Paul Bonnel, the protector of historic boats

Paul Bonnel embodies a living memory of shipbuilding. For 35 years, he shaped the hulls at the GUIP shipyard on Île-aux-Moines, contributing to the revival of traditional boats. Today, he puts his expertise as a shipwright to work on a unique mission: protecting vessels listed or classified as "historical monuments".

 

For the past four years, commissioned by the Ministry of Culture, he has been the sole expert tasked with evaluating vessels applying for national maritime heritage status, from the English Channel to the Atlantic coast. This 26-minute documentary paints an intimate portrait of a passionate man whose gaze and gestures tell the story of a life dedicated to wood and the sea. Exploring his work takes us behind the scenes of the heritage designation process, exceptionally opening the doors of the regional heritage and architecture commission—a rare opportunity to understand, from the inside, how the future of these vessels, now witnesses to our maritime and river history, is decided.