Experience report SR30 -YACHTLINE-: Franconia and France

The Main and the Atlantic coast

With the SR30 -YACHTLINE- towards the Black Sea

At the end of the first boating season with our SR30, we took advantage of the proximity to Kürnach in October 2019 and had our boat serviced and winterized at Öchsner-Boats. The advantage of the on-site appointment was, of course, that we were able to clarify one or the other technical question and received a lot of tips along the way. After that, our Big Five slumbered under the tarpaulin, which unfortunately lasted until the end of May due to the lockdown in Bavaria.

After the first trips up and down the Main from our berth in Aschaffenburg, a tour “towards the Black Sea” followed in June. Not that we planned to complete the 3,000 km, but unfortunately we had to stop in Ochsenfurt after only 200 km due to the weather. It rarely rains in Germany at the time, but a lot in our two vacation weeks.

After all, we now know that driving is possible even in the rain. The view ahead could be better, but it is sufficient. And since you can hold the SR30 -YACHTLINE- loosely in the lock chamber with a hook, the skipper and crew also stay dry.

There is actually something to the promise made by Öchsner about the “sealing by swelling” of the fabric and seam. Fortunately, the days with such heavy rain were numbered for this season.

With the SR30 -YACHTLINE- on the French Atlantic coast

During the summer vacation, we went back to La Rochelle on the French Atlantic coast by boat and trailer. Slipping, trailers, cranes are becoming more and more routine – the driving pleasure remains!

A visit to the Ile de Ré is always a pleasure. This time we explored Ars extensively. We already knew from the previous year that we had to adapt our trip planning to the tides. So we had to get up early and get to the harbor basin in good time at high tide before the gate closes.

Others probably didn’t take the tide calendar that seriously. They were within the buoy shortly after us, but still too late!

In Ars, those (rich) French holidaymakers who find it either too warm or too crowded on the Côte d‘Azur. Or who – like us – have simply succumbed to the charm of the Atlantic coast. A cute harbor in the middle of the picturesque town center and the typical French flair on the market, in the restaurants and bars invites you to linger. I was the only German among the French to celebrate the victory of Munich against Paris in the final of the Champions League in silence. I didn’t want to overstrain the tolerance of the host country …

Our trip to Rochefort was spectacular. After a strong wind the day before, the sea was still “a bit choppy”. Due to the headwind, the sea didn’t seem so rough and we would probably have been disappointed by the waves on the beach. Appearance was deceptive. A displacement trip was out of the question. We would only have become the plaything of the waves. We already knew from the previous year that the SR30 -YACHTLINE- can easily take such hits.

Only after entering the Charente did the atmosphere change back to “calm and idyll”, as we know it from the picture book stories of the area presentations by the boat magazines. We passed the typical shrimp fishing huts and we passed the bridge “Pont de Transbordeur”, a steel monument from 1900. On it – hanging from a cabin – cars are no longer transported today, but pedestrians and cyclists are still brought from one bank to the other.

Rochefort was formerly the most important “arsenal” in France. Ships were built here, seamen trained and ropes were made. The 400 m long building of the “Corderie Royal” or the “Hermione”, a roadworthy replica of the three-master with which Lafayette once set out for the French to liberate America from the English, still testifies to this today.

The marina is located in the middle of the city and here too we had to enter the port in good time with the high tide, since the Charente in the lower reaches is dependent on the tide. In general, we have only had good experiences with service, equipment and price / performance on the Atlantic coast so far. There is electricity, water and well-tended sanitary facilities everywhere. You can also find repair workshops in all ports, but luckily we have never had to use them. The 170 hp diesel engine purred so far almost 300 hours of operation at approx. 3,500 km.

That was the end of our summer vacation. The crane in La Rochelle and the return trip to Germany went smoothly again. We have not yet been stopped and checked by the gendarmerie. We look calmly towards this after a test weighing, but you can go home without such an event.

We let the boating season end on the Main, brought our SR30 back to Kürnach for a check-up and hope that we can enjoy the next year on our Big Five unspoiled by the corona pandemic.

Stay healthy and always think of the water under your keel!

Family K., Alzenau in Lower Franconia

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