Italy - River Po

[johnneale]

Having brought my boat from the Solent to Greece via the Danube & Black Sea, I am now looking to get back to France via Italy.
How far is the Po navigable for 1 metre draught - 3 metres height, 2 metres beam, 8 metre lenght upstream from Venice? What is the current? Regulations? and any other useful info.
- Can I get past Turin, & what facilities do they have there for lifting out and trucking to the med. - Also any other ideas for getting across Italy short of going round the bottom.

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[Metabarca]

Tricky one this, especially if you want to navigate up the Po from Venice - it's not there ;-).
To anwer your qu. as best I can, certainly you can navigate in the lagoon as far as Chioggia with ample depth. The Po itself forms an extensive delta with lots of shallows. To my knowledge, the river isn't used for commercial navigation at all (but this may have more to do with the Italian love of everything automotive), but there are a few tourist boats (see http://www.fiumepo.com/valle_segnalazioni.html). See also http://www.regione.veneto.it/settori/documento.asp?DocID=626 for the signs used.
The only part of the river I know well is between Turin and Casale Monferrato. There are extensive shallows here in summer and there is a weir (no lock) at Chivasso, and another in Turin. I know of no boatyards anywhere along this reach although there are slipways.
The current obviously varies tremendously; I've seen in in full spate when it is very scary. In summer, I reckon 2-3 knots towards the sea. The river it most resembles in France is the Loire - this may give you some idea.
The only other way to get to the Med is by lorry. The options I feel, might be:
- up the Po as far as Cremona or Piacenza, then truck;
- northern Adriatic to Monfalcone or Venice, then truck.

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[Sandro]

I agree with Metabarca: the farthest place you can get is Cremona. As far as I know there are quite big barges motoring from the sea up to Cremona or at least there used to be.
The lagoon and the Po are linked by Canale di Valle. I think it is suitable for your boat, but I can't tell for sure.
Turistically, sailing round Southern Italy would be more interesting than motoring the Po river. If time is a priority, loading the boat on truck in some Adriatic sea port is the shortest way.
Have a nice trip home.

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[johnneale]

Thanks for that input - not till next year anyway -
I took the southern route through the straits of Messina some years ago, and had the worst experience of my life 40 miles off Naples for 3 days - my mate caught religon & I vowed never to be a naughty boy again

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