A week-long raid in Dutch waters of 12 small boats with 17 participants - mainly French. We sail around the old ports of the former Zuiderzee and in the Friesland Lakes. The video concentrates on our experience on board Avel Dro, sailing in these fascinating waters for the first time. My pronunciation of the place names is however somewhat suspect. Apologies to Dutch viewers!

INTERESTED IN DINGHY CRUISING?
Read my book, "The Dinghy Cruising Companion" - second edition out NOW!
https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/dinghy-cruising-companion-2nd-edition-9781472994288/
And join the Dinghy Cruising Association:
http://dinghycruising.org.uk/

AVEL DRO
Do you want a boat like mine?
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 before the present Brexit trade restrictions were imposed.* The design is based closely on the traditional inshore fishing boats of Brittany in the early years of the twentieth century – hence her single 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. The name Avel Dro is Breton, and basically means a whirlwind.
Length 4.44 m
Sail area 12.2 m²
Beam 1.70 m
Draught 0.25 / 0.86 m
Design category C3
François Vivier's website (in English):
http://www.vivierboats.com/en/
Similar dinghies can often be found for sale on the website of the French magazine Le Chasse-Marée:
https://www.chasse-maree.com/revue/
Or try Le Bon Coin, (where you can buy anything in France):
https://www.leboncoin.fr

*Sorry, but since January 2021, Great Britain (but not Northern Ireland) residents who buy a boat in France or elsewhere in the EU, with the intention of importing it into the UK, will need to pay VAT and other duties on the import.

MUSIC
Footprints in the Sand - Roots and Recognition featuring Melanie Bell
- from Epidemic Sound

EXTRA PHOTOGRAPHY
Mary Dooley