Carcasses lying on the sand as if stranded on a very high tide day. Most have pretty curves of a wood worn by the incessant movements of the water. Others, more rare, dress in a much less attractive composite shell. In Saint-Malo, the Quelmer boat cemetery is a popular spot for walkers and photographers. A stone’s throw from the Passagère hold and the famous GR34, around thirty wrecks have been lying here, sometimes for several decades. Long motionless, the cemetery has started to stir in recent months, when the state wanted to clean it up. Summoned to enforce the law which requires that any abandoned ship presenting “a danger or causes a prolonged obstacle” be removed or destroyed, the Departmental Directorate of Territories and the Sea (DDTM) has selected 14 of the 30 boats from Quelmer cemetery and ordered their owner to remove them. As these will never come, the wrecks will be destroyed.
On the banks of the Rance, however, the subject is making waves. If the fate of the corpses made of composite or even of asbestos fiber is not really the subject of debate, the disappearance of a few wood carcasses has the gift of annoying some regulars of the place. “We can’t keep everything. But these boats are also a memory to be passed on. They are markers of local history. I wonder above all why the decision was taken so quickly, ”wonders Anne Hoyau-Berry. This archaeologist organizes with his Association for the Development of Research in Maritime Archeology (ADRAMAR) guided tours of the cemetery this weekend on the occasion of Heritage Days. “It is a privileged site for studying naval architecture. Lots of students come here. For me, it is not at all a rubbish dump, rather a site that should be enhanced ”, continues this specialist in naval artillery.
Not everyone in the area shares this point of view. Starting with the first neighbor of this cemetery. Owner of the Passagère shipyard, Julien Reemers worked “for two years” to clean up his company, which was acquired in 2015. “It was a real trash,” he explains. “I fell in love with this corner. I have the most beautiful office in Saint-Malo, it’s magic. But there is a part of this cemetery that serves as a dumping ground and a squat. There’s an asbestos shell falling apart, rusty 10cm nails sticking out all over the place. It is not secure ”. The boss of the shipyard knows he doesn’t just make friends by saying this, but he takes it upon himself. “I am very attached to the environment around me. But some left their boat there with the engine, without cleaning up. How about if I leave my car wreck in your backyard? “Asks the entrepreneur.
“We must give the specialists time to work”
Often accused of wanting to expand his shipyard, Julien Reemers acknowledges having the desire to embark on the construction of a 25-foot cruise ship. “But not here, not on this site,” he promises. Soon, half of the wreckage in the Passenger Cemetery will be removed by state services. The most beautiful will remain, like this old fishing vessel dating from 1906. But for how long? “What we would like is that it is not the aesthetic side that takes precedence but the heritage interest. But for that, it is necessary to give the time to the specialists to work on it, slips Anne Hoyau-Berry. Land of fishing, Brittany has about fifty more or less well-known boat cemeteries. While some are doomed to disappear, others will continue to be part of the landscape.