Canal du Midi in winter

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christhefish

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Has anyone been through the Canal Du Midi during the winter before ,I am concerned about clearance under bridges as we are probally getting close to 3m with the mast on board and don't want to ship it by road as we don't know where we are heading , The boat is a Colvic Watson 34 motor sailer. The other reason for not shipping the mast is thee could be lock closures for repairs.
 
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Effectively closes down in the winter - but you would never get through anyway as maximum draft is a dodgy 1.4m and air draft less than 3m.
 
In most winters they close sections for maintenance. Photo shows Bezier locks, December 2010
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I suspect that the clearance heights given in the various pilots includes a bit of an allowance. Before we went through Narbonne, where the lowest of all is situated, I measured very carefully and removed my antenna mounting from above the radar scanner, as measurements showed it to be just too high. That should have given us a clearance of about 5 cm. In the event I doubt if we had less than 30 cm between us and the bridge, maybe more.
But the depth is an issue. Even in winter it is doubtful nowadays that much more than 1.4 metres exists.
 
Hi
I can confirm you probably wont get through. A French friend of mine did it last year in a boat with a lifting keel. It has silted up a lot last few years . There is lots of junk in it too , very easy to meet a washing machine when you dont want to. Budget cuts etc etc have led to it not being properly dredged and maintained.
 
FWIW we transited the canal last May in a 33' fin keel boat drawing 1.45m. We touched bottom quite often but never got stuck. However, you need to be prepared to improvise!
 
Arcady said:
FWIW we transited the canal last May in a 33' fin keel boat drawing 1.45m. We touched bottom quite often but never got stuck. However, you need to be prepared to improvise!
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We did it in May 2005 drawing 1.4 metres. Touched bottom several times and twice had to get lock keepers to let a bit more water down to float us off. At the end of that season the late Colin Jones was unable to get back to his berth in Castelnaudary and had to take the boat by road. His boat drew 1.3 metres.
 
vyv_cox said:
We did it in May 2005 drawing 1.4 metres. Touched bottom several times and twice had to get lock keepers to let a bit more water down to float us off. At the end of that season the late Colin Jones was unable to get back to his berth in Castelnaudary and had to take the boat by road. His boat drew 1.3 metres.
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Thanks for all the replies might have to go the long way round !!!!!!!!!
 
1.8m? I'm not sure the OP has specified his draft, but my quick Googling suggested a Colvic Watson 34 had a draft of approx 1.4m. The original post was more concerned with air draft.
 
Arcady said:
1.8m? I'm not sure the OP has specified his draft, but my quick Googling suggested a Colvic Watson 34 had a draft of approx 1.4m. The original post was more concerned with air draft.
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The spec I looked at before posting said 1.8m - but guess like many old specs it may not be definitive, particularly as many were home completed or effectively one offs. Would be very surprised if it is as little as 1.4, which is still marginal in the Canal du Midi, but OK for the rest of the main north south system.
 
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jeanpaulcopie said:
Why not think about the Burgundy Canal? I don't know much about it, but takes you to the Med!
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Took a boat back in 2007 draft 1.6 , late October , we touch loads of time in the end we came to a total stop and made to go back to take a different route , keep in mind this was October when there less water in the canel , prob better earlier in the year , lots of steps to climb . We also had problem with pine needles block Water intake . 1.4 draft is possible ,
 
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sailaboutvic said:
We also had problem with pine needles block Water intake . 1.4 draft is possible ,
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In the Midi in April it was dead leaves on the bottom that caused our biggest problems. The boat would run aground frequently, requiring lots of throttle in astern to get off. Result - loads of dead leaves in the water, maximum suction on the pump, leaves in the inlet. At other times just the general low depth while motoring along, keel dredging the bottom, did the same thing. At the time I had an old type strainer attached to the ball valve. I was able to rod right through with one of my most useful tools - a brazing rod. Fortunately we do not have an external strainer, which would have caused serious problems. I reckon I did this about 30 times in the length of the canal. You very soon learn to recognise the change in the sound of the exhaust with no water coming through.
 
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