From Nantes to the mouth of the Loire, the river is punctuated with works of art to discover by boat. A superb escapade to do in the summer to discover Nantes and its surroundings from another point of view.
An artistic nautical course
Between Nantes and St-Nazaire, Estuaire is a permanent collection of contemporary art in situ. Many of these works can be appreciated from a boat. For example, at the mouth of the river in front of Saint-Brévin-les-Pins, the ocean snake of Huang Yong Ping appears with the tide. Further on, in front of Cordemais, the Villa Cheminée of Tatzu Nishi watches the river.
In front of the Pellerin, Misconceivable or the " Soft boat "by Erwin Wurm, drips from the lock of the Canal de la Martinière.
In the Loire, in front of Couëron, the artist Jean-Luc Courcoult built " a house whose foundations captured by the mud lean slightly, shutters closed, like an uninhabited wreck although the chimney still smokes. It seems as solitary as we are from time to time in the nature. A realistic and poetic image, concrete, secret, silent, this sleeping house on the Loire could be a painting, a three-dimensional painting deposited in time. Immobile."
Beautiful places to visit
Along the Loire River, several small villages dot the shoreline. This is notably the case of Paimboeuf, whose maritime past remains inscribed in its narrow streets and its colored facades. A charming stopover between Nantes and the mouth of the river.
In Nantes, the stop is at the Belem pontoon, just after the Maillé Brézé museum ship and just before the Anne de Bretagne bridge, which marks the end of the maritime domain and the beginning of the river. It is also from there that the sailboats must dismast if they want to continue to go up the river.
The Belém pontoon is ideally located in the heart of the city, and just in front of the island of Nantes with its famous machines.
Navigation in the estuary
The Loire is marked by numerous sandbanks. However, the navigation channel is very well marked and does not present any particular difficulty.
However, it is necessary to take care of the important ships which go up the Loire. To do so, a watch must be kept on VHF channel 14 where the movements of vessels are announced. Particular attention should also be paid to vessels catching up by regularly looking astern. When approaching a vessel, it is advised, as much as possible, to leave the channel to make way.
The ascent of the river is done with the flow. Indeed, the current can be quite strong, in particular at ebb tide where the ebb tide is added to the current of the Loire.
Atypical anchorages
Considering the currents and uncertain bottoms, the Ports of Nantes Metropole do not recommend anchoring in the Loire. However, outside certain prohibited zones, it is possible to anchor outside the channel for an unusual break, with all the usual precautions in case of strong currents.
