mjkinch1
Well-Known Member
You can access all the photos and details of this email via http://spaces.msn.com/members/mjkinch/ - this is a summary of the msn details.
If you are thinking of taking your boat to France for use on inland waters, then this is my story of my task to see if it is possible. Its a long way to tow, but the costs of keeping a boat on the lakes, is still pretty good value. Also with the ocean a stones throw away, the excellent wine regions of Bordeaux and Medoc, and the fabolous city of bordeaux, I dont think you would get a better combination anywhere else. We flew BMIbaby to Bordeaux (from Manchester, Birmingham and Flybe from Bristol), and hired a car, which cost about £100 for the week. We stayed in Les Brizes in La Rochelle (Brilliant), and at La Forestiere(nice and clean) in Biscarrosse. Finally the Burdigala in Bordeaux, which is wonderful!
We decided to look in a bit more detail at the boating facilities along the atlantic coast, from just below the Gironde (which looked too volatile and dirty for us - there were very few moored boats that we saw) down to Biscarrosse, south of Arcachon.
I have kept copies of documents that I acquired and contacts, in case anyone decides they would like to try the same thing!
We started in La Rochelle and stayed in an excellent hotel - Les Brizes (No.1 on www.tripadvisor.co.uk) and took some time to look around the very busy port. We then travelled down via Bordeaux to Biscorrosse and Port Maguide. From previous forums this has been mentioned as a lake that can take powerboats, so we were keen to see what was involved.
You can see photos of maguide marina, including the one titled Biscorrosse Marina, which shows the marina from the entrance. We met a really nice english speaking marina representative that gave us all the help we required. There were some pretty big boats on the water, a few upto 40', but most were sailing boats and sports cruisers around 25-35'. There are two lakes joined by a canal, the main lake has a shoreline of around 45Km, and is about 6 by 8 miles wide. It reminded me of a fatter version of lake windemere.
Georges Nyssens was english speaking, and is the 'attache commercial' for Charlet Nautic in Port Maguide, he was really helpful and took us through the procedure for bringing a boat from the UK, and the taxes and licences involved. I have put a copy of the tariff online as 'port tariff', you can see a typical 6 month mooring on a pontoon is about 550 Euros. They will dry store over winter for a small additional cost. To contact George ring his mobile 00 33 0632145754 or the office on 0033 05 58 098585. His email is georges.nyssens@charletnautic.com, website www.charletnautic.com He says about 10% of the lake users are from england, and I can see why!
There were lots of sandy bays to moor upto, and although I had no time to explore it, the second lake was almost as big again. There were no power restrictions, and a dedicated skiing area. We took out a 19' sports boat for a couple of hours to explore, but we only managed one side.
As you can see from the map (lake map) there is a military area, that is out of bounds during the week only. Also although I never saw it, the second lake has frances only inland oil well, but I am told it is clean and quiet. As a bit of trivia, seaplanes were developed here, and there is an interesting museum, with example planes, located just off the lake. Pictures 'port maguide' and 'biscarrosse marina' show the general view and layout.
If you tie this up with the fact that the atlantic coast and all its surfing is only 10 minutes away, you can get a really good combination that satisfies all the family. See 'biscarrosse beach' for just the longest and cleanest beach I have come across. Lost of surfers were out as well.
We hired a boat on the lake as well, a 19' bayliner with 175hp outboard. It was nice and a good way to see the lake given our time. The costs are in 'biscarrosse hire prices' and 'port maguide guide' - I think we paid about £40ish for an hour or so, and you can phone and pre-book boats for the hour, half day, or day. telephone 05 58 09 85 85. The biggest boat you can hire is a Quicksilver 800 with cuddy, I think about 24'. YOU DO NEED YOUR ICC! if you want to hire a decent size boat, otherwise you are limited to what you can hire.
After this we went upto Maubuisson, which is meant to be on Frances largest inland lake. See 'lac de carcans' for details. As far I could see there are no restrictions on power boats, but launching is restricted to a small number of ports. The biggest port was Hourtin Port, which had a nice marina, and lots of resturants around the lake. Hourtin Port is on 05 56 091093. There are lots of watersports and you can hire everything (except power boats as far as I can see), such as small yachts, windsurfers and canoes etc. See 'hourtin port' photo. Lots of picnic areas and a very nice village as well. We found a main boat dealer called Yachtin Medoc - www.yachting-medoc.com which supplies and manages power boats for the lake. The biggest they had in stock was 9.5 meters. See photo 'medoc price list' to see what sort of prices they charge. I understand the tax for using the lake is quite high. For a Maxum 2100sc powerboat they quoted me 83 euros a day, 186 for a week and 517 for a year.
