French canals

[chrisrog]

Has anyone taken a yacht with a draft of 1.50 m through the french canals? If so did you have any problems and why?

 

[JanZ]

We are currently over halfway through, at Auxonne, on the Saone, with no real difficulties at all. We have touched bottom in a couple of places and one needs to be circumspect about draught in the ports de plaisance etc but with good research it is easy to find a route through which will suit.

JZ, westerly Seahawk NEMESIS

 

[Grehan]

You shouldn't have too many problems, drawing 1.5m. Maybe some snags here and there, but not insurmountable. Plenty of boats like yours have done it.
Routes through France to the Mediterranean
But, you are at the limit, or (from a practical standpoint) beyond it, for the Canal du Midi.

 

[chrisrog]

Thank you for your replies and links.
We might need to empty the boat a bit too

 

[chrisrog]

We want to go from the med up to Bordeaux, any good advice please.

 

[macd]

We want to go from the med up to Bordeaux, any good advice please.

Looks like the long way round unless there's a lot of water this year (which there conceivably is after a wet winter). I'd be inclined to check conditions with some care: much of the Canal du Midi is excavated from solid rock so in many places there's no chance of pushing yourself through soft stuff. Boats being craned out and trucked the rest of the way is not unknown. Obviously your 1.5m draught will be greater in fresh water, by around 2.5%.

Grehan's the man for chapter and verse.

 

[Carolwildbird]

No problems with my boat.. Technically 1.5m, but probably nearer 1.65m in fresh water and with all my stuff on it. Up the Rhine, saone, canal de Vosges, back to Paris and down the seine.

I believe you would have problems on the canal de midi though... Met someone with less draft than 1.5m who had to turn round 2/3 the way up to the top, as too shallow for him.

 

[Grehan]

Forget the Midi is my advice. 1.6m is the book depth, but often not achievable or anywhere close. 'A lot of water' just means that there's enough to maintain the normal depth (as noted above, i.e probably somewhat under 1.5m in places) but not more than that. 'Not enough water' (i.e rainfall) means less than the 1.6m target (i.e very easily 1.3m or less).
And as Carol says, you'll float a bit lower in fresh than salt - although how much I've never been able to find out . . 150mm seems like quite a lot, I reckon that's mainly due to Carol's gubbins, and the dog!
Quite apart from actually not having enough water to float in, when the prop gets close to the bottom it struggles to provide its usual push. You will notice how much slower the boat becomes, the 'struggle to push' is quite wearing.
This doesn't mean that some drawing 1.5m-1.6m haven't got through - but they are the exceptions that prove the rule. I personally wouldn't risk it.

 

[Wino]

The Midi is certainly a big No No,although I have heard people say they 'chanced it' it could prove very expensive if you do go aground and are unable to get off.
I was told by a guy at VNF that if anyone gets stuck with a boat of more than their recommended draft they will offer very little help or charge extensively for any assistance they have to give to keep a canal open. As he added these days the major part of their income is from hire boats and nothing can be allowed to prevent them passing through.
Can you imagine the expense of having to get a crane to some of the more 'out of the way' places in some canals? It would probably be cheaper to break the boat up and take its bits away on a barge.

 

[macd]

And as Carol says, you'll float a bit lower in fresh than salt - although how much I've never been able to find out . . 150mm seems like quite a lot, I reckon that's mainly due to Carol's gubbins, and the dog!

See post #6: as a rule of thumb, add about 2.5% to your depth, or about 40mm for 1.5m draught. That's an average figure: coming from the (saltier) Med to the canals would make more of a difference than coming from the less salty Atlantic. Hull shape obviously also makes some difference.

Gratuitous BTW: exceptions don't prove the rule, at least in the illogical sense that expression is usually used.

 

[Cspirit]

We took our Westerly Corsair to the Med through the Canal du Midi a couple of years ago. The notional draft of the boat is 1.4, but actually probably over 1.5 (without the weight of the mast). We ran aground several times, and on a couple of occasions I thought that we would be permanently stuck. I had followed the progress of another Corsair owner who had got through the previous year, so we knew that it would be do-able. However, I also knew that a crane out/truck transport would be a back up possibility.

Would I do it again? Not in this boat - I'd say a draft of 1.3 max would be OK.

 

[chrisrog]

Thanks for all your advice, I think that we wont risk it. We'll have to go back the long way.