Sailing Gently · video

What this video covers

Experienced skipper with roughly a dozen transits of the French inland waterway system in both directions lays out the complete route from the English Channel to the Mediterranean — 823 miles from Le Havre to Port Napoleon — covering every major decision point, physical constraint, and required document.4:30

Three English Channel entry points are compared: Calais (busy ferry port, manageable canal traffic), Saint-Valery-sur-Somme (large mudflats, tidal entrance requiring arrival 1.5 hours after low water, chart plotters useless because the buoyed channel shifts after every gale), and Honfleur/L'Arve (mouth of the River Seine, depart two hours before low water to carry the tide to Rouen).2:07 The route divides into three sections: canals in the north, the commercial River Saône in the middle, and the fast-flowing Rhône at the end, with giant barges carrying 85-lorry-load equivalents on the latter two.0:34

Hard physical limits: maximum beam 5 m including fenders (absolute, measured with fenders fitted), draft 1.80 m in soft-mud canals, air draft 3.5 m. The Canal du Midi runs shallower (1.60 m draft, rock bottom) and is 503 km with 139 locks from Bordeaux to Sète; mast removal is required at Bordeaux, either DIY at the old U-boat pens for roughly €50–70 or at a boatyard.4:56

Required paperwork: valid passports, ship's registration, insurance certificate, ICC with CEVNI endorsement, and — the one document lock keepers consistently demand — the vignette, purchased online by duration and displayed in a window.10:31 Calor gas cannot be refilled or exchanged anywhere in France or the Mediterranean; conversion to Camping Gaz before leaving the UK is essential.21:37 Fuel is scarce in the canals; carry jerry jugs for diesel from roadside filling stations.21:07 Raw-water filters block frequently on the northern canals from leaf and weed debris; knowing how to clear the through-hull fitting is necessary.14:10 Bank mooring is standard; two stakes and a mallet are required.23:14 Water is available at virtually every lock on request.

Navigation resources recommended: six Fluviacart guides for the main route plus the numbered FluviaCard charts (cards 1 and 2 cover the Seine sections); the skipper also references his own book, *French Canal Routes to the Mediterranean*.4:18 The transit takes under two weeks at hard pace; three to four weeks or a full summer is more realistic.

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