French canals, where will my Radar Arch let me go?

Whitelighter

Whitelighter

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Thinking it might be nice to do some pottering in frog land over the next year or so, but am unsure how far I can get with the arch and all the gubbins stacked on top of it. I guess height from the water is probably 2.25 metres, maybe 2.5metres. The arch does fold, but its not really designed to be used like that, its heavy, a pain and obstructs the companion way when down. If you really had to get through somewhere I suppose you could, but I wouldn't want to rely on it to do a tarts knickers routine all holiday.
 
Oh dear, Oh dear, Oh dear!.....there goes all my new found respect for you! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Why not compromise and go Inland via the Seine ?
On the plane most the way to Rouen and then there are a few speed boat zones to Paris.
Technically you are a little big for the speed boat zones but no one seems to mind ( there is no requirement to tow a skier).
Paris takes about 5-6 long days and there are some huge locks but beats canals hand s down.
 
Publication "Through the French Canals" gives air clearance on bridges at start of description seem to be 3.5M . ISBN No 0-7136-6135-6 cover price £14.99. Plenty of info.
 
will u need radar on a canal ?

/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
 
I was going to say that we also went all the way from Le Havre to the med last year and bumped into an Atlantic 38 a couple of times who said that their air draft was approx 3.5m and they were ok. I have now been looking back at some photos and noticed that the Atlantic 38 belongs to Bluegrass from the post above. It was a great trip.
 
My air draft is 2.68m and never had a problem. Quite a few bridges clear it by no more than 150mm. but at your height you should have no problems anywhere
 
Would love to know the route you recommend as I'm planning to take my Broom 42 (with about the same airdraft) to the med early in 2008. How long did it take you? Any problems with draught and propellors?
 
We met up with bluegrass a couple of times on the way through. In fact there were half a dozen or so boats of various sizes that travelled down within a week or so of each other. Our boat is a 36'6" Beneteau yacht , beam 12'4" and draft 5' 2" ( 5'4" in fresh water). We took 6 weeks to get from Le Havre to Pt St Louis on the Med through the second half of June and all of July. We slid along the bottom twice for a total of half a mile on each occasion. This however was at either side of the summit so it was to be expected. Our route took us down the Seine, through the four central canals, the Saone and then the Rhone. We were advised that this was the only route available at this time of year. We wanted to go through the Burgundy Canal for the food and wine but this was restricted at the top to 1.4m. The air draft is also restricted on this route due to the tunnel on the summit. We had time to stop in a number of places and my log shows that we were travelling for a total of 30 days and resting for 12. It is very sociable. Be prepared to put on weight!
 
Thanks guys - anybody else going to MDL's new marina in San Carles and thinking about taking the boat through the French canals?

We could take a flotilla down in April/May 2008!
 
Hi Andrew38 - I see your based on the Thames - we had a season there in ours and I can confirm draught is much less troublesome in tyhe French waterways than the Thames. We had no problems in the entire journey on that front (unlike Thames!)
Re the route; starting from Poole, along south coast to Brighton and across to Fecamp and then Le Havre. At LeHavre, up the Seine, through Paris, Canal du Loing, Canal de Lateral a Loire, Canal du centre, then down the Rivers Saone and Rhone to Port St.Louis. This is called the Bourbonnais route. Your big engines will not like the very low speeds on the canals (rivers OK) We only have 225 turbos and spent most of our time on one engine except for the locks and mooring.
It took us all summer -April to September, but we had to keep coming back home to juggle work and you can do it in far less. We also were happy to enjoy the journey slowly too. It was a great trip with lots of memories and highly recommended. Happy to share further info when you get nearer going. Also we posted a thread on here with loads of pics. a search for "poole to Istanbul" will throw it up.
cheers, Dave
 
For the definitive answer, consult the VNF. I did this in 1999 and they sent me detailed, dimensioned drawings of all the bridges on my chosen route.

The contact then was Mssr. Jacques Noisette, VNF - Bureau navigation Promotion, fax no. 0033 561 54 66 50

Very helpful
 
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