Swimming in the French canals????

[dannc]

Originally Posted by Brewgyver

Nick & Terysa on Ruby Rose (YouTube sailing couple) transited the du Midi in 2019, and while much of the countryside was beautiful, the water did NOT look inviting at any point in the trip. Terysa fell in from the bank at one point, she was not happy.

If you've spent any time in Paris...

Yeah, the water looked to be very high in nutrients....

No way would I swim in the water they showed.

Later,
Dan

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by wolfgal

Hi Skipmac,

i'm glad to learn that, in the end, you will be making the trip along the canals!

you've gotten a lot of good feedback here...

decades ago, i was astounded by the direct deposit of all kinds of industrial waste in the rivers. pipes carrying smelly, fluo liquid and dead fish floating. it was shocking!

nowadays this has surely changed (there's a green party here), but there is still the agricultural run-off (france is a patchwork of industrial cereal and colza farms, for which the pesticides used are mostly subsidised...) and the fact that the boats are not equipped with black water tanks.

personally, i would not get into any canal water, much less let my loved ones get in.

For a clean dip (hot or cold), best go to Iceland.

that said, have a fantastic trip (and enjoy the wine and cheese)!



wolfie

Thanks. We are really looking forward to the trip. I first heard about the French canals when I was in high school and read an article in National Geographic about them. Was one of the first things I ever put into a bucket list, before I even knew what a bucket list was.

I agree about the pesticide runoff. Sewage is bad enough but agricultural residues are nasty. In the US there is a huge dead zone at the mouth of the Mississippi River, over 20,000 square kilometers. The biggest contributors are nutrients from agricultural fertilizers but there is also a significant content of herbicides and pesticides included.

I have to say, with the strength of the Green Party in Europe I am surprised that there are no regulations for holding tanks on the rivers and canals.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Macblaze

Ya, of the three canals I've seen I wouldn't swim in any of them. That said, I've seen kids do it.

Lot eh. That's on my bucket list—although I tend to avoid the the there-and-back itineraries.. River cruising is a bit more interesting but those boats are pigs. Be interesting to see how much current plays a part (although all the French rivers are pretty tamed.)

Be sure to post up a pic or two and/or some updates. Have an awesome time.

I too have seen local kids swimming in places that looked so bad I wouldn't want to touch a dockline that fell in.

Will definitely post about the trip when we get back. I too would have preferred a one way instead of round trip but the Lot sounded so inviting we decided to go with it anyway.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by bobnlesley

Methinks your response is rather harsh and that you owe that poster an apology.
Having 'gone back and read the question' I for one noticed that the primary question which you asked was:
...how polluted are the canals and is it advisable to swim there?

Yes I did title the thread swimming in canals but did River Lot in the very first post.

And I agree my response might have infringed on the forum rule to be nice, however when someone says of me, "we become so obsessed with risk and common sense we have lost tbe ability to make these judgments or go onto a website a read about it , or do we like the drama of forums, lost for words really amd people like you are in charge of a boat , god helps us all" perhaps the apology should be coming from the other direction.

[valhalla360]

Swimming where a lot of boats are moored is a bit iffy but...

Water clarity if often a poor measure of pollution. Clear water can be badly polluted and turbid water can be largely pollution free.

[ozolli]

Hello,

You may have the information you are looking for here:
https://www.tourisme-lot.drupal.rc-p.../river-bathing

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

Swimming where a lot of boats are moored is a bit iffy but...

Water clarity if often a poor measure of pollution. Clear water can be badly polluted and turbid water can be largely pollution free.

Quite correct. One example, hikers in the US used to advocate drinking from clear mountain streams but that clear mountain stream can be polluted with all sorts of nasty bacteria.

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by skipmac

Quite correct. One example, hikers in the US used to advocate drinking from clear mountain streams but that clear mountain stream can be polluted with all sorts of nasty bacteria.

Nothing like a bit of giardia to tone up your system.

Swim in the French canals or rivers? I wouldn't swim in the North Sea.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

Nothing like a bit of giardia to tone up your system.

Swim in the French canals or rivers? I wouldn't swim in the North Sea.

To bludi cold.. the W coast of Portugal's bad enough..

[goboatingnow]

Jesus the BS here. The Lot has many swimming areas and people regularly swim in it. Canals are different. But equally many people swim in various canals including Dutch kids etc . The midi is well known as not suitable for swimming in.

[EyeOnAlaska]

We've done the rental from Scey-Sur-Saône to Vesoul, and will hopefully do another rental next spring. I wouldn't touch the water in the canals if I could avoid it. The first time you see the cows cooling off in the water you'll understand why, that and no holding tanks.

[Lemsteraak]

Nichols used to have these cute little "pods" that would attach to the stern of rental boats that were small swimming pools. Not big enough to swim but a nice place to cool off. Very cute and a good idea for some of the really small tourist canals.

I used to swim in the upper reaches of French rivers. Canals? no, there were streams or rivers nearby that were much more pleasant. I'll second the suggestion of swimming pools in some of the larger towns. They really put a lot of effort to make these attractive.

[FilledeJoie]

We spent a week on the River Lot in July 2019, it was great. The water was very clean. There were a couple of pump out stations along the way. We chartered with LeBoat, and highly recommend them.

[sailorF54]

There is a daily bulletin on water quality of the Lot river with a chartlet

https://syded-lot.fr/lot-5-juillet-2021
e.g. All blue (good quality) everywhere except red (avoid) around Cahors (main city)

[Tom and Maje]

Ask the boat company.

Maje