Naviguer Autrement - the small boat revolution in France

The Challenge Naviguer Léger was created by the magazine Le Chasse-Marée to encourage the use of small boats for cruising. It takes place over four or five days at a different location on the French coastline each year, and is for vessels propelled by sail and oar, which must navigate in total autonomy, carrying sufficient stores and equipment for the whole trip.

Links:

Read my book, the Dinghy Cruising Companion

Join the Dinghy Cruising Association

[ArthurPopeye]

Je suis un Français qui vit en Angleterre et comme l'approuvent mes vidéos nous devons avoir des goûts qui se rejoignent! Je pense que ce que vous faites est super pour le mouvement des dinghy cruisers. Merci!

[RiggingDoctor]

Sailboats reduced to their most elegant essentials.
Loving the tanbark sails!

[TheRemcovanreems]

My late father journalist, writer, carpenter, wine beer and liqueur maker, adventurer, etc etc had a drascombe with brown sails. ❤

[tubalooney]

Superbe aventure salutations de la Suisse. I’m another Brit abroad :-)

[tonyable]

Your dulcet tones marry perfectly with the gentle lapping of the water against your boat as you sail effortlessly around the beautiful Breton coastline. Thanks so much for sharing your experience and passion so selflessly. Cela réjouit mon coeur surtout avec un bon verre en main.

[OldDadProductions]

Roger I really think you should give up this architect business and become a full time dinghy cruising film maker. Beautiful scenery and film work, lovely boats everywhere, great use of charts to show us what you are doing, calm and peaceful narration with just the right amount of information - no better way to enjoy my wee glass of rum! What a scene there, I'm very jealous. The closest I see to a flotilla of dinghies here on the Gold Coast Australia, is half a dozen 13 foot tin boats with 30hp Mercs on the back all arriving back at the boat ramp at the same time and swearing and fighting over who is putting their boat on his trailer first while the others throw fish gizzards all over the beach for the Pelicans and seagulls to fight over... :-(...

[islaws]

Wow I could have watched an hour of this at least. Totally relaxing viewing, interesting to a non sailor & gorgeous scenery!

[chriskildun]

Another excellent trip to France, perfect escapist viewing for a winter evening.

[DaveFer]

Mr. Barnes, greetings from Texas. We love your videos. We're novice sailors here. We sail in a fast dinghy (Harpoon 5.2) and my daughter and I have recently reached a milestone by sailing to a sandy island here in Lake Travis, beaching our craft and exploring. I had fun, but it was clearly a peak life experience for my daughter (age 5). Next time, we hope to camp overnight on this sandy island. This island is particularly suited, since I can easily walk to the mainland across a submerged sandbar even at night in case of some emergency (lightning strike, snake bite, severed limb).

Unfortunately, we are short on intelligence about the delicate topic of ... you know ... pooping. For better or worse, Lake Travis is a drinking water reservoir (more importantly, OUR drinking water reservoir). It's both illegal and considered extraordinarily bad form to deposit human waste in this water. What to do? I can imagine some solutions, but as a noob it's hard to know which solutions are the most graceful and which solutions have hidden, tragic pitfalls. Perhaps you might address this delicate topic in a video, if you haven't already.

My family and I would love if you would Google "Harpoon Dreams" and check out our videos.

[karls]

One of the most visually beautiful videos you've done.
But for me, what was even better was how rich in information. You give me a real feel for the boats differing designs and how they benefited or not in a variety of sea conditions and the shear joy of just sailing and being with others doing likewise.
Naming the designs and seeing them sailing or rowing in different conditions. Wonderful, more, please!
With one exception, "The blue-hulled boat" it showed up many times and in differing conditions, but you never told us the boat designers' name? The blue-hull boat was often there with the Ilurs. She (blue-hull) looked like a good boat as well.
My favorite poetry/commented of yours, "Boats designed for sailing that were happy in the lumpy sea being a boat, with wide capacious hulls and high topsides."
Many thanks, you made my day!

[daleskidmore]

Fell in love with Avel Dro and have just bought the plans and working out the best way of building one. It has caused me a lot of sleepless nights, but I think I have come up with a way of utilising the space I have. This vid is a real filip to my resolve.

[RoryL]

That was pure ASMRtistry. Thank you for sharing. ⛵

[stephenburnage]

I have a 34 ft sailboat and I am currently the smallest and simplest cruising boat on the Sea of Cortes. Everything else around me is 40ft + and have watermakers, showers, davits etc. so I thought I was going simply. This is another whole level! Love it.

[knotman]

Thank you, Roger. You are inspiring my own building in California.

[sailinghiggy]

What a gorgeous trip... maybe one day... having just bought a 1951 Fairey Swordfish dinghy after a 20 yr spell away from sailing... looking forward to similar adventures

[msfkhz]

Some decent seamanship going on there, Roger. Especially picking up that mooring, and Mary's sculling.

[guiserixsacha]

theres also the "rendez vous de l'erdre" a small journey from nord sur erdre too Nantes where a lot of old simple dinghy meet and cruise along at the rythm of jazz in a 3 days long travel. it is something really cool with a lot of beautifull boats, jazz at every stops and just the peacefullness of the quiet river.

[wilfredolopez]

Best video big hug from a sailor of Puerto Rico. My best for this group!😊💪🍺

[tim-youtubewatcher]

Splendid, really enjoyed that. Thank you Roger.

[chrisdutoit]

BRILLIANT. What a wonderful experience.