Harbour

Port Launais

3.0Port-Launay, FranceNorth Finistère and Iroise

Maximum length: 20 m
Maximum draught: 2.6 m

River quay of about 6 berths on the tidal Aulne at Port-Launay, Finistère, Brittany.

Guide

Approach and anchoring

Access from the Rade de Brest via the Aulne maritime. The Guily-Glaz lock at Port-Launay marks the limit of the tide and opens around high water. Maximum draught 2.60 m at the quay. The channel below the lock dries partly at low water of springs. Above the lock the river becomes the Nantes-Brest canal.

Practical

Quay along the right bank. Water on the quay. Bakery and bar-tabac in the village. Nearest supermarket in Châteaulin at 3 km upstream.

Ashore

Chapelle Notre-Dame de Rumengol at 200 m on the quay, a pilgrimage site with a procession on the Sunday after 15 August. Towpath along the canal towards Châteaulin, reached on foot or by bike in 3 km. Ménez-Hom summit at 15 km by road, 330 m high, with a view over the Rade de Brest.

History

Port-Launay was a trading quay for slate, wine and grain from the 18th century, serving the upper Aulne valley before the railway reached Châteaulin in 1867.