Through Europe via Canal-Routes

[DeepFrz]

laughin...

[K_V_B]

If a certificate were required to sail the Dutch canal then I have been in breach of the law for decades now...


However it turns out I am not in breech of the law. If you boat is shorter than 15m, and can't go faster than 20 kph you don't need a certificate of competence in The Netherlands, nor in Belgium or France...

[conachair]

Originally Posted by K_V_B

If a certificate were required to sail the Dutch canal then I have been in breach of the law for decades now...

However it turns out I am not in breech of the law. If you boat is shorter than 15m, and can't go faster than 20 kph you don't need a certificate of competence in The Netherlands, nor in Belgium or France...

France visitors need something with cevni on it on inland waters. Though charterers get away with a bit of tuition before they cast off.. Apparently

[stefan64]

I am a new member here and - we brought our boat from the danish coat in the baltic down to the mediterranean the last two years. Our boat has a draught of 1.65m.
We went The staande mastroute from Deljzijl to Lemmer last year, no problem at all. But you need to stay between the marks where it is indicated.
Then this year we went up the Ijssel, Maas to France, in France through the channels (Canal de Meuse, Canal des Vosges, Saône, Rhône) down to Port St. Louis.
Up to the french border there was no problem at all - but getting into the french channel system, especially in the Canal des Vosges and the upper Saône- we had many days where we got stuck, even the authorities guarantee everything is fine for 1.8m. Most of the times we were able to free us ourselves, but you can always call the VNF people to help you out.

Actually it was a lovely trip - even I am now keen to go sailing in the med next year :-)


ciao,
Stefan

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by stefan64

I am a new member here and - we brought our boat from the danish coat in the baltic down to the mediterranean the last two years. Our boat has a draught of 1.65m.
We went The staande mastroute from Deljzijl to Lemmer last year, no problem at all. But you need to stay between the marks where it is indicated.
Then this year we went up the Ijssel, Maas to France, in France through the channels (Canal de Meuse, Canal des Vosges, Saône, Rhône) down to Port St. Louis.
Up to the french border there was no problem at all - but getting into the french channel system, especially in the Canal des Vosges and the upper Saône- we had many days where we got stuck, even the authorities guarantee everything is fine for 1.8m. Most of the times we were able to free us ourselves, but you can always call the VNF people to help you out.

Actually it was a lovely trip - even I am now keen to go sailing in the med next year :-)


ciao,
Stefan

Hi Stefan,

Thanks for the canal report. I plan to visit the canals in Europe in two years and my draft is also 1.65 meters. I guess if you were able to get through then I can also.

I understand the depth in the canals can vary a lot depending on the season, rainfall in the year and other factors. Do you know if there is a web site or some agency that reports on the latest depths in the different canals?

Best
Skip

[stefan64]

Hi Skip,

for France look here: VNF - Calcul d'itinéraire fluvial
- in lovely french, sure :-)
Check the "avis a la batallerie" for possible low draught and blocks etc. "crue" is high water.
The canal system is quite good as it got very well engineered over the last 100+ years, they know quite good how to keep them filled... but you can see that for just the few sport boats they do not have enough money for proper maintenance, so expect some surprises.

If you need recommendations for maps and books let me know, I can also send you my list of locks and harbors with updated VHF channels and some hints.

ciao,
Stefan

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by K_V_B

If a certificate were required to sail the Dutch canal then I have been in breach of the law for decades now...

However it turns out I am not in breech of the law. If you boat is shorter than 15m, and can't go faster than 20 kph you don't need a certificate of competence in The Netherlands, nor in Belgium or France...

That's the costal requirement. You do need an IcC with the CEVNI extensions for the French and German system , can't remember if you need it for Netherlands

Dave

[K_V_B]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

That's the costal requirement. You do need an IcC with the CEVNI extensions for the French and German system , can't remember if you need it for Netherlands Dave

You don't need anything for small yachts. I looked it up in a Dutch government website before I wrote it here.

The only legal requirement in the Netherlands and Belgium is to have a copy of all the relevant regulations on board. And there are quite a few different sets of colregs that apply. But ANWB sells an almanac that contains all of them.

[stefan64]

It is sufficient to have a PDF copy of the almanac on your PC.
Actually I did not see it being too meaningful to carry a quite expensive dutch book for legal reasons that I won´t understand anyway - so I did download the almanac from the official dutch website.

Nobody did ever check my boating or radio license, but the vignettes get checked in france (you can get them online through the above vnf website) by the vnf people (in the locks) and the insurance and papers of the boat by some harbor masters.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by stefan64

Hi Skip,

for France look here: VNF - Calcul d'itinéraire fluvial
- in lovely french, sure :-)
Check the "avis a la batallerie" for possible low draught and blocks etc. "crue" is high water.
The canal system is quite good as it got very well engineered over the last 100+ years, they know quite good how to keep them filled... but you can see that for just the few sport boats they do not have enough money for proper maintenance, so expect some surprises.

If you need recommendations for maps and books let me know, I can also send you my list of locks and harbors with updated VHF channels and some hints.

ciao,
Stefan

Hi Stefan,

Thanks for the link. Will give me a chance to learn a few more words of French and when I give up, try google translate.

[stefan64]

Again, if you need a helping hand feel free to turn up with me.
We had really nice experiences this year and it would be great if we could share them with you. One example: normally you cannot stay in Tournus, as the harbor is too low... but the charter boats allow you to stay besides them. This will allow you to visit a monastery built in the year 800-1000 ac... incredible. Get into its roof and crypta and you will see things you have never seen before or just in books or rarely in a museum. Ah, this is not mentioned in any of the guidebooks... not even the town.