Climate change is impacting the canals with droughts causing lower
water levels and sometimes forcing closings and/or shortened open periods. Check before you go. You are right to want to use a
power boat. We rented a Penichette and found it very well thought out and efficient. They have a central pilothouse that is raised up so you can see everything. Aft, down some steps is the galley/dinette area. It has windows on three sides so it is airy and you can see out. Forward, down some steps, are the sleeping cabins and
head, with portholes for ventilation. The
deck goes from the pilothouse forward, so line handling is pretty simple. The roof of each section is at a different height, which makes it easy to step aboard in locks as the
boat goes up or down. They're not overpowered, so you spend less on
fuel. Locaboat, which rents them, provides two
steel stakes and a hammer that you can use to tie up to the
canal bank. (Not too close to any lock, though.) We saw many other rental
boats - standard
power cruiser designs - that were not well suited to canals. Overpowered, they were still restricted to the
canal speed limits (the lock masters can tell if you show up too soon from the last one) so they waste
fuel. Many didn't have
cleats in the right places for securing lines in locks, or their
cleats are too small for the lines. Some require going through the
cabin and up the forward
hatch to get to the foredeck to handle lines- no side decks. Lots of them had big flaring bows so that fenders were useless against the lock walls; they hung down too low to
work. Their dining and
galley areas were often down below so there is no view for the cook and the
cooking heats up the sleeping areas, making summer nights uncomfortable. Few hatches or opening
ports adds to their problems.
https://www.locaboat.com/en/boats/pe...tes-classique/
We went to Joigny to rent our boat, starting on a Saturday. Saturday is market day in Joigny, making it easy to stock up for a week's
cruise. Prior to getting the boat a skipper's meeting is required. The
head mechanic took a bunch of us out to show us how the
boats work for about fifteen minutes. They are pretty simple. He went through his spiel once, in French, for the
English, American, German, Spanish, French and Italian skippers picking up boats that day. There being no questions, he handed out the keys. If you have a problem, you call them. They can get help to you quickly since they use the autoroute, not the canal, and tend to drive a lot faster than a Penichette. Beautiful countryside and historic places to visit. Count on eating in some of the best restaurants in
France in the towns that line the canal routes. Bon voyage!