Down French canals:- le Have to the Med, starting April

+1 Grehan's site tells nearly all you need to know.
We are doing a similar trip at around that time but turning left at Strasbourg, to go across to the Danube. The pilot books are a little out of date for the Danube but I have been spending useful and enjoyable computer time looking at the route on Google Earth. It is not the same as the actual [ we did a round trip in France 4 years ago] but it does while away the evenings. Fuel was not a problem, if you can manage to wheel the cans too and fro from the supermarket/ filling station.
Andy and Lyn said:
Can't beat the "Grehan" website in my opinion been up/down the canals from the Channel to the Med 4 times now using various routes and its all there for me!
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Just looked at the Grehan website, but for me it is a little short in information.
E.g. here is the entry for just one of the 4 moorings in or near Reims.
Compare it with the Greham website.
Waterway: Aisne à la Marne, Canal de l'
Name: Reims - Vieux port
Rating: rating 2 star
Position: 049°14.95N , 004°01.50E
Reference: PK 23.5
Location: (1) RB at downstream end Vieux Port between bridge C de Gaulle and the small craft pontoon
(2) RB at upstream end between small craft pontoon and bridge Pont de Venise
Category: Mooring
Mooring: (1) ?20m concrete quay with close bollards perpendicular to bank. Capitaine Eric Gordons 06 63 71 48 70 or 03 26 88 55 36
(2) low quay with peniche spaced bollards - shoals badly towards upstream end and mostly occupied by bateaux logements - rafting possible - they are supposed not to refuse as part of their contract
Essentials Electricity, Water, Rubbish disposal
Facilities: Electricity & water at (1) only. Perhaps from peniches at (2) by arrangement.
Costs: (1) Expensive (€28 >18m 07/08); (2) None
Amenities: All amenities in lovely city adjacent. Small bricolage close to centre ville. See LeClerc and Aldi moorings above for supermarkets.
Contributors: Dankbaarheid 20x1.1 5/01; Hosanna 27 11/01; Mooi Aak 24x1.2 8/03; Osprey 17x1.1 5/03; the River 21x0.9 7/08; l'Esprit de Normandie 13.5x0.8 6/08; Mooi Aak 24x1 8/09; Penelope's Ark 14x4 6/12. KEI 22x1.1 6/13.
Remarks: Not very good for berthage but great city makes up for it. The Capitainerie (03 26885536) was very helpful with sorting our rafting and mooring and can possibly arrange for delivery of fuel.
Excursion to old 1950s motor racing circuit of Reims - Gueux - pits and grandstands being repainted.
Cathedral Son et Lumiere throughout summer months when dark - 2300 in June/July to 2130 in Sept.
Last Update: 06-07-2013 - Guide Index: 1234 - Version: 3
The guides are compiled from members contributions which have been shared with the DBA for the sole use of its members. Copyright rests with the DBA and must be respected. Copyright © 2013 DBA - The Barge Association
 
It's not a competition!

The DBA is an excellent organisation, I personally know a few of the 'big beasts' and I have recommended joining it to many.
I also have a link to the DBA website on mine and vice versa.
My website information is free to use, the DBA's isn't (you have to join) and is particularly aimed at 15m+ boats.

Quite why you're stirring up a little confrontation here, or what you're trying to prove, is beyond me.
You may be breaching DBA copyright by posting the details you did!
 
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Grehan.
"Confrontation"? "Trying to prove"?
Why are you so defensive?
You are right that it is not a competition but it is about choice and I am responding to more than one posting supporting your website with a different perspective, which I am amply qualified to state.
I have travelled north to south in the french waterways and have, over the past 4 years spent 6 months of each summer in the waterways on an 18 metre barge.
If I was going to do it all again from scratch, I would want to have as much information as possible about the waterways, moorings and local services.
Your website gives a certain amount of information, but the DBA waterways Guide IMHO gives a lot more about moorings. It's all horses for courses and forum members should be able to choose freely which information source meets their needs, not have any differing views put down as confrontational.
For instance, the Reimes mooring is only one of 4 listed in the guide. The other three are free and one of the free mooring is considered much better than the paying one.
And yes, the DBA is not free, but at £35 per annum I find it more than pays for itself in the money saved, it also lists many of the available winter moorings in Europe and the subscription includes the quarterly magazine.
Plus, it is not just for barges. Very many of our 1100 boat owners run smaller cruisers and are just as welcome as the bigger boaties.
As to my breaching copyright, I can only reply...desole.
 
