The tall ship Belem visited Sark this week as part of a voyage along the Normandy coast. The French three-masted barque was built in Nantes in 1896 and was originally used as a cargo vessel transporting sugar, cocoa and coffee from the West Indies, Brazil and French Guiana. In 1914 she was sold to the Duke of Westminster who converted her to a private luxurious pleasure yacht and eight years later she became the property of beer baron Sir Arthur Guinness. She later belonged to a Venezian count and eventually returned to her home port of Nantes in 1979 where she was fully restored to her original condition to begin a new career as a sail training ship.

Pictures and words Sue Daly

The tall ship Belem anchored off Creux Harbour