Roger Barnes, March 27, 2026 – Overnight on Aulne Maritime
A sail up a tidal river in Finistère, western Brittany, to spend the night aboard my cruising dinghy in the remote rural countryside of the region. This is a classic dinghy cruise in coastal waters, exploring the delights of shallow waters inaccessible to larger craft.
AVEL DRO, my own boat.
Avel Dro is an Ilur designed by François Vivier, and built of clinker plywood by Les Charpentiers Reunis of Cancale in 1994. I bought her in France in 2003 to import her into the UK, and more recently returned her to France again. The design is based closely on the traditional inshore fishing boats of Brittany in the early years of the twentieth century – hence her simple boom-less lugsail rig and lack of a mainsheet horse, (sometimes controversial among my viewers). Although rare in Britain, Ilurs are relatively common in France. Modern Ilurs are slightly different from mine, as they have more built in buoyancy. The name Avel Dro is Breton, Avel = wind, Dro = to turn – so it means a whirlwind.
- Length 4.44 m
- Sail area 12.2 m²
- Beam 1.70 m
- Draught 0.25 / 0.86 m
INTERESTED IN DINGHY CRUISING?
- Read Roger’s books, The Dinghy Cruising Companion and Sailing The Shallows
- Join the Dinghy Cruising Association
Tim Taylor says:
I loved this. Simple, unadorned, and like I imagine a convivial cruise would go for me with a friend. Sometimes the restaurants disappoint. But the night by the campfire looked wonderful. It’s something to aspire to.