In the seventies (just forty years ago), in Douarnenez, a group of people came together, united by their desire for greater recognition of the maritime history of France’s coasts: a rich and fragile heritage that was disappearing. This movement led to the formation of an association in Douarnenez, under the name Treizour, meaning “ferryman” in Breton. This name refers not only to crossing water in a boat, but also to the transmission of memory.

This association would go on to launch several initiatives, including an impressive collection of over a hundred old boats gathered by members of the association, in Brittany, France and beyond, as part of an encyclopaedic and empirical effort. They also published France’s first maritime ethnology periodical, Chasse-marée, which still exists today, and they created a regional federation for maritime culture and heritage (FRCPM), which will soon have a traditional marine carpentry training centre.

This rich landscape, with all its know-how and everyone involved in its culture and heritage, is an important resource, which has allowed a programme of development and activities to be created around the cultural port site of the Port-Rhu.