french canals (but not canal du midi)

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looly

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Has anyone experience of taking their yacht with a 1.7m draft down the french canals. I've done the research (and bought the book thanks Michael /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif and it says the maximum depth is 1.8m, therefore it is possible. We would leave late spring / early summer, so hopefully the maximum depth could be achieved and we have long keeled 1.7m draft.
I don't mind any inconvenience - but what I am really after though, is someone who has taken their larger boat through.

Thanks in advance
Looly
 
We did it in September 2005, our draft is only 1.5m, however we were following a boat with a draft of 1.76m, they had no significant problems. Overnight stopping could not always be done alongside or on pontoons due to shallower depths at the sides, but the bottom is soft mud which acts as a good anchor/brake and is fine for spending the night on. The route was Le Havre to Paris, then through through the canals to the Lateral Loire and finally the Canal de Centre, alternatively go further NOrth along the "Champagne Route". We found the French Navicartes far better than the David Edward Maye book the Inland Canals of France, which just took up room on the chart table. I hope you have a pleasent trip
 
We too came through the canals but with a lifting keel draft was not an issue. Thoroughly recommend the Navicarte books. They're not that cheap but are well worth the money. Each one covers different sections of your route and you will need four or five depending on which way you go. What you get is an outstanding level of detail. The canal is plotted in it's entirety for you with all the info you'd expect. Buy as you go because you will often find people coming in the opposite direction who will swap your prvious book for theirs if you get
my drift.

There are a number of weblogs etc of peoples journeys through the canals and as a trip I can thoroughly recommend it. I had the lowest barometer reading I'd ever recorded and was absolutely crapping myself until I checked the GPS and found we were 1000' above sea level!! Unique feeling.

Whatever. Best of luck and enjoy.

ps French lockkeepers respond much more quickly and efficiently if you can talk to them in French!!!

Chas
 
We have been down from Amsterdam -belgium -the canal de l'est north and south legs -saone -rhone .in a bav 34 (depth 1.85 ) no real problems .stuck on river bottom once for ten minutes,before getting off .We switched the depth finder off on canal de l'est as it was going off continually,although i don't think we hit the bottom there, it would be difficult to tell as the bottom is semi liquid mud.
 
I took my long keel through with a draft of around 1.7 years ago with no real problems. Did run aground a few times but all those canals are soft mud so you will get off again ... The 'posted' depths sometimes refer to the cill in locks as well. If you really had a problem the lock keepers can 'raise' the water level in a section by calling the previous lock to raise it's level. You will have problems going into the bank sometimes to 'park' up for the night but if you just run your bows in and then fasten her with lines even with the stern sticking out a bit it will not be a problem... Once you are through the canals which is actually quite a short section of the trip the Rivers will present no depth problems at all.. The Canal du Midi is another ball park - blasted out of rock in places so the posted depth really is the limit!

Michael
 
Thanks very much for all your replies. I am pleased they are positive. We plan to do the same route as Dreamcatcher so I am delighted that this is possible in our yacht. Roll on next May /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
May's quite a good time to do it. In addition to the foregoing good advice, can I add a few pointers - a) that the usual pattern is that ecluses (locks) (the smaller ones) generally feature most depth immediately outside the 'down' gate (where the outgoing water scours the bottom), then a 'bar' of more minimal depth beyond that (where the scoured-out stuff loses velocity and drops to the bottom).
b) the 'inside' of bends is - usually - the shallowest bit, and (following on from that . . )
c) don't be fooled by how big and wide the Rhone (and Saone) is - there are some significant shallows in the wider upstream sections, on the inside sides of bends. Keep one eye on the Navicarte "chart" and where it indicates the channel is. And the other on the reality on the water.
 
Thanks Grehan

I will certainly take on board that advice - I think it is going to be an interesting trip - we certainly haven't chosen the ideal boat for the canals (deep keel, beamy) but it will serve us well when we hopefully cross the atlantic in a couple of years. I just think that the French inland waterways would be a fantastic start to our adventure.
Adventure 1 - Locks, possible grounding, large commercial ships being driven by French men - eek.
I've done one inland boating trip in the UK, but it was on the Norfolk Broads and there was no locks, or commercial traffic, oh yes and we were on a barge.....eeek.

Thanks again
Looly

It will be fun
 
We have just got to the paris arsenal and the trip up the sienne has been great. The only problem has been the large locks! We are 53ft and 25 tonnes so not a small craft but the tie off points are more for the large barges (who only tie off at the middle and sit nicely against the wall) it is difficult to get a bow and stern line on and so you move about abit hopefully we wont have this problem in smaller locks!
 
load of old bollards

This bollard spacing thing is certainly a factor in some larger locks. Faced with this situation we tried to choose the 'back' bollard and do a running moor, motoring against a spring taken back to the bollard. Doesn't always work, and after doing about 500 locks we learnt that the VNF advice to turn off the engine in locks is actually quite sound (you don't suck the churned-up boué into your water intake). Some locks have a central bollard as well as the two at either end. A central cleat is very useful here (every boat should have one), if you can then stop the craft pivoting to and fro on it (big fenders, fender boards, etc.).
In a run of locks there will quite often be unaccountable differences in bollard numbers, sides and spacings. So the other thing we learnt was to be quick about making a decision as to which bollard to use as soon as the lock gates opened to let us in. We tried to keep to mooring port-side-to (that was our basic boat set-up) - but that wasn't always possible and caused a bit of a flurry whilst we transferred some bits and pieces over.
Oh yes, and we also used the ladders to tie up to. We almost never used them to climb up on - far too slippery!
Good fun, eh?
 
we are now at sens for the winter. The lesson we have learnt to date is two fenders each side amidships with a good plank over the two works a treat slipping up and down the lock walls and good advice too about making a quick decission, the gates are closing long before you are safely tied off so go for the bollard or ladder and get the lines on!
 
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