Cumberlidge on cruising
PETER CUMBERLIDGE: Down on the south Brittany coast, the Étel River has a tricky entrance of shifting sands and a historic semaphore signal station, which once guided the fishing fleet across the bar
Down in south Brittany, we have a favourite estuary that few visitors discover. The Étel River meets the sea seven miles east of Lorient and most boats pass it well clear on passages down to Quiberon Bay and the Morbihan. This is often a wise move because the low sandy shore is potentially hostile in onshore winds, especially if Atlantic swell starts breaking over the coastal shoals.
But on a still sunny day, you can skirt the long straight dunes about a mile off until, near a south cardinal tower called Roheu, the mouth of the Étel comes abeam. On the west side of the entrance stands what looks like a small bungalow with a steeppitched Breton roof and a mast on its gable end. This is the legendary Sémaphore d’étel, a signal station that once guided boats safely inshore by swinging a mechanical arm on its mast to indicate ‘steer starboard, steer port or steady as she goes’.
The shifting sandbanks and bar off the river have always been tricky for navigators and there has been a semaphore here since 1867. Then Étel focused on sardine fishing and later turned to tunny as sardine shoals declined. By the 1930s, Étel was one of the busiest tunny ports in France, with more than 250 sailing vessels and a dozen canning factories.
That’s a huge fleet bringing in unimaginable tonnages. The sémaphoriste was busy in those days, the vital pilot who knew the latest quirks of the approach channel but never needed to go to sea to guide ships in! The last semaphore operator, Madame Josiane Péné, recently retired after 36 years.
While the Étel bar is dangerous in heavy onshore weather, there’s no problem on quiet summer days. Local boats come and go from about three hours before high water to two hours after, though I prefer to enter an hour or so before high. Even then, the flood is usually pretty swift as you shoot in between the dunes past a stark red beacon. The town and its friendly marina are around a short mile upstream on the east bank. Visitors berth at a long outer pontoon, rounding into the stream to come alongside. We like Étel for its sporting entrance and because the place has a refreshing salty zest created by fast-moving water. Further upstream beyond a suspension bridge, the river opens into a fascinating inland sea – Ria d’étel – dotted with small islands that have drying channels between them. This intricate tidal gulf is ideal for growing succulent oysters, another excellent reason for calling here on a south Brittany cruise.
The Sémaphore d’étel had a swinging mechanical arm on its mast to indicate ‘steer starboard, steer port or steady as she goes’