Hiring Crew for French Canal trip

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pcatterall

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We had volunteer crew lined up for some canal cruising from Montceau les Mines down to Sete and were going to make a bit of a holiday of it by spending early summer up the Saone/Petite Saone with the objective of finishing down in the Sete area mid season and lining up a winter berth and prepping for the Med next year.
One volunteer has dropped out and the other is not reliable time wise.
This would leave just me and the Missus and she is not keen on being sole crew on the Rhone and I am not keen on doing the Rhone section solo.
We can amend our plans just to concentrate on getting to the Sete/Rhone canal section which I suppose is really only a 10 easy day trip from Chalon sur Saone
My question is.......... Is it possible to pick up temporary paid crew at places like Chalon sur Saone just for the down river trip?
 
Having done the whole Saone/Rhone 2up, I can say that if you can berth in a marina in the UK these Rivers should hold no fears whatsoever. Once on the Rhone speeds are far greater than on the canal system as you have a tidal thrust so just make sure you know where you intend to park overnight and stick to your plans.

The Bollene Lock is amazing but the actual berthing inside is a piece of cake as the bollards are at eye level and float down with you ( as do all the big locks ).

Just go for it, we met a couple , the wife being 80+, who had just made the journey North up the Rhone in an ancient steel yacht, for the third time with no untoward incidents at all...
Good luck and have a great time !

GOG
 
I would second the above post, simple centre cleat mooring in the locks, you certainly need to know where you will be stopping at the end of each day, otherwise simple and enjoyable.
 
alteredoutlook said:
why dont you advertise on crew seekers or even this forum for crew. I am sure that you will get lots of poeple for a 'holiday' in august......
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Thanks guys, we have had adverts on various sites and thought we had 'crew' lined up. Unfortunately one has dropped out and one is not certain of dates and we are off in Mid April.
My wife would be perfectly competent but has no confidence and it is not fair to press her when she is so nervous.
 
Joscelyn and I have been through the French Waterways from Channel to Med and back 5 times now.

First few country locks were a bit nervy, but you very soon get organised and into a routine.

Find somehwere with locks in the UK where you can practice beforehand.

I would second the view that the Rhone locks, whilst absolutely huge, are very, very gentle giants!

It's a great trip, that I hope to do again some time.

Enjoy....
 
Hi PCaterall,
No need to worry about the Rhone locks,piece of cake, Op's are giving you the correct info there on the gentleness of the lock operations.The one bollard you will use stays at eye level on a vertical rail, centre cleat advice good.If the flow is strong on the entrance to some of the marinas, (can't remember which ones sorry)
you will do as in a tidal estuary and crab across at maybe full throttle to stay in the buoyed channel (is that ferry gliding or does that involve an anchor as well?)
Apart from the locals thinking that the pontoons are solely for their use (fishing off) there should be no probems.
We found the Saone and Rhone to be the most relaxing part of the journey southwards, as the locks are manned.Pontoon to moor to before the top gate.
Good luck with the trip and don't rush or you'll wish you had'nt as nice bits will be missed.We have not gone Rhone upstream yet as our home Island has forgotten to have summers!
 
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The Rhone is fine unless the mistral gets up, allow for the possibility that you'll have to stay tied up until it passes, could be 3, 6 or 9 days - the fetch on some stretches is quite long, so in a mistral you get breaking waves funneled into the lock entrances - avoid!
 
greenalien said:
The Rhone is fine unless the mistral gets up, allow for the possibility that you'll have to stay tied up until it passes, could be 3, 6 or 9 days - the fetch on some stretches is quite long, so in a mistral you get breaking waves funneled into the lock entrances - avoid!
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I had a Mistral blowing when I did a couple of locks on my first trip down - I went into the lock backwards to keep control!
 
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