History of Karrek Ven

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Karrek Ven is one of the last tuna fishing sail boats to have been built in Brittany as a sailing fishing boat.

People are always fascinated upon boarding her, because her traditional fishing boat exterior reveals something dramatically different inside. She is equipped with computers to handle all aspects of digital photography and video production, from shooting to editing and publishing. Communication by email through the ham radio connects the boat to the shore, and her library of 1600 books covers most needs on board.

She is also equipped with a woodworking shop and facilities for her mechanical maintenance and the training of the crew.

But before that?

 

  


Back to Karrek Ven's pictures

     

Fishing :

1943 :The shipyard Quéré-Gonidec-Kersaudy of Tréboul (Douarnenez) builds a tuna fishing boat, the 'Pod Hervé' ('Hervé's son). Hervé Colin and his son will keep her for twelve years.
A small engine of 122hp is installed and enables a year round fishing season.

Tuna is caught in the Azores, sardines in Morocco and mackerel in Ireland.
The tuna is line caught, dried on the deck, and then salted and conserved in the hold. Later, ice will make conserving the fish easier. Sardines and mackerel are caught by net with a crew of up to twenty men.


1955 : Bought by Jean Quillivic & Mr. Drévillon, ship owners of Morgat, and then, Marcel le Bihan, they will keep her sailing until 1969.

Her name is changed to Karrek Ven.
Karrek Ven is one of the last sailing fishing boats and can not keep up with the powerful engines of the competing boats within the fleet.

 

1969 : She is sold, and quits fishing and is destined for the tourism industry.

Karrek Ven undergoes several transformations, not all for the best ...The simplified rigging installed in her last fishing seasons, is changed back. Tons of concrete are poured over rails for added stability, the wheel house is removed, and a gigantic entry way is built to accommodate a stairway down the hold. The big, old engine makes way for a smaller 100hp Baudouin engine still in use now.

But she does not sail. Several proposed working plans go nowhere, and she ends up in a bay of the Balearic Islands for five years.


Karrek Ven is back at sea:


1980 : It is then in the Balearics, that she is discovered by a young English man. He falls in love with her, and with a bunch of friends creates a nonprofit association to buy her. She becomes an educational tool and traveling vessel for many people sharing their love of traditional boats and education.
Karrek Ven sails for more then twenty years under the aegis of the association, Jules Verne. First she sails sails back to her shores of origin, the French Atlantic coast - Brittany, then England and Canary Islands.

1983 : Sailing in the Mediterranean, to Tunisia, Italy to Greece, through the Aegean Sea to Crete. Historical research on piracy.

1984 : Sailing in Turkey, Marmara Sea, through the Bosporus and into the Black Sea, Romania. The focus is on the Byzantines.

1985-1986 : Sailing in the eastern Mediterranean sea, passage of the Suez Canal to the Red Sea. Study of ancient civilizations. Underwater explorations.

1986 : Restoration of Karrek Ven in the small harbor of Bozburun in Turkey: Rail, stanchions, upper stem and stern, upper planking are all replaced.

1987-1990 : After an overhaul of the rigging and the installation of a new set of sails in Spain, the interior is rebuilt in the Canary Islands. Karrek Ven crosses the Atlantic Ocean and sails in the Caribbean, from Venezuela to Guatemala, Belize and Mexico. Underwater explorations, shore trips to Mayan ruins, many Caribbean petroglyph sites, and diving with Humpback whales on Silver Bank.

1990-1992 : Karrek Ven sails straight up the American coast to New York City and docks for a week at the World Trade Center harbor. The exploration of Cuba follows a more coastal route down the eastern shore of the USA.


1992-1994 : Exploration of the Caribbean Islands, and particularly those of Dominica, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent. In Trinidad and Tobago the crew works on an archeological dig of an amerindian site. Beginning of exhaustive research and identification of the many rocks carved by the amerindians. Sailing on the Orinoco River.

1994 : In Martinique, the young crew builds a wheel house similar to the original one. Archeological research, study of the mythology of the Caribbean Indians.


1995-1999 : Sailing along the Venezuelan coast. Archeological research. Exploration of the Orinoco delta and river, and mythological study of the Warao and Pemon indians.

2000 : Sailing from the Antilles to the Yucatan in Mexico, including Cartagena in Colombia and the San Blas archipelago in Panama. Study of the Kuna and Maya indians. Sailing in the Greater Antilles and Bonaire. Karrek Ven rescue fishermen lost in the middle of the Caribbean sea for 11 days.

2001-2002 : Sailing in the Venezuelan islands and Tobago. Research on early Caribbean indian sailors, and another archeological dig.

Throughout their twenty two years of sailing, the crew created and published an onboard magazine, 'Le Petit Voyageur', to document and archive its activities. They have also produced films and documentaries which have been broadcast and well received on both French and German television; and more recently a journal-style video magazine was published for parents of the crew and friends of the association.

2002 : The 'Jules Verne Expeditions' ceases its activities to restructure its goals and mission in order to enter into a complete restoration project of Karrek Ven.