Port Maubert marina

Port Maubert is a small port of the Estuary where fishing boats with large nets and small sailboats alongside each other in a festival of colors. Port Maubert is the successor of an older port, Port Neuf, developped inland at the foot of the Beaumont mound. Only remnant of this time, a lantern, at the top of the Beaumont burrow, rises some 70 m above sea level. The Aperture at the top and the smoke trails on the stone suggest that it was used to guide the ships entering the port, testifying to the importance of the commercial movement with Bordeaux. The port of Beaumont was abandoned in the 16th century, its siltation making access impossible. The course of the channel was therefore corrected closer to the coast. Nestled at the bottom of a well marked cove, exposed to northwest winds, the Port Maubert channel is formed by the mouth of the Maubert river in the Gironde. It is entirely dug out of alluvial soil. In 1642, during the naval battles in the Gironde between the French and English fleets, Richelieu landed at Maubert to return to the hinterland ; and the English fleet stationed there and used the port to get supplies. Today, Port Maubert has become more of a marina with a slipway and is home to some 70 to 80 boats. A rest area has been set up with an orientation table. Port Maubert is a marine site, but it is also an essential step for a walk on the footpath along the channel throught the marshes to the estuary. You can discover this strange charm, leaving you with sweet impressions mixed between the spirit of the land and the scent of the sea ; from this edge of the channel, you can admire an unforgettable sunrise or sunset. In April and May, it is the shad that is caught. In June and July, we fish for meagre fish and then for sea bass. In winter, a very lucrative fishery takes place, that of the "pibale" or "elver", young eel fry. But what the estuary is most famous for is the sturgeon, locally known as "Créa", whose eggs are used to make caviar. Endangered, the species has been protected since 1982.