French Canals

[briananddoreen]

My wife and I plan to go back to the Med via the French Canals this time in our new to us 6ft draught Moody Carbineer 46ft (been twice before on other boats via Biscay) and being retired we can take our time and enjoy the country. Could anyone advise me as to the best/easiest route and the best port of entry as I have been told that Calais is not the most welcoming place to unstep masts and gain entry to the canals. Any other advice on this subject would be valued .
I intend to send the two masts by road to the south of France somewhere around Sete can anyone tell me of a marina/boat yard in that area who could store them until we arrive

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[tonydyer]

Suggest you take a look at www.sailingourdream.co.uk/, which contains just about all the information you will need.

Also take a look at www.moodyowners.org.uk for other useful information.

We plan to leave UK in mid April next year for the trip through the canals to the Mediterranean and will start at Le Havre. This is a good place to unstep your masts for road transport to the Med. See the first link above for details.

Best of luck and maybe we'll see you on your travels. What is your boat's name?

Tony

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[paulrossall]

This subject has been discussed on numerous occasions and if you do a search on all forums you should get loads of information. I went into the canals at Calais 2 years ago. The facilities are excellent. It cost us about £20 to berth for 2 nights and to get the mast down. There is a derrick which lifts useing a simple electric motor mounted on it at the far end of the pontoons. You are expected to undo the rigging etc. yourself and to lay it on your boat if you are taking it with you, which we did. Cannot comment about overland transport of the mast.
I found Calais very hospitable and would love to go there again.
Only thing I am not sure about is the depth of the Calais canal which from memory is about max 20 miles long. After that you join big, deeper canal from Gravallines (not sure of spelling) which is further north up the coast from Calais and would be your entery port if Calais canal is not deep enough.Hope this helps. Good luck it will be a great trip. Paul

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[briananddoreen]

My boat's name is ORION. Thanks for the info on the ports of entry to the French canals but would still like some guidance on the best route to take considering the Moody Carbineer's 6ft draught is just about the limit of 1.8 mtrs

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[PLEK]

We have just completed a trip from Le Havre to Port St Louis this week and travelled via the Marne which is the most easterly route,depths were generally ok in the middle of the canals but we had one 3 km section where we pushed the bottom all the way in our 1.5 m boat.The authorities now about it and were dredging.

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[PeterStone]

My wife and I took our Elizabethan 31 from Calais to Paris via the Canal du Nord this summer. We unstepped our mast at Calais - had to do all the work ourselves though, except operate crane, but for less than £7.00 we could hardly complain. Staff were perfectly friendly. Our draught in fresh water with stores is 5'2" or 1.6m - less than yours but we rarely found the depth to be less than 10' except off the main canals. We moored at night at the canal side, normally a commercial quay or silo, so we found loads of water but we did find it shallower in places along the banks. Some of the marinas were too shallow for us - like at Peronne, where we grounded for half an hour - but others were ok but you'd need to be careful with your draught.

Incidentally, we are leaving our boat in Paris till next May - same price approx. as we were paying at Ramsgate!

South of Paris I can't advise but you'll definitely be ok as far as that, all things being equal.

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[samuel]

Are you sure you can go via the canals?
I posted a query some months ago as I had just purchased a Hanse 315 with 1750 draft.
It appears that the boat floats up to 75mm lower in freshwater & if well loaded another 25mm could be expected.
The replies I got suggested that 1800 is not really viable as it appears that you cannot get tight inshore at a lot of places & some craft have grounded in the main channel at less than 1800.
Although the min draft is stated in some press as 1800 some definately suggest this is dodgy. When there is a water shortage level drops & there is often some silting.
This all came as a shock to the wife & I as we realized we had bought the wrong boat for the canal journey.
We have delayed the start to May 01 next year & are going the long way round-- which you appear to have done. We are going to take 20 weeks & if we dont reach the Med we will leave the boat somewhere & continue the next year taking another 20 weeks.
If you get any more info on the chance of getting through the canals please let us know
Regards

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