French canals 2013

Andy and Lyn said:
Cardo,

is there plenty of space?? Probably stay for a couple of weeks and might leave for a few days after that to go to a family birthday in blighty and then back. Do you have a phone number for M Blanquart?
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There isn't loads of space here, but there is some. They'll either stick you on the visitors pontoon (there are currently two boats that have arrived, locked up and been left) or they'll give you one of the regular berths. Give them a call on +33 (0) 380 29 11 06.
It's a reasonably nice marina, with all the usual facilities.

If you're looking to have some work done, I would advise caution. They seem to be ok with straight forward jobs, but as soon as there's anything out of the norm it can all get very difficult and painful. After nearly two weeks, we're now ready to hit the road again. One problem fixed, another caused, but at least we're on our way.
 
We're on the move and on our run down to Lyon! Then onto the Med! Woot! We're not planning to hang around much, so we're hoping to arrive at St Louis mid next week, with the intention of having the mast put back up either thursday or friday.

I understand there are a couple of places to put the mast up at St Louis. Navy Service and Port Napoleon? It looks like Navy Service is easier to get to from the Rhone exit. Could anyone recommend where we should go? I understand the level of assistance is different at the two places. I probably don't need too much help to get the mast back on, but it would be useful to know what to expect. Also, any idea of costs?

I feel I should make one last comment about Blanquart! I know I've moaned a lot about them, and it was a frustrating couple of weeks with a lot of uncertainty, but they did get us going in the end. I was somewhat apprehensive about finding out what the bill was going to come to, as I wasn't really sure how much time they had spent working on our problem. However, I have to give it to them, the final bill was very reasonable. They only charged us for a week's worth of mooring due to the delays and didn't pad the number of hours spent fighting with the steering.
 
I've used Navy Service in the past. The key to success there is the girl in the office who speaks good english. My suggestion is to speak to her now, book a date and a time. Then when you arrive at Port St Louis (through the lock of the Rhone) plan to spend a night there. (nice marina/good staff and all facilities). Jump on your bike and go round to Navy Service and have a chat. (the key to a succesful outcome in France for most things). Then the next day arrive on the boat by the slipway and the "team" will arrive. They are professional and know what they are doing but will expect you to do all the "on-deck" work. Took me about an hour (ketch) and then in your own time go to the office and pay. Cost me 120 euros 3 years ago but probably best to confirm the cost when you make the initial call. Overall, good experience.
 
Relieved to hear Blanquart's are not quite as bad as could be . . . Like many yards their reputation is variable, but has always seemed on the positive side of the line.

I will be at the Gare d'Eau in a day or two's time and will be pleased to say Ahoy There to any souls present. :)
 
Andy and Lyn said:
I've used Navy Service in the past. The key to success there is the girl in the office who speaks good english. My suggestion is to speak to her now, book a date and a time. Then when you arrive at Port St Louis (through the lock of the Rhone) plan to spend a night there. (nice marina/good staff and all facilities). Jump on your bike and go round to Navy Service and have a chat. (the key to a succesful outcome in France for most things). Then the next day arrive on the boat by the slipway and the "team" will arrive. They are professional and know what they are doing but will expect you to do all the "on-deck" work. Took me about an hour (ketch) and then in your own time go to the office and pay. Cost me 120 euros 3 years ago but probably best to confirm the cost when you make the initial call. Overall, good experience.
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Thanks for the advice. I'll get in touch with Navy Service asap.

Grehan said:
Relieved to hear Blanquart's are not quite as bad as could be . . . Like many yards their reputation is variable, but has always seemed on the positive side of the line.

I will be at the Gare d'Eau in a day or two's time and will be pleased to say Ahoy There to any souls present. :)
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Ah, pity we missed you. We're well on our way south and are expecting to arrive in Lyon midday tomorrow. :)
 
An update to anyone coming to Epernay. At the moment spaces are very limited due to a LARGE peniche taking up most of the room, and what looks like two abandoned yachts. There are only three places viable at the moment. A phone call to make sure there is room is advisable.
 
Cardo said:
I had been meaning to update you re. Port St. Louis, Poissy. We stopped there for a night. The place is massively run down but very much in use. Water and electric are available (though electric requires the management to run various extension chords and splitters, the system isn't exactly a modern and "safe" installation!). Fuel is also available between 1000-1200 and 1400-1900 however we arrived at 2000 and after sending the prettier half to plead with the management they agreed to come out and top us up (when I say top us up, it was 180l at €1.59/l!). Berth for the night for our 10.5m was €13.

The place is actually very protected and with some investment could be an amazing stop before Paris.
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There is a plan to convert it into a commercial port as it is adjacent to a waste disposal plant for the W. Parisian region. We (the nearby residents) are up in arms against it. Another pleasant place to stop is at the chantier naval (rive gauche) at Triel, a few miles downstream. There are some small pontoons. Supermarkets at about 1km.
 