I read your post with interest. I have been on the canals in other peoples boats and through once in my own but that was a Prout Elite catamaran and was a bit tight! At 71 and recently remarried to a lady who loves being on boats but not blue water sailing as such, I have recently sold the cat and bought (guess what!) an Aquastar Oceanranger 33 with the intention of doing exactly the same as you. Unfortunately we currently have "Appela" out of the water for an extensive refit to prepare for a leisurely trip down the canals which will probably not be until we have proven everything locally so possibly not until 2015.
I would however like to share some thoughts with you.
Soo also gets bitten easily and with the boat being a bit of a "greenhouse" we have considered full aircon essential. Danger is always warm afternoons/ evenings when the mossies come out to play with a vengeance and without aircon you will either overheat or have to open up to get ventilation. Aircon also means a generator of course and because we will probably go on to Greece we are also fitting a watermaker....
Ours is conventional twin Volvos so much of the time we will probably run on one engine unless we need two for negotiating locks in a sidewind but having a bowthruster as well it should be easy peasy compared to a catamaran with one engine! One thing to be aware of is that big turbo engines don't like running slow for long so we are expecting to need a good blast in the med to restore them to good health.
Would be very interested to keep in touch though as we Aquastar enthusiasts should stick together! Might even meet up in 2015......

P.S. Port St Louis is fine but look at Port Napoleon and others in the same vacinity
 
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Hi BoatMike we have the same ideas

boatmike said:
I read your post with interest. I have been on the canals in other peoples boats and through once in my own but that was a Prout Elite catamaran and was a bit tight! At 71 and recently remarried to a lady who loves being on boats but not blue water sailing as such, I have recently sold the cat and bought (guess what!) an Aquastar Oceanranger 33 with the intention of doing exactly the same as you. Unfortunately we currently have "Appela" out of the water for an extensive refit to prepare for a leisurely trip down the canals which will probably not be until we have proven everything locally so possibly not until 2015.
I would however like to share some thoughts with you.
Soo also gets bitten easily and with the boat being a bit of a "greenhouse" we have considered full aircon essential. Danger is always warm afternoons/ evenings when the mossies come out to play with a vengeance and without aircon you will either overheat or have to open up to get ventilation. Aircon also means a generator of course and because we will probably go on to Greece we are also fitting a watermaker....
Ours is conventional twin Volvos so much of the time we will probably run on one engine unless we need two for negotiating locks in a sidewind but having a bowthruster as well it should be easy peasy compared to a catamaran with one engine! One thing to be aware of is that big turbo engines don't like running slow for long so we are expecting to need a good blast in the med to restore them to good health.
Would be very interested to keep in touch though as we Aquastar enthusiasts should stick together! Might even meet up in 2015......

P.S. Port St Louis is fine but look at Port Napoleon and others in the same vacinity
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Hi Mike
Sound like we have very similar ideas.
This winter MoonSpirit is getting :-
Lowered Radar mast to cope with lowest bridges, Done
Bigger 80 ltr fridge, Done
Combi Microwave, Done

Central heating, Wabesto ThermoTop with radiators, started
AirConditioning (Dometic 10,000 BTU), started
Electric WC, started
All started, but then my plumber after scratching his head a lot, has gone absent (hopefully just for Xmas?)

Solar panels, not yet started
SnapDavits, not yet started

If you would like more details of how where we have fitted things, please let me know I could maybe send you a P.M.?

Best Regards
Paul
 
Slow_boat said:
One question; is there a problem with mosquitoes, gnats etc on the canals?

