> > >Commercial traffic on the Freycinet canals has declined very much in >recent years. Is there any left at all on the Canal Lateral a la >Loire? (I know there isn't on the Nivernais).
Maybe just hotel boats > >Given that these canals are generally deeper and wider than most of >the canals used for holiday boating in Britain, do boats tend to >slow down for moored boats? hotel boats will slow down but everybody else unless they have boated in the UK will not > >Is it generally possible to moor away from the designated moorings >in towns and villages - say in the middle of nowhere - as here? yes just remember to us spring lines and plant your pin securely in the ground. You may have to use the plank to get ashore after you moor up. I usually have to jump down with the first line and pin and hammer ( if I remember it) > >How crowded (or not) is it these days? Queues at locks? > >Any other boating advice, suggestions etc? Go slow into the locks and make sure you have the boat under control and the lines are ready for the lock to be filled before the lock begins to fill. The lockies have a tendency to open the paddles as fast as they can turn the crank. You can help with closing the back gate but secure the boat first. Keep smiling and you may come across a friendly locky ;-}. ( if you buy wine etc. from them they seem to smile a lot more. The lockkeeper has 20 mins. to get you thru the lock. If you get to a lock just before lunch (5-10 mins.) you may have to wait until 1:00. It is against the law to operate a lock yourself if it is under the control of a lock keeper. > >And yes, I too endorse all the comments about enjoying France! > >Keir > only four days to go until we leave for Paris and then a week more before this years journey on Dorney begins , " ' ,,,, . ! Stan -- Judy & Stan Voets, POB 103, San Geronimo, CA 94963 Tel: 415.488.0985 You may never know what results come from your action, But if you do nothing, there will be no results - Gandhi
