Month: June 2019

June 23, 2019

On June 23 we traveled through our last lock and entered the Mediterranean at Port St. Louis. Our first task was to get the mast stepped at Port Napoleon so Chinook could become a sailboat again.

The heatwave in France was getting intense so we were looking forward to the clear waters of the Mediterranean for some relief.

Several days were spent in 45 degree heat getting the mast prepped and stepped. On June 27, Chinook was ready to set sail!

We traveled east along the southern coast of France enjoying our first anchorage in Saintes-Maries. We stopped at Port Camargue where we cycled into Aigues-Mortes before arriving at our final destination La Grande Motte.

June 12 – 23, 2019

On June 12 we left the canals and traveled south on La Saone and Le Rhone rivers. We were ecstatic to see depths of over 5 meters as we left the canals. This section was 453 km and 16 larger locks.

Along these rivers we stopped in Tournus, Macon, Lyon, Viviers, Avignon and Arles before reaching the Mediterranean on June 23rd.

There were few places for mooring along this route but it was possible to reserve in advance. Our most unique mooring was in Arles (along the Rhone) where we tied up to a restaurant barge La Peniche.

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May 25 – June 12, 2019

After Paris we traveled southeast on La Seine, the Canal de Loing, the Canal de Briare, the Canal Lateral a la Loire and the Canal du Centre. This section was a total of 496 km and 155 locks.

We finished the final prepping of the fenders in Saint-Mammes before entering our first narrow lock. Details…. https://sv-chinook.com/2019/04/preparing-for-the-french-canals/

This was the most challenging part of our trip with the width of these locks only .5 meters wider than Chinook. One day we traveled 19 locks, an equal number of narrow bridges and an aqueduct (water bridge over a river). The narrow canals made the passing of boats a challenge with Chinook’s twin rudders and sloping shorelines.

Despite travelling off season with light traffic there were many evenings where we found it difficult to find a mooring spot for Chinook.

Our timetable only allowed one night in most places along the canals. One exception was Paray-le-Monial where we spent 2 nights due to high winds. Strong wind and narrow locks are not a good combination.