With the drought that has lasted since mid-July, the Drôme and the rivers of the department are visibly decreasing. This canoe base located in Saillans pays the price. No more two-seaters and long journeys. As a result, it runs at 25% of its usual attendance.
Because of the low flow of the Drôme, this canoe base had to reduce the sail area. The drought, which has affected the department since mid-July and the rivers and streams have dropped in flow. “I’ve been here 17 years and I’ve never seen this“, says Pierre Capiez, the manager of Canoë Drôme. This situation forced him to adapt, making him lose a large part of its customers : “We are shooting at 25% of the usual attendance.“
Five employees this summer against twenty-three usual
The setting remains idyllic for tourists like Ralph: “It was amazing and impressive. The place is superb but it is true that there is not much water.“This Dutch tourist sometimes had to work:”In some places we had to get out of the canoe to push it but that was cool!“This year, the two-seaters remained in the warehouse because they are too heavy for the low level of the Drôme.
I was tired at the end so we tied my canoe to my dad’s – Élodie, nine years old
Elodie embarked alone in a kayak. In the end it was a bit hard for this nine-year-old Swiss: “It was good but I was tired at the end so we tied my canoe to my dad’s.“His mother resumes:”It was a bit sporty at the end and you had to get up sometimes to push the canoe but we loved it.“However, Pierre Capiez no longer offers long courses of 15 kilometers but only those of six kilometers. “Getting out of the canoe on a short course is nice. Over a long run, it’s exhausting and it becomes an ordeal.“To this decline in attractiveness is therefore added the decline in attendance.”And so we reduced the number of employees. Usually, we shoot at twenty-three but here we are painfully at five“, laments this manager.
– Yvan Plantey