A tuna boat with an atypical history
Biche is named after the nickname of its first owner: Ange Stéphan, nicknamed "Ange Biche". He was one of the many fishermen of the island of Groix, during the heyday of tuna fishing.
The tuna boat Biche worked in this activity for 22 years, from the time it left the Chauffeteau shipyards in Les Sables d'Olonne, until 1956. Dormitory with forty berths for a Belgian sailing school, charter sailboat in the Channel, in the North Sea and in Englandâeuros¦ The tuna boat then left the French territory to know several lives and to be many times refitted and transformed.
In 1991, the Musée du Bateau de Douarnenez, which was then building its museum collection, decided to acquire her. But the boat is in bad condition and due to lack of means to undertake a restoration, it decides in 2003 to put it in the Port-Rhu boat graveyard.
The association Les Amis du Biche, for the restoration and the exploitation of the dundee
It was at this time that the association Les Amis du Biche was born, with the aim of saving the tuna boat and making it sail again. The steps of transfer are undertaken, the boat is transported with the help of the French Navy to Lorient, the Chantier du Guip is chosen for the realization of the works. Several years passed before the actual start of construction of the tuna boat in 2009.
Cruises from the Atlantic coast
Biche was relaunched on June 22, 2012, after three years of complete restoration. Now motorized, it has functional accommodations that allow it to welcome the public on board. The tuna boat can accommodate 16 people sailing for several days or 30 passengers for a day.
The ex-working sailboat has generous dimensions, and capabilities to sail for a long time:
- Overall length : 32 m / Hull length : 21 m
- Main beam width : 6,60 m
- Draft : 3 m
- Displacement: 75 tons
- Sail area : 350 m² - 5 sails
- Engine: 2 x 90 HP Perkins
- Water : 1 400 liters / Diesel : 1 400 liters
- 2 toilets and 1 shower
- 16 berths
Biche now offers cruises departing from the Atlantic coast, which last from half a day to more than a week, depending on the desires and budget of each person. The association operates the ship for cruises for the general public or for companies, classic or thematic.
Each year, the dundee also carries out up to 6 tuna fishing campaigns in the Bay of Biscay, with the public on board. Finally, it is present at the occasion of maritime festivities of the territory and at the start of races, in particular to make itself known to the school public.
Transatlantic sailings in the footsteps of the tuna boat Saint-Paul
Particularly attached to the history of Biche and its fellows, the members of the association have embarked on a large-scale project: to cross the Atlantic as the dundee Saint-Paul did in 1923, opening the way to West Indian lobster fishing.
In November 2021, 9 trainees and 4 crew members embarked and crossed in 45 days, from Lorient to Martinique, via Portugal and the Canary Islands. The experience was shared with schoolchildren from nearly 40 classes in Brittany and the West Indies.
In March 2022, the return crossing from Martinique to Lorient, via the Azores, was marketed to the general public. The tuna boat, which has returned to its home port, has continued to sail in Breton waters.
