French Crews

Two short cruises in French coastal waters with two different French crew members. Although this video is basically in English, some of it is in French without subtitles. There is nothing in the French bits that is not explained in English later on, however, or is clear from the images. Ne vous inquiétez pas. Don't worry.

INTERESTED IN DINGHY CRUISING?
Read my book, "The Dinghy Cruising Companion" - second edition out NOW!
https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/dinghy-cruising-companion-2nd-edition-9781472994288/
And join the Dinghy Cruising Association:
http://dinghycruising.org.uk/

AVEL DRO
Do you want a boat like mine?
Avel Dro is an Ilur designed by François Vivier, and built of clinker plywood by Les Charpentiers Reunis of Cancale in 1994. I bought her in France in 2003 to import her into the UK, and more recently returned her to France again before the present Brexit trade restrictions were imposed.* The design is based closely on the traditional inshore fishing boats of Brittany in the early years of the twentieth century – hence her single boom-less lugsail rig and lack of a mainsheet horse, (sometimes controversial among my viewers). Although rare in Britain, Ilurs are relatively common in France. The name Avel Dro is Breton, and basically means a whirlwind.
Length 4.44 m
Sail area 12.2 m²
Beam 1.70 m
Draught 0.25 / 0.86 m
Design category C3
François Vivier's website (in English):
http://www.vivierboats.com/en/
Similar dinghies can often be found for sale on the website of the French magazine Le Chasse-Marée:
https://www.chasse-maree.com/revue/
Or try Le Bon Coin, (where you can buy anything in France):
https://www.leboncoin.fr

*Sorry, but since January 2021, Great Britain (but not Northern Ireland) residents who buy a boat in France or elsewhere in the EU, with the intention of importing it into the UK, will need to pay VAT and other duties on the import.

MY VENTILE BOAT TENT
Ventile is the trade name for a tightly woven long staple cotton developed in the 1940s by the Shirley Institute in Manchester and originally manufactured by Talbot Weaving in Chorley. It was used in the production of immersion suits for pilots forced to ditch in the sea during WW2, and continued to be used for this purpose long afterwards. As the Lancashire cotton industry began to decline, Talbot Weaving partnered with Stotz & Co in Switzerland to dye and finish their products, and eventually Stotz & Co started weaving their own cloth to a similar specification, called EtaProof. Later, Talbot Weaving began buying fabric from Stotz & Co, branding it as Ventile for sale in the UK. Talbot Weaving was finally dissolved in 2019, but Stotz & Co purchased the Ventile brand name in 2017, so the fabric continues to be manufactured in Switzerland. It is called Ventile in the UK and EtaProof in continental Europe.
https://ventile.co.uk
I purchased my Ventile cloth on the roll from Pointnorth in the UK. Pointnorth are very helpful in the selection of outdoor fabrics, and I recommend them.
https://www.profabrics.co.uk

MUSIC
Footprints in the Sand - Roots and Recognition featuring Melanie Bell
- from Epidemic Sound