Making the case for outdoor teen adventure. Discover the many advantages and unique cultural dimensions of a European sailing expedition at sea. | European adventure blog • European sailing blog • European outdoor adventure blog • Adventure cruising blog • Under-the-radar Europe blog • Off-the-beaten-path Europe blog • European teen adventure blog • Teen sailing blog • European camp blog
What are you do-ink? Making Dinner! (What does it look like? LOL) Guy—one of our QBE skippers)—shows off his beautifully accented English while capturing a few seconds of supper prep in Marie Claude's galley. It's our own "Below Deck!"
QBE European adventure sailing for teens—whipping up supper.
Arthur Rackham’s illustration of Grahame’s two rats.
Some of you no doubt will recognize the following passage from The Wind in the Willows, a famous children's book by British writer Kenneth Grahame that spins a tale of several anthropomorphised animals living in the English countryside. In one chapter there is a discussion between a river rat homebody and an adventuring seafaring rat.
In a plea from the seafaring rat (who wants to hop aboard a ship headed south) to the river rat (who wants to remain behind), the case is made for a great adventure. (We have redacted and substituted some text, e.g., substituting “a larger world’”for ‘“the South'‘ to make a point.)
”And you, you will come too, young brother; for the days pass, and never return, and [a larger world] still waits for you. Take the Adventure, heed the call, now ere the irrevocable moment passes! ‘Tis but a banging of the door behind you, a blithesome step forward, and you are out of the old life and into the new! Then some day, some day long hence, jog home here if you will, when the cup has been drained and the play has been played, and sit down by your quiet river with a store of goodly memories for company. You can easily overtake me on the road, for you are young, and I am aging and go softly. I will linger, and look back; and at last I will surely see you coming, eager and light-hearted, with [so many amazing experiences] in your face!
We offer a terrific adventure opportunity for young adults. You should seize it.
Most parents packing their teenagers off to Europe for the first time send them to one or more major cultural capitals to see the famous sights: London, Munich, Paris, Rome, Florence, Venice, etc. And all those cities are indeed feasts for the eyes and other senses. Nobody would argue that they shouldn’t be on a bucket list.
But then there are some who opt for a “road-less-traveled” itinerary. Both kinds of adventures fire a young adult’s imagination. But the former is intended primarily to stimulate the intellect while the latter often emphasizes character building and looks to chip away at adolescent parochialism with a more “authentic“ European experience. That would best describe a QBE expedition.
Our crew members don’t get lost in great hordes of tourists or stand in lines for hours waiting for a glimpse of an artistic masterpiece. Instead, they explore more off-the-beaten-path coastal Europe. They get to make new friends, some who don’t speak the same native language. They learn a new skill—traditional sailing. They set and meet ambitious goals. And they get the chance to experience unexpected folkways, avoiding the faux culture and claustrophobia of crowded tourist traps. Too, sailing from port to port, there’s more time to reflect and assimilate new experiences along the way.
In a recent Instagram post by filmmaker Nancy Myers (Something’s Gotta Give, The Holiday), she mentioned that she first went to Paris as a year-eleven student, along with her French class. It made an enduring impression. In fact, Europe features prominently in several of her romantic comedies. Interestingly, there were several comments from her followers mentioning that they, too, had first gone to France as teenagers and that their experiences in the French capital profoundly enriched their lives, as well. So Paris is indeed a great destination—a proven winner. It can even be a life-changer.
But to paraphrase the famous line from Casablanca, “You’ll always have Paris.” Or Rome. Or London. They will always be there, waiting for you. A teenage European expedition on classic yachts won’t be. Alas, we all grow up and move on with our lives.
Then, of course, maybe you can find a way to do both during the same summer break?
After two years serving as a quayside tourist attraction in St-Malo, our boats are now being refitted to sail next summer. Come join us—we only have 12 available places per expedition.
A reliable source once told us that the Paris Tourist Board pays (or used to pay) young couples to make out on city benches every summer to provide some romantic ambiance for the throngs of visitors that relentlessly descend on the city, a great job if you can get it. (We can't verify that our information is true, but it sounds like something the “Office Tourism And Convention De Paris [sic]” might do. After all, Disney pays youngsters to dress up as various characters in their theme parks. It seems to work for them, so why not?)
Well, being the civic-minded Malouin denizens we are, we try to provide a similar public service. When people think of St-Malo, they often think of sailing. So we park our eye-popping pilot cutters right alongside the quay for passers-by to gawk at. And they do. Constantly. We wish we had a euro for every time somebody has stood beside one of our boats, smart phone in hand, to pose for for a selfie.
