Harbour

Morlaix

4.4Morlaix, FranceNorth Finistère and Iroise

Maximum length: 82 ft
VHF channel: 9
Maximum draught: 11 ft

Lock-gated marina of 200 berths in the town of Morlaix, at the head of the Riviere de Morlaix, northern Finistere.

Guide

Approach and anchoring

Entry from the bay of Morlaix via a buoyed channel of about 6 nautical miles between oyster beds and drying banks. The last stretch below the motorway viaduct is no longer continuously buoyed but marked by leading poles with red cross topmarks, so follow the transits exactly or the boat will touch the mud, and take the channel on a rising tide. There is no waiting pontoon at the lock, boats lie against the quay wall on a few chains and rings. The lock opens from HW minus 1h30 to HW plus 1h depending on coefficient, in daylight only as the channel is unlit. Maximum draught 3.5 m in the lock. VHF channel 9. Outside these hours the river dries to soft mud, with a strong ebb current in the lower estuary.

Practical

Harbour office inside the wet basin, which holds fresh water behind the lock. Water and electricity on all pontoons, fuel berth with diesel, and a small dry dock with a mobile crane, with a boatyard nearby for repairs. Showers, laundry and waste pump-out. Town centre shops, bakeries and supermarkets within 200 m of the pontoons, larger supermarkets a short bus ride away. Town buses are free, and the SNCF station 600 m away has good rail and bus links to Rennes and Paris. Reckon on about 26 euros a night for a 10 m boat.

Ashore

Café Tempo, next to the marina office, is a busy and reasonably priced bar and restaurant. A market fills the square under the viaduct on Saturday mornings. The Viaduc de Morlaix stands over the basin, a two-tier granite railway bridge of 1864, 292 m long and 58 m high, floodlit at night. Maison de la Duchesse Anne, a timber-framed house of the 16th century, is open to visitors. The GR 34 coastal path starts from the estuary mouth 10 km downstream.

History

Morlaix was a leading linen export port in the 16th and 17th centuries. The town was sacked by English raiders in 1522, after which the inhabitants ambushed the retreating force and adopted the motto S'ils te mordent, mords-les, still carried on the town arms.

Story

The tobacco Manufacture des Tabacs of Morlaix opened in 1740 and ran until 2004 in its classical building by the river, one of the oldest continuous tobacco factories in France.