They have flat-bottomed boats in France too…

I can’t resist adding a few more shots from Douarnenez. I read long ago that flat-bottomed US-style sailing boats caught on in France in a big way in the latter half of the 19th and early 20th centuries, so I was pleased but not altogether surprised to see these two, a scow and a sharpie, in the harbour during the maritime festival.

I haven’t seen any in France since that day, so maybe this was a rare sighting.

I have not been able to discover anything about the scow Katie, but the foresail of the sharpie announces that the boat is operated by l’association Seudre et Mer, which exists to preserve the maritime traditions of Mornac and the le Seudre river.

Click here for more on l’association Seudre et Mer: http://seudre_et_mer.monsite-orange.fr/

One thing that did surprise me was this river boat, which I was told came from the Loire. It’s a big punt with a live-well and a sailing rig of some kind – there aren’t enugh clues here to indentify it with any certainty. The astonishing thing, however, is that rudder – have you ever seen a rudder better adapted to slipping over a sandbank in a flat-bottomed boat with inches to spare?

Here’s an intriguing photo and some notes about Loire river boats:
http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/…/photo566045.htm

A little light Googling revealed this small gallery of photos, including both Pen Duick and Pen Duick II:
http://www.lecun.org/gallery/…/index.html

And this TrekEarth gallery of images of the Douarnenez and its harbour, including some more shots of La Cancalaise:
http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/…/Bretagne/Douarnenez/

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