Harbour

Couëron

Couëron, FranceVendée

Maximum length: 7.5 m
VHF channel: 9
Maximum draught: 1.2 m

River harbour of 36 berths on the right bank of the Loire, 15 km downstream from Nantes.

Guide

Approach and anchoring

Access via the buoyed Loire channel from Saint-Nazaire or Nantes. Strong tidal currents, up to 3 knots on spring ebbs. Maximum draught 1,2 m, plan arrival around slack water. VHF 9. Loire estuary commercial traffic has priority, monitor VHF 14 for Nantes-Saint-Nazaire port control.

Practical

36 berths with water and electricity at the pontoon. Capitainerie run by the town. Bakery and small grocer in the village at 400 m. Train station of Couëron on the Nantes suburban line, 25 minutes to Nantes centre.

Ashore

Tour à plomb of Couëron, a 65 m shot tower built in 1878, visible landmark from the river. Estuary art trail Estuaire Nantes-Saint-Nazaire passes through the commune, contemporary sculptures on the riverbanks between Nantes and the sea. Île de Nantes and Machines de l'Île at 15 km upstream by train.

History

Couëron was a centre of lead and zinc metallurgy from the 18th to the 20th century. The naturalist painter John James Audubon spent part of his childhood here between 1789 and 1803, at his father's estate of La Gerbetière.