En-route for the Med

[IanJackson]

We are planning to take our 36 foot Beneteau to the Med via the french canals in Oct 2008. Starting to plan now. can anyone help with some basic questions like: when is the best time of year to go?, how long is it likely to take? how does one find out more information? can you recommend any good books on the topic? Thanks.

 

[PIGLETSDREAM]

Try with this forum member

http://www.michaelbriant.com /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[farquart]

Hi My girlfriend and I did Midi on they way down and rhone Soane and Seine on the way back. Best time to go is early spring when there is more water in the cannal and the weather will be getting warmer the further south you go. I think 2- 3 months is a good time as there is so many places to stop. We were in a rush and did the Midi in 4 weeks. we would have liked longer but we only had 2 years out.

this me on they way home, one of my favourites.
You will need to buy the Navicarte for the trip. We were lucky on the way down we met a couple who had just come through the midi and gave us their copy. On the way back we traded charts of Italy and Corsica with a couple who had just arrived at Port St Louis. But we were realy broke so we trade charts and books all the time. Best piece of advice for the cannals

1 fold up bikes
2 Fold up trolley to cary fuel cans (its cheaper at the supermarket and you can not always fill up everywhere)
3 long wooden plank to get off the boat
4 2 large metal spikes to hammer into the ground for mooring at night
5 Mosquito nets
6 hide all valuables and make sure the boat is secure when you go off
7 nice big rechargable torch for when you go off to the cafe drink to much pastis and have to find the boat .
hope this helps

 

[Appleyard]

Brilliant pic!!!

 

[Sea Devil]

[ QUOTE ]
We are planning to take our 36 foot Beneteau to the Med via the french canals in Oct 2008. Starting to plan now. can anyone help with some basic questions like: when is the best time of year to go?, how long is it likely to take? how does one find out more information? can you recommend any good books on the topic? Thanks.

[/ QUOTE ]i

That's a great pic posted above - just how it should be,
best time of year... Except the canal du midi which gets short of water in mid summer any time. Winter floods make it harder and cold but for the most part doable.. for maximum pleasure probably May to September.

From Le Havre to Sete in the Med the minimum is around 2 weeks - no rest doing long days every day.. a nicer way to do it is maybe 2 months.. some people actually never leave the rivers and canals....

There are lots of books about it - mine was published in 2006 so is up to date - more info on the web site...

As posted above you will also need Navicartes. Not cheap but the prices have recently been reduced and new editions are coming out March/April this year,, could be worth waiting for - particularly Saone and Rhone. the new Seine to the Saone are already out and available - on my web site and other suppliers. Just make sure they are the new editions...

It is one of the nicest things to do in all the world = next best is the ICW.. must do a book about that but Skipper Bob has it pretty well covered,,,,,,,,,

 

[dbom]

Hi Ian,

The Girlfriend and I came through the canals last year aboard our Hunter 36, setting off mid June and Arrived at Med waters at Port St Louis early August. I'd be glad to offer any advice / info that i can as our boats are very similar. We did what i belive is the classis route, Le Havre - Seine - Canals - Saone - Rhone - Port Napoleon. We were complete beginners to boats / yachts - the whole thing as of 1 year ago pretty much to do the day. (The deal was completed 05th Jan 2006)So, as you can imagine we crammed as much research in as we could in a short space of time, so its still reasonably fresh despite the many bottles of wine!! If you wished to drop me an email, please do: davy@pipland.fsnet.co.uk . Regards, Dave.

 

[alandee]

Hi. We did the trip last year. We actually had our mast taken down at the same time as dbom on the above post and completed it six weeks later meeting up again with dbom for the final leg. We spent 30 days travelling in total. We wished that we had spent longer going through France and would at some time like to go back. Our boat is a Beneteau Oceanis 36CC and you can see some of our trip on www.yachtlife.co.uk Should you want to discuss please feel free to contact us on alandee@yachtlife.co.uk I have a list of charts and books that you should not be without and also a couple which are not worth bothering with due to poor or out of date information. Enjoy the planning and enjoy your trip!

