French canals Calais to the Mediterranean

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prento1

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Hi all I am looking at cruising in my trader 41 from Calais to the Mediterranean next year and are wondering what are the best routes to take,the boat is 1.2 below water draft and 3.7 above air draft with the possibility of removing the flyscreen to the so called magical 3.5.can anyone help?
 
You mention the flyscreen but not the radar arch - is it hinged?
We (Princess435) decided to go round the outside for a number of reasons, marginal airdraft being just one. As it turned out, the trip via Biscay was a fantastic retirement trip.
 
Hi yes the radar gantry is hinged but I just wondered how stricked this 3.50mtr air draft is at bridges or tunnels.
 
There are several books which deal with the infinate number of permutations regards getting to the MED from/to the channel coast
Inland Waterways of France by IMRAY.ibsn 978-1846230141 covers most of what you need to know.
Details of both air and water drafts on the various routes .Many comments regards silting on smaller canals.
My copy gives the impression that it was compiled a few years ago but with updates, feel sure the basics are still valid.
Two of our club members have done this journey, one, a Turbo 36, came back home by truck !
Turbo 36 skipper encountered problems requiring major diversions due to flooding. (this was actually Mid Summer).
His marginal airdraft vanished, meant waiting a few days for levels to go down or backtracking and going a different way.
 
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I looked At doing it about 10 years ago. At the time it was the opposite problem - lack of water.

I think it would be an amazing thing to do given time and decent weather.

Having said that I have hired boats on the upper Thames several time and helming at 5 kts or whatever all day is pretty tiring as unlike the sea you can’t just set a nice straight line and keep an eye on it !
 
prento1 said:
Hi all I am looking at cruising in my trader 41 from Calais to the Mediterranean next year and are wondering what are the best routes to take,the boat is 1.2 below water draft and 3.7 above air draft with the possibility of removing the flyscreen to the so called magical 3.5.can anyone help?
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Have a look at the Fluviacap tool. It is excellent and will really help you plan. You can enter your draft and air height and it will suggest routes and alternatives as well as giving you details about locks, estimated durations, etc.
http://www.fluviacarte.com/en/fluviacap
 
prento1 said:
Hi yes the radar gantry is hinged but I just wondered how stricked this 3.50mtr air draft is at bridges or tunnels.
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Took a rented Le Boat Horizon 2 the length of the Canal du Midi and the Canal d Garonne earlier this year. Stated air draft is 2.90 m with a beam of 4.2 m. It was very, very tight on a few of the bridges (made contact with the lowest, Capestang). This thing was almost as wide at the top as at the waterline so tricky through a lot of bridges.

You would probably not get through Capestang with 3.5m air draft unless you are quite narrow up high. It's a long way back though if you get it wrong!
 
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Billy Blue said:
Have a look at the Fluviacap tool. It is excellent and will really help you plan. You can enter your draft and air height and it will suggest routes and alternatives as well as giving you details about locks, estimated durations, etc.
http://www.fluviacarte.com/en/fluviacap
Click to expand...

will have look at that myself .


Modify your search Search results
[h=3]Main routes[/h] Either your journey is too long (please reduce the distance between the departure and arrival ports).
Or it is impossible by fluviale waterway.
Or your boat is too broad.

Departure :Bourbourg
Arrivals :Marseilles-lès-Aubigny
Length (m) :11
Width (m) :4
Clearance (m) :3.5
Draught (m) :1
H,mmm ?????
 
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Jeannius said:
Took a rented Le Boat Horizon 2 the length of the Canal du Midi and the Canal d Garonne earlier this year. Stated air draft is 2.90 m with a beam of 4.2 m. It was very, very tight on a few of the bridges (made contact with the lowest, Capestang). This thing was almost as wide at the top as at the waterline so tricky through a lot of bridges.

You would probably not get through Capestang with 3.5m air draft unless you are quite narrow up high. It's a long way back though if you get it wrong!
Click to expand...

Obviously they did not take flybridge boats into consideration when building it
 
oldgit said:
will have look at that myself .


Modify your search Search results
[h=3]Main routes[/h] Either your journey is too long (please reduce the distance between the departure and arrival ports).
Or it is impossible by fluviale water

I found that it can't cope with too long distances. You therefore need to break it up in shorter bits so you still need an overview map to see the various options. Still a good tool though and it is free!
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...possible onward journey is merely a thought at present. "Plan" is to be going over to Dunkerque in May for the evacuation commemorations. and after that ?
 
Can I say that it’s not all sedate waterways. The mighty Rhone at full flow is a very scary thing:disgust: But nonetheless many many people do it! While I’ve never done a full joined up trip, I have done a few canals and I will say, they are all incredibly beautiful and interesting :encouragement:
 
prento1 said:
Hi thanks for reply,what was your air draft?
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Well, I don’t remember. It was a 43 ft flybridge but it was made for the hire companies on the canals. I can tell you that we had to duck for every bridge and some (especially on rivers) were real squeakers. Unless you were tied up for a while it was never worth putting up the Bimini, even in the height of summer

Ps. Some of the many many locks are deep and scary. Make sure you and your spouse aren’t claustrophobic ;)
 
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We went across to Le Havre in May school half term of this year. Dufton is 1.45m draft and 3.4m air draft and 4.2m Beam. We planned to go the "Bourbonnais" route to the Med as all the research I had done had suggested our air draft was too high for some bridges on the other routes and this was the quickest with least locks. We had an absolutely fantastic trip from Calais through Paris and onward down the Seine to St-Mammes (where we had to branch off on the Canal du Loing). My wife works in a school so we are limited to school holidays so left her there to recommence the journey in the summer. Unfortunately the journey from there was not as successful as the whole of Central France currently has severe drought with navigation completely stopped on many (now most) canals. We are currently stuck at Briare with no prospect of moving forwards or backwards at least until March of next year and then only if there is a massive amount of rain and snow over the winter months! In terms of dimensions, from our experience so far, you won't get very far at all with an air draft of 3.7m! You don't really have any option but to also go the "Bourbonnais" route but in any event you will need to check water levels for your draft and the general navigation situation before you commit!

For other preparations, I would highly recommend the Fluvicarte map guides. Oh, and make sure you have fresh-water anodes in case you get delayed!!
 
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