Harbour

Auray - Saint-Goustan

3.9Saint Goustan, FranceMorbihan

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Maximum length: 39 ft
VHF channel: 9
Maximum draught: 6 ft

River port of 154 berths on the Loc'h river at Auray, 7 nautical miles upstream from the Gulf of Morbihan.

Guide

Approach and anchoring

Enter the Gulf of Morbihan at Port-Navalo against the tide if possible, then up the Loc'h past Le Bono, arriving within about 2 hours of high water. Strong tidal streams in the Gulf, up to 8 knots at the Port-Navalo narrows on springs. Keep about 5 m off the starboard beacons for the best water on the last mile; the bottom is soft mud and a 1.9 m draught just touches at low water neaps. The bridge at the quay has an air draught of about 14 m at high water, marked by a pole on the port side; taller rigs berth on the walk-ashore pontoon downstream, five or six boats, where short fingers and a 2 knot current call for a midships line and two bow lines to separate cleats. Berths are few, so phone ahead. VHF 9.

Practical

154 berths, about 50 for visitors on the pontoons below the old stone bridge, the sanitary rudimentary. Water and electricity on the pontoons. The harbour office lends an electric bike, handy for the run to Le Bono. If the pontoon is full there are fore-and-aft moorings mid-river just below it, or fore-and-aft trots at Le Bono with a riverside path and cycle route up to Auray. Restaurants and cafés on the cobbled Place Saint-Sauveur. Auray town centre on the hill above, 15 minutes on foot up the stepped street.

Ashore

Place Saint-Sauveur and the stone bridge of 1477 at the quayside, half-timbered houses from the 15th and 16th centuries along Rue Saint-Rene. GR34 coastal footpath along the Loc'h estuary down to Le Bono, 3 km. Market in Auray upper town on Monday morning.

History

Benjamin Franklin landed at Saint-Goustan in December 1776 on his way to negotiate the French alliance with Louis XVI, after his ship Reprisal was forced by storms to divert from Nantes. A plaque on the Quai Franklin marks the event. The port handled coastal trade in wine, salt and grain until the 19th century.