Grehan said:
Is it a hotel peniche? If so, which one?
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It is indeed a hotel peniche. Was there when we stopped for the night. I think it's permanently berthed there. Sadly, didn't catch the name.

Epernay is ok, but not that great. If anyone is looking to stop for a few days, I would recommend going a bit further on and stopping at Chalons. Mooring is half the price and the marina has better facilities.

We arrived in Lyon at midday today. The river is starting to get a bit of a flow so we're easily cruising along at 15kph, if not a bit more. Looking forward to seeing the speeds we get on the Rhone!
The marina here is reasonably pleasant. It's not particularly big, with I think 4 x16m berths, around 8 or so 12m berths and about the same of 8m berths. We arrived at midday and cheekily moored up in the last 16m berth, not realising it was meant for bigger boats. But then, our neighbour is about our length, so it's not just us! Lady in capitainerie didn't seem to mind. The marina is at one end of a small basin off the Saone. The other half is currently set aside for people playing about on kayaks and stuff. The basin is in the middle of a newly redeveloped spot of Lyon, with interesting new blocks of flats and restaurants on one side and a reasonably big shopping centre (mall) on the other. There's a bridge from one side to the other just by the marina, so a lot of people stop to admire the boats. Make sure you cover up! ;)
The marina does seem to still be under construction. The capitainerie is based in a portacabin and a big, fancy building is under construction just by the entrance to the basin. There is apparently WiFi, however I can't find the network. Not a problem, the shopping centre provides good, free WiFi with a strong signal throughout the marina.
There is fuel on a barge on the Saone just upstream of the entrance to the harbour. Nothing inside. No laundry facilities that we've been able to find.
Price? €13 up to 12m (€22 for anything over). Not too shabby!
 
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Grehan,
The hotel peniche is called Fomina, and everyone here seems a bit upset to say the least, however yesterday afternoon it was moved to the very end of the moorings, most of it is now in the shrubbery. The two other semi abandoned yachts which I'm told have been here for about 12 months, have been moved up a bit as well. There is now space for about four 10m boats alongside, and the possibility of rafting off the two long term yachts, so things have improved. At least we have WiFi which saves a trip to McDonalds, not that there is one here.

Cardo,
we are heading up to Sillery and Reims after this but had planned to stop at Chalons as well. Thanks as always for the info. :)
 
bhangmaster - that's good news. We have just got into Chalons and plan to come down to Epernay tomorrow for the night. Quite busy here but a pleasant stop - not expensive and fast internet connection thrown in. For anyone interested, the trip through the Champagne-Bourgogne was fairly uneventful though many of the pounds were infested with infernal weed that clogged the engine water intake and wrapped around the prop. The other big problems is the lack of anywhere to take on fuel: does anyone know of a canalside pump between here and Paris?
 
saskia said:
The other big problems is the lack of anywhere to take on fuel: does anyone know of a canalside pump between here and Paris?
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I don't recall any shoreside fuel between Paris and the Saone. It was all petrol forecourts and jerry cans during that stretch. Closest we got was Chateau Thierry where you can moor up about 50 yards from a petrol station.


Update from us. We stayed in Valence yesterday after a 112km stretch from Lyon. Locks are hit and miss for how long you end up waiting, it all depends on timing with other boats coming and going. On a couple of occasions as we approached the lock a commercial barge has just come into range going the other way so the lock has ended up cycling for them and we've had to wait for the barge to arrive at the lock and then cycle through (We generally keep an eye on them using the AIS). Longest we've had to wait to get into a lock so far has been an hour. We were chatting to some people last night and one of the guys had had to wait three hours due to a queue of commercial barges going the same way, so could be so much worse!
Valence is a pretty decent, large marina. All the usual facilities. Fun getting in due to the current, however it is well marked with green/red posts. They have fuel (self service, accepts foreign cards) at €1.40/l for gasoil. Stay for us (10 - 11m) was €19+tourist tax for the night. Big Casino supermarket nearby. However, beware of the local nutter! The Mrs went shopping this morning and on her return to the marina was approached by some lunatic who showed her his winky. She certainly wasn't expecting that!
Tonight we're in Viviers, which is just downstream of Chateauneuf lock, where the canal rejoins the Rhone. The marina is a little run-down looking with rather "special" finger pontoons, however they do seem to be in working order and have not broken away with the crazy winds we're having! €15 for the night with leccy and water. The town itself is an old medieval style town on the side of a mountain. Well worth a tour, it's very nice with excellent views from the cathedral at the top!

Off to Avignon tomorrow! Sadly, the wind looks like it's here to stay until the weekend. Joy!
 
