If you are thinking about using the
French canals to passage between the UK and the Mediterranean then this
booklet contains all the information you need'
It describes the Routes,
the regulations the paperwork - How where and when to get the
qualifications and license, the depths, air heights, locks and a whole
lot more.
There
are 'charts/maps' throughout, the distances, dimensions & main stopping
places and is the only publication to list ALL the possible stopping
places on the Rhone River!/
At some point
you will have to buy a license for the time spent in the river canal system -
fairly inexpensive VNF-
Check on the official web site http://www.vnf.fr
for info on closures works and all information - the French site works
better than the English.
Best time May to September early October - but of course the
Canal du Midi section can be done at any time (*unless it freezes or there is a
drought)
This route takes you into the Gironde River just south of La
Rochelle and past Royan up the river to Bordeaux where take down you mast and
use the Canal du Midi to take you down to the Mediterranean coming
out near Marseille at Port St Louis or Sete. As in route NS1 you can sail direct
to Royan/entrance of the Gironde from the English channel
DISTANCE Falmouth to Royan - 355 nautical
miles - 3 days or less
(It is perfectly possible to day sail this from the UK the only challenging
bits being possibly the Chenal du Four and around the Channel Islands. From
Camaret you can day sail to Royan.)
At Bordeaux you take down your mast and get lots and lots of
fenders or rubber tyres to surround you topsides and protect your hull from the
rough concrete walls that you will regularly be coming alongside in locks.
The tyres should touch the water.... It may be worth making a couple of X's out
of wood with a bolt through to support the mast before you leave the UK - there
are normally stacks of tyres at the cranes left by boats going the other way.
NOTES ON THE CANAL DU MIDI.
Biggest problems
Draft - 1.6 metres (5ft 2 inches)
MAX! Less in high summer -
Width 5.5 metres - (18ft.)
Height 3
metres, but be warned that the height of 3m is to the centre of the bridge arches
- the sides may be as low as 2metres (6ft 5inches)
The length of the locks
is 30metres (98ft 4inches)
So although this can be a good route for many, the
very low bridges with an arch may be a
problem.... Also be aware that in mid summer when there is a drought, water can
be lower than advertised in the Canal du Midi. Unlike the canals in eastern
France where you can push your keel though the soft mud the Canal du Midi was
blasted out of rock... It is not unknown for boats on the limit to have to be
craned out and put on lorries when the level drops in mid summer.
DISTANCE FROM Bordeaux to Sete - 503
Kilometers - 139 locks.
Canal du Midi
= My log and some pictures of a recent transit.
The actual Route is the Gironde into Bordeaux and then into the
Garonne to Castets - about 53K from Bordeaux. From there it becomes the Canal
Lateral a la Garonne to Toulouse where it becomes the Canal du Midi.
At Sete or Port St Louis you can get your mast re-stepped get
rid of your tyres and you are already half way across the Mediterranean. Not too
far from the Balearics or Corsica and Italy.
You need a proper detailed chart of the Gironde
between Royan and Bordeaux - like the Thames estuary, this is a serious river with
shoals and fast running currents.
For information about closures - repairs and maintenance
work visit http://www.vnf.fr
which is the River and Canals authority official web site. It is in
English and French. Some of the English pages do not always work or have
not been updated so try and struggle with the French version if that's the case.
SN7 = south to north via canals to Paris and Le
Havre or Calais
Lorry option
= a list of web sites of British and French haulage
companies who specalise in boat transport.
Canal du Midi
= My log and some pictures of a recent transit. (SN7)
The
Scenic Route =
My log and some pictures of a recent transit. (SN6)
Some canal tips
1. Take off your masthead light, wind vane and vhf antenna
- put a bucket over the top of the mast to protect it - they always seem to get
bashed.
2. You will need 2 lines to each tyre fender (by law) As
you will need as many as possible buy some cheap nylon rope to fix the 'fenders'
as you will probably not have enough short lengths in the locker.
3. Keep a knife available in the cockpit just in case
one of the mooring lines gets snagged and hangs the boat up as the water goes
down in the lock.
4. If you are short handed (only 2) and you have a
long enough line - fix a block on the bows and lead the fwd warp through the
block and back along the deck to the cockpit - that way who ever is in the
cockpit can pull in or let out the lines in the lock if the other one gets stuck
on the lock side and is unable to get back on board.
5. You will need a hammer or preferably a mallet to
hammer metal spikes into the bank to moor to at night. Frequently keel yachts
can only get their bows close to the shore as the rivers/canals frequently
shallow at the sides.
6. It may be worth considering having the mast taken by
lorry to your destination - Certainly makes the trip easier in terms of moving
around the boat.
7. At some point
you will have to buy a license for the time spent in the river canal system -
fairly inexpensive and check on the official web site http://www.vnf.fr
for info. The license is based on the time you intend staying in the
waterway system - by day/week/month/year.
8. Under European (and of course French) law anyone
operating a boat on the European canal system is required to have a 'boat
driving license' as issued by their own country of origin. You can travel
in any European river or canal with only the license issued by your own
authority. Catch 22 is that the British authorities do not require you to
have one! Under the new French 1991 law you need a Certificate
of Competence which is issued by the RYA. You may also pass the French test -
cat C for boats less than 15m and slower than 20Km/h. Many sea boats do the
transit without the certificate.
NAVIGATION FEES
Licence (Vignette) Fees 2022
Navigation fees are simply based on boat length. The vignette
certificate should be displayed at the front of the boat, on the starboard side.
VIGNETTE DURATION
To 8m
length
8m to
11m
11m to
14m
14m
+
Year (Jan-Dec)
9.10€/m
+90.90€
9.10€/m
+208.30€
9.10€/m
+396.70€
9.10€/m
+517.70€
Month (30 days)
7.90€/m
+29.00€
7.90€/m
+42.10€
7.90€/m
+55.10€
7.90€/m
+70.30€
Week (7 days)
4.30€/m
+16.10€
4.30€/m
+24.30€
4.30€/m
+32.30€
4.30€/m
+40.20€
Why not take your boat to the Mediterranean next
summer?
There are
several ways of getting your boat to the Mediterranean. On the back of a
lorry, via the French canals, four or five day’s non stop across the Bay
of Biscay then down the Portuguese coast or spend the summer or two,
gently coasting southwards, enjoying the harbours, cities, towns and
villages of France Spain and Portugal.
This is not a pilot book, rather a passage plan and guide to the nicer
places between the South Coast of the UK to the beautiful
Mediterranean Sea. It can all be done in easy stages, to suit a lightly
crewed boat, with perhaps only a couple of people on board who are
without ‘offshore’ experience. Actually, it is a lovely way to explore
a lot of delightful foreign places.
Specially
drawn charts of:
Cherbourg to L’Aber-Wrac’h.
Chenal du Four to La Rochelle
La Rochelle to Spain
La Rochelle to Coruña
Coruna to Gibraltar
+illustrations, pictures, paintings
1 – Planning the voyage
2 –South coast to
Chenal du Four
3 - Chenal du Four to La
Rochelle
4
- La Rochelle to Spain overview
5
- La Rochelle to Coruña
6 - Coruña to Gibraltar
The sales of this book almost equal that of French Canal Routes.
'The best guide - pilot book of this sometimes challenging. available'