yvinec sailboat or Monique in totally improbable situations. Browse this picture book to learn more, to make history.
To do this, you have to read "Le monde selon Guirec et Monique" (Éditions Flammarion) to really realize the magnitude of the journey and the incredible will of this sailor, even though he is so young. The book describes the logbook with the (my) adventures and also explains how this young man managed to finance his journey, he who left on a deckchair and arrived in the West Indies with 60 cts in his pocket..
Once I read the second book, I plunged back into the images of the first to relive this extraordinary journey. These 2 books are totally complementary. It's hard to advise you to read only one!
The world according to Guirec and Monique. A sailor, a hen, an incredible journey
Editions Flammarion
- 300 pages
- 14.5 x 22 cm
- 19.90 euros
The fabulous story of Guirec and Monique
- Editions Arthaud
- 206 pages
- 19.3 x 23.9 cm