I ask because swmbo has a dramatic and dangerous reaction the insect bites.
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Mosquitoes are the size of wasps around Port St Louis!
I did a circular trip in 95 after redundancy see: http://www.kahawi.co.uk/Baker/
I enjoyed it so much that I did it again in 98.
To collect fuel, a bike with a trolley to hold a 5 gal drum is essential, a modified golf trolley works well.
 
pcatterall said:
We found Port saint Louis in September to be OK mossy wise but suffered in the Canal Sete-Rhone.
My wife also has a very bad reaction so we ( now) take all precautions.
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I live about half way along the Sete-Rhone canal - not actually on the canal but close to it.
The mossy problem varies enourmously from one year to the next. Some years we hardly see one, but other years it is almost impossible to eat outside on the terasse. One of my family is also extremely sensitive.
 
We did something similar in our Fisher 34 Wight Mistress from 2011 - 2013. Don't be at all surprised if you end up over-wintering somewhere and going around again for a while. It is amazing. My advice is not to bother with the Seine to Rouen - everyone does that. We challenged the Baie of the Somme (an interesting pilotage) and got all the way into St Valery. Sadly the Canal de la Somme was too shallow due to silting, so we pressed on right up to Calais where 'Fred' in the chandlery was most helpful with our masts. There is so much to see in northern France that to go straight to Paris cuts off some good stuff. By going in through Calais or Dunkirk (Franck Marrelec very helpful there) you get to see the Grand Gabarit, Ascenseur des Fontinettes (13 meter lock) and either the Canal du Nord/Oise/Seine to Paris, taking in Chantilly and other lovely spots, or the St Quentin route, with an interesting towage tunnel. Going under the bridges of Paris was wonderful and we spent two periods berthed in the Paris Arsenal Marina (right by the Bastille).

The Marne, Canal Lateral a La Marne and the Canal Entre Champagne et Bourgogne (Marne to Saone) are wonderful too. About 35 km down the Saone is Port Royal, an H2O marina run by Roy and Carole Sycamore. We wintered there twice. Our initial plan was to head straight to the Med but we enjoyed it so much that .......... have a look at www.wightmistress.com if you like - it will give you the story in pics and anecdotes.

Not sure of our plans just yet ( son getting married, 6th grandchild just arrived etc,) but we could well end up back in the waterways.
Steve and Barbara White
Wight Mistress (Fisher 34)
www.wightmistress.com
 
We did the same trip, Marne, Canal Lateral a La Marne and the Canal entre Champagne et Bourgogne (Marne to Saone) last year and are overwintering in Auxonne, Port Royal, with Roy and Carole still in charge. We came in through Le Havre and after dismasting in Rouen made for Paris. Not too many great places to stop on the way but Vernonette is well worth a visit. We will be making our way back the same way starting at the beginning of April, weather permitting. Decided to change boats for something more suitable for spending longer on the canals.
 
bhangmaster said:
We did the same trip, Marne, Canal Lateral a La Marne and the Canal entre Champagne et Bourgogne (Marne to Saone) last year and are overwintering in Auxonne, Port Royal, with Roy and Carole still in charge. We came in through Le Havre and after dismasting in Rouen made for Paris. Not too many great places to stop on the way but Vernonette is well worth a visit. We will be making our way back the same way starting at the beginning of April, weather permitting. Decided to change boats for something more suitable for spending longer on the canals.
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Glad you are in Auxonne. Do go and visit le Longchamp - a bar on the main drag. Phillippe and Francoise run it and they are very nice people. Please do remember Steve and Barbara from Wight Mistress, and Robert and Judith from 'Billow' when you do. Roy and Carole are really lovely people. Just be aware that the H2O office at St Jean de Losne would have trouble organising a drinks party in a brewery. Make very sure you take an accurate reading of your electricity at start and finish, agree the readings with Roy and keep a record, and when you pay the St J folks, make sure they agree as well. We are still receiving invoices and emails about the electricity bill we paid in full back in April last year. All that said, we will definitely be coming back to Auxonne again.
the Champagne et Bourgogne is our favourite canal, done it 3 times (2 x NS and one SN on the way home). We did a big loop around the Canal du Centre, a bit of the Canal de Digoin a Roanne, Canal Lateral a la Loire/Briare/Loing/Seine/Marne and back in 2012. www.wightmistress.com shows the story if you fancy a butchers
Regards
Steve and Barbara White, SV Wight Mistress (currently in Island Harbour, Isle of Wight)
 