I have lots more information to put online, but this is a pretty good start!
If you are thinking of taking your boat to France for use on inland waters, then this is my story of my task to see if it is possible. Its a long way to tow, but the costs of keeping a boat on the lakes, is still pretty good value. Also with the ocean a stones throw away, the excellent wine regions of Bordeaux and Medoc, and the fabolous city of bordeaux, I dont think you would get a better combination anywhere else. We flew BMIbaby to Bordeaux (from Manchester, Birmingham and Flybe from Bristol), and hired a car, which cost about £100 for the week. We stayed in Les Brizes in La Rochelle (Brilliant), and at La Forestiere(nice and clean) in Biscarrosse. Finally the Burdigala in Bordeaux, which is wonderful!
We decided to look in a bit more detail at the boating facilities along the atlantic coast, from just below the Gironde (which looked too volatile and dirty for us - there were very few moored boats that we saw) down to Biscarrosse, south of Arcachon.
I have kept copies of documents that I acquired and contacts, in case anyone decides they would like to try the same thing!
We started in La Rochelle and stayed in an excellent hotel - Les Brizes (No.1 on www.tripadvisor.co.uk) and took some time to look around the very busy port. We then travelled down via Bordeaux to Biscorrosse and Port Maguide. From previous forums this has been mentioned as a lake that can take powerboats, so we were keen to see what was involved.
You can see photos of maguide marina, including the one titled Biscorrosse Marina, which shows the marina from the entrance. We met a really nice english speaking marina representative that gave us all the help we required. There were some pretty big boats on the water, a few upto 40', but most were sailing boats and sports cruisers around 25-35'. There are two lakes joined by a canal, the main lake has a shoreline of around 45Km, and is about 6 by 8 miles wide. It reminded me of a fatter version of lake windemere.
Georges Nyssens was english speaking, and is the 'attache commercial' for Charlet Nautic in Port Maguide, he was really helpful and took us through the procedure for bringing a boat from the UK, and the taxes and licences involved. I have put a copy of the tariff online as 'port tariff', you can see a typical 6 month mooring on a pontoon is about 550 Euros. They will dry store over winter for a small additional cost. To contact George ring his mobile 00 33 0632145754 or the office on 0033 05 58 098585. His email is georges.nyssens@charletnautic.com, website www.charletnautic.com He says about 10% of the lake users are from england, and I can see why!
There were lots of sandy bays to moor upto, and although I had no time to explore it, the second lake was almost as big again. There were no power restrictions, and a dedicated skiing area. We took out a 19' sports boat for a couple of hours to explore, but we only managed one side.
As you can see from the map (lake map) there is a military area, that is out of bounds during the week only. Also although I never saw it, the second lake has frances only inland oil well, but I am told it is clean and quiet. As a bit of trivia, seaplanes were developed here, and there is an interesting museum, with example planes, located just off the lake. Pictures 'port maguide' and 'biscarrosse marina' show the general view and layout.
If you tie this up with the fact that the atlantic coast and all its surfing is only 10 minutes away, you can get a really good combination that satisfies all the family. See 'biscarrosse beach' for just the longest and cleanest beach I have come across. Lost of surfers were out as well.
We hired a boat on the lake as well, a 19' bayliner with 175hp outboard. It was nice and a good way to see the lake given our time. The costs are in 'biscarrosse hire prices' and 'port maguide guide' - I think we paid about £40ish for an hour or so, and you can phone and pre-book boats for the hour, half day, or day. telephone 05 58 09 85 85. The biggest boat you can hire is a Quicksilver 800 with cuddy, I think about 24'. YOU DO NEED YOUR ICC! if you want to hire a decent size boat, otherwise you are limited to what you can hire.
After this we went upto Maubuisson, which is meant to be on Frances largest inland lake. See 'lac de carcans' for details. As far I could see there are no restrictions on power boats, but launching is restricted to a small number of ports. The biggest port was Hourtin Port, which had a nice marina, and lots of resturants around the lake. Hourtin Port is on 05 56 091093. There are lots of watersports and you can hire everything (except power boats as far as I can see), such as small yachts, windsurfers and canoes etc. See 'hourtin port' photo. Lots of picnic areas and a very nice village as well. We found a main boat dealer called Yachtin Medoc - www.yachting-medoc.com which supplies and manages power boats for the lake. The biggest they had in stock was 9.5 meters. See photo 'medoc price list' to see what sort of prices they charge. I understand the tax for using the lake is quite high. For a Maxum 2100sc powerboat they quoted me 83 euros a day, 186 for a week and 517 for a year.
I have lots more information to put online, but this is a pretty good start!
