Jean-François Joubert, a native of Léon country, met the owner's son. It was his father, Doctor Jacques Perron, who ordered the construction of this boat at the Le Got shipyard in Plouguerneau in 1962. This surgeon wanted a boat for cruising. So he ordered it with a deckhouse and especially bigger than the classic seaweed boat. Indeed, the canoes opened to collect seaweed usually measured between 5.50 and 6.50 m. The Reder Mor 6 is 7.80 m long.
Seaweed fishing consists of gathering seaweed under the sea. In the past, these algae, which once on land ended up in ovens to be transformed into blocks, were then delivered to the continent to factories that extracted iodine (for pharmaceutical uses in particular).
In order to be ballasted, these seaweed boats would take on board pebbles which they would throw back into the sea, replacing them with seaweed during fishing. No cobbles on the Reder Mor 6, but a piece of cast iron bolted under the keel.
Today the renovation is making great strides, even if 95% of the boat has had to be rebuilt. Only the keel, the ballast, the top of the bow and 5 forepeaks remain from the origin... everything else is new, rebuilt as in the old days using solid wood with a mahogany and oak planking and the keel in iroko.
Emmanuel Flahault, president of the association "Un vieux gréement pour Damgan" (An old rigging for Damgan) presents us the renovation site.
On February 6, 2015, the Reder Mor 6 arrives at the Penerf shipyard in poor condition, why this desire to restore it?
Emmanuel Flahault: Yann Réveillant, the first president of the association had wanted this renovation and for this reason had gathered around this project a dozen volunteers. The boat was bought and transported to Damgan-Penerf. Such a heritage could not be abandoned, and the adventure was tempting. Then, it took almost a year to organize the association, set up the files, find grants, ask for quotes, invent a way of working, find premises and machines...
At the shipyard, which is open one day a week (Thursday), the marine carpenter is paid by the day. Volunteers do the shopping and supplies and we participate in the renovation.
3 years of restoration work in addition to the search for funding: you are tenacious! What are the biggest hotspots in this restoration?
Emmanuel Flahault: At the beginning, being myself appointed responsible for the site, I envisaged a more modest budget, and 1 year and a half to 2 years of work. But the restoration turned out to be much more serious, and today only the keel, 5 ribs, the bitt, the top of the bow and the porpoise, the fittings and the rigging remain original.
The overall budget of 145,000 euros was a bit scary... But the President and the Board worked hard to find the funding, and we all went for it. Thanks to our voluntary work method, we were able to reduce the overall cost by about 40,000 euros.
If the work on the building site is pleasant, it is finally the participation in various events on Damgan which are harder: restorations, refreshments, sale of by-products. This has kept us very busy during these summers. The "model", "seamanship", and especially "actions with schoolchildren" workshops are very active. It takes time, but they make us visible and therefore fundable. We are also very interested in communicating with the children. Classes regularly come to visit the workcamp and these exchanges are very important to us. It is a very good opening towards the youth.
The launch is scheduled for Gulf Week 2019. Is this a realistic date?
Emmanuel Flahault: Yes, it can be done. Even if we know that the last few weeks will be "hot", we will still have, in the autumn, the motorization, currently on order, the sails, ordered from the workshops of l'Enfer, and the interior fittings of this big hollow canoe.
This will be possible thanks to the team that is giving itself to this project. It has not evolved much, with people of different conceptions working side by side. We're between a bunch of buddies and real skilled workers. The vast majority of them are retired people. The association now has about a hundred members, and the local companies also help us a lot.
But without our marine carpenter, François Blatrix, who was kind enough to work with us, paid by the day and advising us on purchases of wood, screws, glues and putty, tools, we would be very few, he assimilated very well our spirit of association, encouraged and reprimanded us. Demanding, he is very good at his job. François took part in the adventure of the Saint Michel2, a copy of Jules Verne's boat, he also looks after the Forban du Bono, ND de Bequerel, and many others. And as a sailor himself, he sails on these old rigs. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the whole team of volunteers without whom nothing would be possible at this stage today.
