“It’s actually a small boat!”
» This sentence was often heard on Friday March 15 on the quay of Port-Vendres at the foot of the Nao Victoria which had moored there two days before.
Made entirely of wood, this galleon is a carbon copy of the ship with which Magellan left for the first world tour in history.
If the famous navigator did not return from this trip, he was killed in the Philippines, the boat returned to its starting point.
This is not the first time that it has dropped anchor in this deep water port on the Vermeille coast and it announces, in a way, the first edition of the Port-Vendres Stopover which will see four exceptional boats spend a few days in these same waters.
“Bringing in these boats is a way for the town to hang on to its maritime heritage,” explains Pierre-Jean Côme, communications manager for the town.
Developed from 1823, the year of the split with the neighboring commune of Collioure, the port has long been a mecca for fishing, even if today only around ten artisanal fishing boats and two tuna boats remain. , and the fruit trade in particular.
Moreover, just behind the Nao Victoria, another more recent but equally emblematic ship is also moored for the week.
This is the Pascual Flores, built at the very beginning of the 20th century and which transported citrus fruits from the Balearic Islands to Port-Vendres.
Events from April 12 to 14
“Escale à Port-Vendres is a project that we have been working on since 2020 but the Covid episode prevented us from going further, then we celebrated the bicentenary of the town” he continues.
“There will be four boats this year which will occupy the old port, but our ambition is to make it a biannual event and to occupy all the quays of the port on this occasion.
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You can see the four-masted Santa Maria Manuela, a former cod fishing boat, La belle Poule, a Paimpol cod fishing schooner, the Morgenster, two Dutch masts, La Grace, a Czech two-masted ship including the original has scoured the seas all over the world.
The first edition of Escale à Port-Vendre will take place from April 12 to 14, but in the meantime, you can visit the Pascual Flores and the Nao Victoria until March 24.
And to think that it really took courage to set out to discover the world in such a fragile-looking skiff!