 

[jonic]

We did it too, see Here and click on the French Canals

Hi Alandee, just had a browse of your site /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[CodStewart]

Brilliant pic!
Very inspiring!

 

[chrisc]

I dont realy think you need to plan that far ahead,just get on the boat and do it.

 

[CodStewart]

Yeah! Do it! Do it!

 

[prescott56]

Anyone know the depth of the canal du Midi. I read it was only 1.2 m but some VNF docs say this is being dredged to 1.5.
Am considering going thro this May/June but am worried about depth. I have a 1980's Moody 36.

Regards

 

[Sea Devil]

Bambola was a similar age Moody 36 and there was no way I would have taken her through the Canal du Midi... The canal in parts is not so much dredged but dug out of rock! If you go aground it will hard to get off...

The normal canal routes via the Rhone and Saone to the English channel have more than enough water for a moody 36... The guys that purchased mine had an excellent trip with her from Le Havre to Marsielle I understand.

The time taken is actually quite similar if you are in a rush. Hard to do the Canal du Midi in less than 10 days then 1 day down the estuary to Royan then about a week - direct - non stop to the south coast UK - lot more if you stop off on the way.

You can do the main canal routes in around 2 weeks which gets you to Le Havre and the 36 hour across the channel...

 

[chamac]

Did it South to North in summer 2006 in an Oceanis 400. Draft 1.7. Mast down in Port Napoleon and up in Rouen. Went Rhone, Saone, canals du centre, lateral a la Loire and Briare and Seine.
Pics here
http://picasaweb.google.com/chaminoe
Gimme a Pm if you think I can help.

 

[vyv_cox]

We draw 1.4 metres and did the Canaux Lateral, Midi and Robine in May 2005. We touched bottom many times but never seriously, except once inside a lock. On this occasion we were right at the back of the lock and dried hard when the lock emptied. The lock-keeper partly refilled the lock and we floated off.

The young lady in the canal office in Toulouse assured us that the controlled depth was 1.5 metres. However, later in the year the level was definitely less than that and boats drawing 1.4 metres were unable to get through. The answer seems to be to do it early in the season, when there is enough water and the scenery and temperature are perhaps at their best.

 

[Grehan]

Midi - pretty draft

Keel up we draw less than 1m. We keep the keel up all the time, travelling inland.
When we explored the Midi in June 2004 we got to Carcassonne where there's a VNF office by the harbour and I went in and asked the same draft question. The gal repeated the official line about depth (sorry, I forget what it is - 1.5m?) I asked because our depth sounder was consistently indicating less than that - 1.2m, 1.1m etc. In mid-channel.
During the day's journey to Montgiscard, approaching Toulouse, I really felt that Grehan was pushing her way through the bottom the whole day. Got quite concerned. Following day was OK, and thereafter things improved greatly on the Lateral a la Garonne.
There is/was a very shallow spot between Agde and Bezier, near where that river overflow crossover thingy is.
Of course, this was in 2004 and things may have changed. It was, however, not that late in the season and there should still have been a fair reserve of water in the system. It is also quite possible that the Midi, with its avenues of plane trees, has a significant depth of leaf mould at the bottom, above the actual canal bed.
The whole Canal entre Deux Mers (Rhone a Sete, Midi, Lateral) is a great experience, not to be missed (we do recommend that July-August is missed - far too many half-wits 'on vacances' crashing around). But I would counsel caution so far as depths on the Midi are concerned.

 

[vyv_cox]

Re: Midi - pretty draft

We also sometimes had the feeling we were ploughing a furrow. After a while I realised that it was actually submerged branches around the keel. Several times we reversed strongly, freeing the branch which we occasionally saw. This always cleared the 'dragging feeling'.