Nearly forgot! Our charts and guide book have the VHF channels for most of the locks wrong. I don't know if they've changed in the last few years, but here's an up to date VHF list for the locks we've done so far, taken from the signs by the locks:
Pierre-Benite - 19
Vaugris - 22
Sablons - 20
Gervans - 19
Bourg-les-Valence - 22
Beauchastel - 20
Logis-Neuf - 19
Chateauneuf - 22

Looks like the old alternating 20 and 22 system is gone and it now cycles 19, 22, 20.

Another tip about the big Rhone locks - They all have floating bollards, however they are waaaaay too far apart to rig up bow and stern lines, so don't even bother trying. Go with a centre cleat line. (I understand at least one has a floating pontoon, obviously do the usual there!)
 
Today's update!

I can confirm that the lock VHF channels follow the 19, 22, 20 pattern as you go downstream.

We've made our way to Avignon today, as prettier half insisted she wanted to visit. Shedloads of wind today, making waiting for locks quite tricky. There are waiting pontoons, but getting to some was pretty dicey, so stemming the current further out seemed like a better solution most of the time.

Avignon is an interesting one. You have to go through the Avignon lock, then downstream until you rejoin the Rhone, then turn around and slog up the 3 to 4 knots of tide coming down the Rhone, past the half-bridge and then moor up against the wall. Apparently, the marina pontoons were washed away some years ago, however the wall is pretty decent, with well spaced bollards and rings. There is shorepower and funny looking water taps. As soon as we moored up a man came along asking us to pop up the capitainerie, so it looks like payment is due! Turns out it's €18 for 9m to 12m, I believe. Includes leccy.

One more thing about Viviers - The finger pontoon held fine, even if the water was a bit noisy overnight. However, at around 11pm we had the local youths come up our finger pontoon and started peering into the boat. I don't know what they were up to, but we were still up so I noisily opened the hatch and went out into the cockpit. All but one of the lads had wandered off. I asked him what he was up to and he said he liked the boat and he was having a look. He then said aurevoir and wandered off. They may have just been looking, or they may have been trying to pinch something (bit silly if they were, as the lights were on!), but they don't seem to have taken anything.
 
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Glad your Rhone trip's going well - it is great if it goes smoothly. Avignon is OK - we got stuck there in a Mistral for three days a few years back, but enjoyed it. Anyway, we arrived in Epernay yesterday just as a fuel truck was delivering diesel to someone else, so were able to fill up, which was a relief. Apparently there is a pump in the port at Nogent, just short of Paris, so we will be able to top up there. In Chateau-Thierrey now, on the wall just below the bridge. Current on the Marne quite brisk, but not a problem: saves fuel too, I guess. Still not much traffic, though quite a few of those that are moving have red ensigns - and a couple of blue who seemed reluctant to wave to us!
 
We have arrived in the Med! Yay!
Though our arrival was rather disastrous! Whilst waiting for the Rhone -> St Louis lock, we popped into the Capitainerie, who happily assigned us a berth for a few days. Finger berth at the end of the pontoon, north facing. Seemed fine, a nice, easy reverse in. Time came and we were the only ones through the lock. Rather lonely! Onwards to our berth... Sadly, our initial berthing attempts at berthing were complete disasters! First one, a stray gust appeared just as we were entering the berth and pushed us onto our neighbour, leaving us too far away from the finger pontoon. Should've just got off via our neighbour, but I thought I'd motor out and give it another go. Stray winds caused the next few approaches to be aborted, until I thought we were pretty much there. As we entered the berth, a strong gust pushed us sideways, our bow thruster overheated and gave out and we ended up across the bow of our neighbour. No damage to them, luckily, as we fended off, but their bow roller caught one of our stanchions, ripping out one of the screws on the base. :(
We managed to get away and circled around the basin for a few minutes whilst the bow thruster cooled down. After cooling off (us and the bow thruster!), gave it another shot and we got in just fine.
Careful with those gusts, they're nasty!

Back to the more relevant stuff!
The Rhone wasn't too shabby. The mistral winds have caused a bit of grief when approaching locks, but nothing catastrophic. The penultimate lock has a note on the chart stating the entrance is tricky with strong northerlies. I was a bit apprehensive as I approached, but it turned out to be no more difficult than the others.

Moorings wise, Arles claims to have a halte fluvial, however all it seems to be is one relatively small pontoon, which when we passed was covered in small fishing boats, leaving no space for anyone to moor up. Couldn't see any other places to stop around there.

The final lock only opens at set times throughout the day, so unless you're really lucky, you have to moor up on the wall at the entrance to wait. The wall, sadly, is covered in boats that don't look like they've moved in donkey's. We ended up rafting up to the biggest boat there (31 footer). None of the boats showed any signs of life, so just pick one that looks nice to raft up to whilst you wait!

I'm afraid this'll be the last update from us, seeing as we're no longer in the canals! All the best to the rest of you, enjoy the views and be safe!
 
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