lesfaisseursdebateaux@gmail.com
43 route de Clairmarais 62500 SAINT-OMER

Workshop visits

Discover the last Audomarois shipyard and its exhibitions

The workshop of the last boat builders of Saint-Omer opens its doors to you

The visit to the boat makers' workshop is coupled with the boat trip in the Saint-Omer marsh. A way to become knowledgeable about local history in an hour and a half.

boat building tools

Book your guided tour

Discover our boat makers' workshop and climb into a bacôve for a magnificent guided tour… One of the most beautiful walks/discoveries in Saint-Omer.
From 11€/person
Good family plan! €7,50 for children under 13 years old and free for children under 4 years old! Departures 7 days a week at 7:10 a.m., 30:14 p.m. and 30 p.m.
 

A manufacturing secret revealed

If in the past the manufacture of boats in the Audomarois marsh was like a family secret, the last boat makers in the Saint-Omer marsh have decided to share their knowledge with as many people as possible, in order to pass on this precious knowledge.

The plans for the boats in the marsh are passed down from craftsman to craftsman over generations. Today, this know-how is saved… Yet it was ready to disappear!

Indeed, when Remy Colin got down to this task, the last boat builder, Gérard Colin, had ceased his activity for ten years.

Discover the history of the escutes and the bacôves

 

How do you build a bacôve or an escute? What is the history of each of these traditional boats? What natural materials are used? The craftsmen answer your questions!

During a guided tour suitable for families, a boat maker will explain point by point the essential things to know and know about the manufacture of these atypical wooden boats and will reproduce the ancestral gestures in front of you.

A mini rural marsh museum

Everyone will appreciate this authentic place releasing its delicious woody scents and enclosing a mini museum of the Audomarois marshes. There are indeed exposed old tools, old boats as well as a real motor scull, ancestor of the boat engine.