Vilaine River

Lightwave395

Lightwave395

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Any guidance or tips out there for entering the Vilaine River ? I have a choice between staying where I am or moving to Arzal.
It looks on my Navionics chart viewer that there's virtually no water at low tide East of a line between Pointe de Kervoyal to the North and Pointe de Cofrenau to the South. I'm pondering on moving my boat to Arzal this spring but with a draft of 2.1M wondering in practice how limiting estuary depths might be using Arzal as a base.
 
This booklet gives a lot of practical info, the 2020 edition will soon be available on the same site

https://www.lavilaine.com/doc/Guide_2019_en.pdf

Attached the official SHOM chart, there is one more zoom level it is difficult to copy it as attachment, you can access it online through data.shom.fr then left column Données / Catalogue SHOM/Cartographie/Assemblage once it is displayed zoom in.
The charts shows the two entrance bearing angles, first with Penlan, then with Kervoyal (barely visible on Navionics) which leads you to the first channel buoys; they are a good reference.
There may be inaccuracies of course, especially after winter; a very useful complement is Google Earth (which you may georeference as .kap , see opencpn threads)
I would not use Navionics.
Local wisdom is to approach/take the channel with a height of tide of boat draught +20/30cm, 2.1m draught --> 2.3-2.4 height of tide, you may look at tide tables (and lock opening times) to see if that constraint gives you enough average freedom of movement.
 

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LadyInBed said:
Surely, with your draft you would be better off above the lock, but it would be very inconvenient tying in with lock times.
Click to expand...

Indeed yes, I'll be moored in the marina above the lock, just trying to get a feel for getting in and out of the river to / from the lock and how, if any, limiting it might be versus open access to the Baie de Quiberon where I am now, albeit at a price...
Thought I might try Arzal this year and see how it goes but I confess I didn't realise how little water there is in the estuary
 
Roberto said:
This booklet gives a lot of practical info, the 2020 edition will soon be available on the same site

https://www.lavilaine.com/doc/Guide_2019_en.pdf

Attached the official SHOM chart, there is one more zoom level it is difficult to copy it as attachment, you can access it online through data.shom.fr then left column Données / Catalogue SHOM/Cartographie/Assemblage once it is displayed zoom in.
The charts shows the two entrance bearing angles, first with Penlan, then with Kervoyal (barely visible on Navionics) which leads you to the first channel buoys; they are a good reference.
There may be inaccuracies of course, especially after winter; a very useful complement is Google Earth (which you may georeference as .kap , see opencpn threads)
I would not use Navionics.
Local wisdom is to approach/take the channel with a height of tide of boat draught +20/30cm, 2.1m draught --> 2.3-2.4 height of tide, you may look at tide tables (and lock opening times) to see if that constraint gives you enough average freedom of movement.
Click to expand...

Thanks Roberto, appreciated
 
Lightwave395 said:
Indeed yes, I'll be moored in the marina above the lock, just trying to get a feel for getting in and out of the river to / from the lock and how, if any, limiting it might be versus open access to the Baie de Quiberon where I am now, albeit at a price...
Thought I might try Arzal this year and see how it goes but I confess I didn't realise how little water there is in the estuary
Click to expand...

I can't help you on the area but what I can say is that having spent 3 years in Weymouth marina before moving to Portland given the choice I would stick with open access. There's nothing worse than getting back after a long passage and either racing to meet a tide/bridge deadline or just missing one, and there I usually had to wait no more than an hour, except at the end of the day when it could have meant all night.
 
Lightwave395 said:
Any guidance or tips out there for entering the Vilaine River ? I have a choice between staying where I am or moving to Arzal.
It looks on my Navionics chart viewer that there's virtually no water at low tide East of a line between Pointe de Kervoyal to the North and Pointe de Cofrenau to the South. I'm pondering on moving my boat to Arzal this spring but with a draft of 2.1M wondering in practice how limiting estuary depths might be using Arzal as a base.
Click to expand...

I loved being based on the Villaine for two separate long holiday visits.

Our boat had a maximum draft of 1.7M.
We found the lock at Arzal very busy at weekends but had it virtually to ourselves on weekdays in high season.
The estuary was not a challenge on the occasions we chose to enter or exit.

Our experience of the estuary was good but we were in a small 24 foot trailer sailer with a 1.7 m draft!
We had no problem in making an outgoing or return trip from Le Croustey or Quiberon bay, or the islands even at the end of a busy summer weekend.

I do remember sailing under full sail and spinny on a rising tide with only .1 of a meter under our keel for a very long time! There were plenty of other small boats doing the same thing . Deeper drafted boats would hold station at the fairway point until they could make their way in. Their faster speed meant they usually caught up the shallower draft boats by the time we all arrived at the barrage.

This was on flat water.
The estuary does suffer from swell conditions which would make timing your passage nearer to high water essential! The Arzal office has plenty of advice to give to newcomers to the area. I wouldn't bother with a windward slog if the Houle (sp French?) s forecast to be bad. I would prefer to explore up river to La Roche , Folueaux, etc. Visitors can have free water and electricity at many points up river only charges were made if staying overnight.

It is a good days sail out from Arzal to many of the main places in the Quiberon bay.

Using the lock at peak times is very organised with boats forming 3 abreast rafts at the waiting pontoon.

Strange how this is mirrored in my current location as we have to time our passage plans to and from a locked marina and in and out over a bar an hour and a half from base! But we have two estuaries to use on the Menai and can usually get in and out to the Irish Sea whatever the conditions.

Access in drought conditions at Arzal can be a problem and there were reports of problems with silting in the main channel. Guess what we have the same issues here!

I would recommend you give Arzal a go as a base if I had to choose between the Quiberon marinas and Arzal! Surely the Passporte can also be made to work to your advantage for stays at the other Morbihan and Breton marinas.

I think Quiddle and Roberto of this parish are or have been Vilaine based so you might get a more up to date picture from them.
 
We were based at Foleux for a couple of seasons. It's a fair stretch from the bay up to Arzal. We draw 1.5m and could find our way in just after LW and take the flood up the river (but it does get unpleasant in a strong SW blow particularly on the ebb). As said before, the lock is manic at weekends and holidays. The other thing to consider is that in dry summers they impose restrictions on the lock openings leading to waits of a couple of days if you time it wrong - on one occasion there were about 130 boats waiting to go upstream after a 3 day closure! The Passport Escales is a godsend...even works on the buoys at Penerf
 
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