St Suliac N48 34 W1 59
Gryphon II
Chris and Lorraine Marchant
Fri 3 Oct 2008 17:34
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The Rance was wonderful. There is a massive dam
across the river estuary attached to a tidal power station; the tides are
controlled by this generation system and the range is only about 4 metres
allowing us to explore a little far up the river.
The weather was glorious as the view shows. We swam
in coolish water on 2 occasions from the boat. We moored off St Suliac,
which is an absolutely lovely stone built fisherman's village.
Surprisingly it was not overrun by tourists and although it is clearly inhabited
by some wealthy incomers (French and English apparently), it retains much of its
charm. No yellow lines or parking restrictions. It also boasted its own
boulangerie, village store , post office cum municipal office and a wonderful
restaurant. There was a house for sale in the village with views right across
the estuary, but prices when we looked were not cheap . Unlike some of the small
towns where large houses in the country appear to sell very cheaply, here prices
seem to be at English levels...if you don,t take into account the views and the
location.
There was a local yacht club which was having
a fund raising day. As far as I could understand its aim was to restore the
traditional local wooden sailing boats. We visited for a short time to admire
their boat jumble ( most of whiich was complete rubbish) and some local
art work (some of which was quite good). The drinking began at 12 o'clock and
seemed to be still going strong well after our bedtime! The festivities included
some inept rowing races in the traditional dories. These used to be stacked
on the decks of sailing motherships that went across to the Grand Banks and then
set the dories to work catching cod on longlines to be then taken back to
the mother ship. That area is renowned for its fog and apparently many hands
were lost when they couldn't find their way back in the poor
visibility.
One of the photos attached shows the crowded lock
at the power station on the Rance...but notice the 2 French women using the time
to catch up on the latest fashions whilst the boats sank sowly back to sea
level.
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