canal du midi

[dina]

Can anyone confirm the draft in the canal du midi? Previous postings indicate 1.5m. We draw 1.88m so if the 1.5m is correct then it is clearly out of the question. We are just trying to avoid beating up the coast of Portugal on our way back to Falmouth from the Med next summer. Any ideas?

 

[Guest]

Have not been through there for a few years but 1.88m draft is pushing it on most French canals except the big ones. There is no commercial traffic on the Midi anymore to scour it out and the principal traffic is speeding hire boats pulling the banks down. I suspect it is pretty shallow in parts now. Don't forget also that there are some very low bridges: about 2.9 metres.

You could consider coming right up through France: Rhone/Saone?Lateral a la Loire, Briare etc. through to the Seine. The waterways mentioned are either big or if small still carry commercial traffic so the depth should be OK for you.

 

[willtaylor]

I have a pull out published by one of the yachting magazines that indicates the Canal du Midi has a depth of 1.4 metres. Even were that over cautious there is no possibility that you could get 1.88 metres up there. A pity, but there it is.

 

[charles_reed]

Latest info is 1.4m (in summer it may be less) with one bridge of 3.36m air-draft.

Canal du Midi is not for serious segong boats and the depth is reducing due mainly to lack of peniches keeping it clear.

Suggest you invest in a solent jib and go back via Canarias to avoid the Portuguese Trades which started this year first week June OR go in April.

 

[Twister_Ken]

Looking at the problem from another angle, if sailing back why are you planning to beat up the Portugese coast? It's the shortest route seen as straight lines on the chart, but is also slow and uncomfortable and tacking will add on miles as will the south going current. It's also a shipping highway and fisherman country, and has a poor reputation for vis.

If you poke west into the Atlantic for couple of days before swinging northwest and eventually north you'll sail further, but given any luck with the weather, faster and more comfortably. Pick up the westerlies (sw, w, and nw) around the bottom of a couple of Scotland-bound depressions you could break records.