Sortie de l"eau - dry sailing in Brittany

[TonyS]

Has anyone experience of this.
By dry sailing I mean up to 10 free lifouts a year and storage in a secure area ashore.
Most people we talk to say it works for them.
We are getting tired of coming from the Solent in May. The cross channel and north french coast seem more of a chore than fun.
Pleased to hear any comments or possibilities.
We are strongly considering La Roche Bernard but there are other possibilities.

 

[LouisBrowne]

When I used to race I dry sailed from Hamble Yacht Services. It worked absolutely fine and it's much better for the boat. If you kept a boat abroad and sailed every month in a planned way rather than every weekend or on a whim the argument for dry sailing would be even stronger.
Two things, you will need to use hard antifouling if the boat is being pressure washed regularly, and you need to have confidence that the people in the boatyard will treat the boat carefully.

 

[Poignard]

There are many British boats kept at La Roche Bernard. Boats are stored at the top of a steep hill and hauled to and from the river by means of a tractor and trailer.

LRB is a delightful small town but I heard a rumour that some of the many British there asked the harbour master if they could have a British-only pontoon. If true, that would put me off the place for ever.

Boats can also be dry-sailed from yards at Arzal and Folleux. Both these places are upstream of the often very busy lock at Arzal. There is a very small yard on the south bank of the Vilaine, downstream of Arzal lock, which displays a sign advertising dry-sailing. It looks a bit primitive but it has the advantage that you wouldn't need to use the lock.

As far as anti-fouling is concerned, if you are only going sailing for a few weeks at a time, you might find there's no need to antifoul.