Thanks for the heads up. I took an electrical reading when we started and take regular readings. In spite of the fact that H2O know we are wintering here they insist on sending bills to England. Not very helpful. Next time we are in Le Langchamp we will certainly remember you to Phillipe and Francois. We are usually in ther a couple of times a week. Just found out that the canal entre Champagne et Bourgogne will be closed during April so will probably return via canal de Bourgogne. Thanks for the link to your site, will certainly take a look
 
Grehan is a most helpful person and this is the first time I have read of anybody criticising him,which is completely unwarranted.
As regards the mosquito's,all the OP's advice is good.
One tactic that works for us is a tent made from netting which we rig enclosing all the cockpit for evenings.A camping store should have this article,about the size of a tent bedroom.
We met some badly bitten folk in St.Raphael area,whose modern charter vessel had vast opening out ports in the cabin trunk.
We sent them off to a drapery store to buy enough netting to cover the entire outside,then weighted down with warps to secure!
 
paulclan said:
Grehan is a most helpful person and this is the first time I have read of anybody criticising him,which is completely unwarranted.
As regards the mosquito's,all the OP's advice is good.
One tactic that works for us is a tent made from netting which we rig enclosing all the cockpit for evenings.A camping store should have this article,about the size of a tent bedroom.
We met some badly bitten folk in St.Raphael area,whose modern charter vessel had vast opening out ports in the cabin trunk.
We sent them off to a drapery store to buy enough netting to cover the entire outside,then weighted down with warps to secure!
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Agree with the unwarranted criticism of Grehan. I have always found him most helpful:hororr:
 
bhangmaster said:
Thanks for the heads up. I took an electrical reading when we started and take regular readings. In spite of the fact that H2O know we are wintering here they insist on sending bills to England. Not very helpful. Next time we are in Le Langchamp we will certainly remember you to Phillipe and Francois. We are usually in ther a couple of times a week. Just found out that the canal entre Champagne et Bourgogne will be closed during April so will probably return via canal de Bourgogne. Thanks for the link to your site, will certainly take a look
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If you haven't done it yet, the Canal du Centre/Lateral a la Loire/Briare/Loing is a really lovely trip. We haven't done the Bourgogne yet....
 
Canal de Bourgogne

The northernmost C. de Bourgogne section is reckoned by those in that neck of the woods (i.e on the Nivernais!) not to be too great. I haven't travelled by boat it myself, but I have visited it and it basically just looks quiet and pastoral. Then it gets interesting with lots of bends and lots of (manual) locks. The Pouilly Tunnel (max. ht 3.1m) may feature an aggressive trip boat that attempts to blast through fast and who tailgates nastily if you're caught in front of him. Then the very delightful Ouche Valley before Dijon. Thereafter a dead straight section to Saint-Jean-de-Losne.

One of the waterways not (yet) on the french-waterways website, malheureusement. ;)
 
Grehan said:
The northernmost C. de Bourgogne section is reckoned by those in that neck of the woods (i.e on the Nivernais!) not to be too great. I haven't travelled by boat it myself, but I have visited it and it basically just looks quiet and pastoral. Then it gets interesting with lots of bends and lots of (manual) locks. The Pouilly Tunnel (max. ht 3.1m) may feature an aggressive trip boat that attempts to blast through fast and who tailgates nastily if you're caught in front of him. Then the very delightful Ouche Valley before Dijon. Thereafter a dead straight section to Saint-Jean-de-Losne.

One of the waterways not (yet) on the french-waterways website, malheureusement. ;)
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It's got lots of locks & stretches where moorings are hard to find. Top of my [bald] head is about 3.4 metres above water & wheel not central, so suspect 3.1 metres for tunnel is for a certain width [5 metres?] across the arch.

Happy boating,

John G
 
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