Ribbing to Paris

[Erin]

Originally Posted by martini

I (kind of) got an answer here:

That's a cunning move. Befriending the rag and stick brigade and stealing their secrets

[GJ0KYZ]

Originally Posted by Erin

That's a cunning move. Befriending the rag and stick brigade and stealing their secrets

He's already nicked my "wrack and Rouen" line!!

[martini]

Originally Posted by GJ0KYZ

He's already nicked my "wrack and Rouen" line!!

Well it made me chuckle so thought I'd share!

[martini]

Originally Posted by karlT

Some bloke and his lady are getting married on the 29th April.

This is also gonna be a public holiday so gives you 10 days off for only 3 work days (holiday / leave) potentially !!

Friday 22 April - Sunday 01 May

Sounds like an awesome trip.

Good point didn't think of that! The only thing that worries me is this is still early on in the season, recent years have generally not had favourable weather in late april/early may, think back to the last couple of Ribex's.

[GJ0KYZ]

Originally Posted by martini

Well it made me chuckle so thought I'd share!

I have to be honest: my mate thought that one up but it made me laugh so much I decided to pass it off as my own. I've just sent off for my CEVNI study guide and will try the test online at the RYA site soon. Martin said he'd sort me out with a PB level 2 when he's next over. I can take time off at Easter so count me in. I've been in a french lock with a rib; it's not the most pleasent of experiences but I think we'll be ok.

[martini]

Sorry I should've mentioned I've got the RYA European Waterways Regs book here if anyone wants to borrow it.

[Erin]

Originally Posted by GJ0KYZ

I've been in a french lock with a rib; it's not the most pleasent of experiences but I think we'll be ok.

We'll just have to position Martini on the outside of us to act as a buffer . I'm sure he could fend off a large barge if required (even one driven by a Frenchman )

[GJ0KYZ]

Originally Posted by Erin

We'll just have to position Martini on the outside of us to act as a buffer . I'm sure he could fend off a large barge if required (even one driven by a Frenchman )

The main problem I found, on the Rance at least, was a reluctance on behalf of the lock keepers to open the lock for small numbers of pleasure craft. Instead, they waited until a certain number needed to go through or for the arrival of a vedette. All very time consuming..

By the way, were you talking about Matt or Matt's boat?

[martini]

I might get a couple of stickers made up "Maritime Gendarmerie", might speed things along a bit

I've been reading a bit about locks on the Seine and other parts of France, there seems to be a number of different construction types, each with their own hazards. Low sills protruding from the bottom of lock gates, floating bollards that jam up in their runners etc etc.

A common practice seems to be using sheet piling for the lock walls, ie. corrugated shape. The problem there is fenders tend to locate themselves in the "inny" bit, leaving your gunwales up against the "outy" bit. Hence why people use scaffold boards outside of their fenders. Plenty of rib fenders would be a good idea but as smallish boats we should be able to fend ourselves off anything dodgy without too much trouble.

The thing to remember is there's a huge amount of traffic continuously up and down the river, commercial and pleasure. If they can all manage it without too much difficulty then I'm sure we can

[Erin]

Originally Posted by karlT

Some bloke and his lady are getting married on the 29th April.

Not wanting to upstage them, but the real wedding of the year will actually be happening at the end of the following month . It may not be televised (or for that matter get you a day of work ) but it will mean no boating for me for a couple of weeks whilst we're off on honeymoon

[Avocet]

Congratulations! When did that become official?

[Channel Ribs]

Congratulations KnS!

[Erin]

Happy New Year to all, and thanks for the messages.

Originally Posted by Avocet

Congratulations! When did that become official?

We took a weekend break to Istanbul earlier in the year, and the top of Galata Tower made for a memorable location to formalise the engagement. There were no real surprises like in the movies though, as we'd been talking about it for a while.

[Paul Cannell]

Originally Posted by Erin

Not wanting to upstage them, but the real wedding of the year will actually be happening at the end of the following month . It may not be televised (or for that matter get you a day of work ) but it will mean no boating for me for a couple of weeks whilst we're off on honeymoon

Congratulations :-) & the very best wishes for your future lives together.

[Erin]

Thanks Paul. Good choice of photo too - one of my faves from the Alderney cruise.

[Gotchidad]

I noticed this link on the Cap Breizh website. http://www.france-waterways.com/public/index.php Not sure whether these are the same publications referred to elsewhere in the thread, but might be useful.

[diverdad]

Hi all, I see this thread has been going off track a little so I would like to bring it back on track by adding some information.

I sailed from Plymouth to Paris and back to Plymouth in 2001.
We were on a 27ft Moody (bilge keels).

Plymouth-Cherbourg-Le Harve, now the bit you are interested in.

Le Harve- Rouen, Tue 17th July 2001
Left Le Harve Marina sea very lumpy, lots of shallow and banks, tide and wind against us, motor on and only making a couple of knots. Tide against us until Honfluer then easy run. will not make Rouen. Tied up at pontoon overnight near duclair. Arrived Rouen 18th and took the mast down.

Steady progress after this, but with only a small engine and the river current against us it was painfully solw progress.
A good grasp of french language is required for the locks (which we were lacking), but we managed to blunder our way through.

We had a couple of unscheduled stops due to debris round the prop, usually rubble or hessian sacks, we did thump a couple of submerged items (most likley tree trunks), if we were travelling at speed this could have done some damage.
We arrived to the centre of Paris on Saturday 21st July, yes it did take a long time and belive me it felt like it.
We stayed in the marina right in the city centre, it worked out at the pricely sum of £17/ night, this must have been the cheapest accomodation in the city centre at the time!!

We spent a couple of nights here then headed off back, left on 23rd (early) and belive it or not arrived back at Rouen to re step the mast on 25th, going with the current really made all that difference.
The last leg from Rouen to Honfluer we managed in one day and spent the night in Honfluer
This is a truly stunning place and is worth the effort to get there.

We left on 26th early with the fishing fleet, with 10 boats in the lock it was shall we say, interesting! Shashing guys and full of humor and mischief, (they were throwing dead fish at each other).

We arrived back in Plymouth on 1st August after spending some time on the Isle of Wight.

For your trip I can think of only a couple of items you may want to look into.
1, We had to do our CEVNI qualifiation, it was free but we were asked to donate £10 each to the RNLI, (this I was pleased with).
2, You cannot move on the river after it gets dark.
3, You would have to plan your stops and arrange accomodation, unless you plan to sleep on the RIB.
4, I don't know what crime is like there so you would have to leave the RIB at your own risk.
5, A sharp lookout would have to be kept for debris in the water as you would be traveling faster than we were at 5 knots max!!
6, Fuel stops would have to be planned there are a few on the river but you would not want to run out!!


It is in my humble opinion the best way to enter Paris, (by boat). The Marina (Paris Arsenal) is very reasonable and had good facilities although, I don't know what it is like now
We had a book called Paris By Boat, it was a good reference but as you would expect there were some discrepancies, I.E. some shops and services no longer trading etc etc.

If you have any further questions I'll try to answer them.

Good luck

Lee

[GJ0KYZ]

Thanks for that interesting post Lee. By your account I think the trip will take us longer than we think! And I know what you mean about debris in the river. In one or two of the rivers I've been in I've seen lots of stuff ranging from fallen trees to dead cows.

[willk]

Originally Posted by GJ0KYZ

In one or two of the rivers I've been in I've seen lots of stuff ranging from fallen trees to dead cows.

I would imagine that the water is friesian cowld at present...

[martini]

Originally Posted by willk

I would imagine that the water is friesian cowld at present...