Harbour stroll at Le Croisic, Brittany: boats, fishing blokes and a fairground ride

Brittany Le Croisic harbour fishing Brittany Le Croisic harbour wooden fishing boat

Mainly a holiday resort now, Le Croisic in Brittany has an impressive series of harbours and was a very different sort of place in the past.

Although most of the boats and yachts that use them these days are quite unlike those of fifty or a hundred years ago, there are a few treasures in among the white plastic, and the handsome circumnavigating Colin Archer-inspired yacht Kurun is certainly one. I loved the ancient monument sign on a boat; perhaps we should have them in the UK.

But what’s happening to the decaying fishing vessel? Isn’t it worth preserving and using? I remember when there were many more fishing boats in this area, and they were all tremendous carvel-built craft like this.

Brittany Le Croisic harbour sailing yacht Kurun Brittany Le Croisic harbour sailing yacht Kurun 2 Brittany Le Croisic harbour sailing yacht Kurun 3 Brittany Le Croisic harbour sailing yacht Kurun 5Brittany Le Croisic harbour Kurun 4 Brittany Le Croisic harbour building Brittany Le Croisic harbour building 2

Brittany Le Croisic harbour wooden fishing boat 3 Brittany Le Croisic harbour wooden fishing boat 2 Brittany Le Croisic harbour wooden fishing boat 4

Brittany Le Croisic harbour fishing 2 Brittany Le Croisic harbour boat 2 Brittany Le Croisic harbour boat

Brittany Le Croisic harbour boat 3 Brittany Le Croisic fairground ride featuring fishing boat Brittany Le Croisic fairground ride featuring fishing boat

 

 

1900 edition of Dixon Kemp’s classic boating manual is online

Dixon Kemp online  Dixon Kemp online

If you’re wondering what to do this weekend, the 1900 edition of Dixon Kemp’s classic A Manual of Yacht and Boat Sailing is online at the Internet Archive, and will keep a boat nut with a sense of history busy for quite a while.

As you read, it’s interesting to note how much is still true – and how many of the craft in the beautiful drawings are still inspiring boat and yacht owners, builders and designers today.

Kindly digitised by the University of Pittsburgh, it’s available in a variety of forms: there’s HTML for online browsing, PDF and Kindle for those who prefer, and, wonderfully, the Daisy audio form for those unable to see well enough to read.

My thanks to reader Paul Mullings for letting me know about this!

Dylan Winter films 12m Sharpies on the North Norfolk coast

Keep Turning Left sharpies in Norfolk 2

I’ve just been charmed by another of Dylan Winter’s Keep Turning Left films. This one is a 10-minute piece about 12m Sharpies on the North Norfolk Coast, where the boats are popular with racers because of their ability to sail in a few inches of water.

It’s free to watch in a small window, but those who subscribe for $4.99/quarter have a much better chance of appreciating Dylan’s dreamy photography.

For more on the 12m Sharpie class, see the class website and earlier posts at intheboatshed.net: 12 metre Sharpies at Wells, Norfolk and Temptations part IV: a small classic to build and race .