JANUARY 14, 2020
TRS: CANAL CRUISING
IN EUROPE
DAN LARSON
We had a great and informative discussion lead by Dan Larson
about canal cruising in Europe. Dan
indicated that there are two main chartering firms in France and most of Europe,
Locaboat and Leboat. Dan and his wife
Nancy cruised in France out of the town Agen.
The boats offered are about 33 feet long with a 12 foot beam and cost
about $1700 Euros for one week. There are
no requirements for qualifications to rent the boats.
Their trip started into Paris and where they traveled south
to Tolouse then took a train to Agen to pick up the boat. Their trip took place in September 2016. From Agen, you can go upstream or downstream. At the time of their trip, they went upstream
because there was not enough water downstream.
Dan said the boat was easily managed by two people, but could accommodate
up to 6 people. The boats travel at about 5 MPH and they motored for 3 hours a
day travelling about 15 miles per day.
He found it best to make a quick trip one way on the canal, prioritizing
which places they wanted to spend more time on the way back. Dan said there was not much traffic on the
canal and saw only a few boats daily.
The canal is frequently about 30 feet wide so passing other boats could
be a tight squeeze.
They enjoyed the wine tasting and had the full range of
weather from very warm to rainy weather.
There was no issue with security which allowed them to use the bikes to
travel to and from towns that were close to the canal.
After Dan’s presentation, Todd Johnson offered his perspective
on canal cruising in Belgium. Todd said
in Belgium you can frequently dock your boat in the center of towns. Todd said that Belgium is famous for Beer,
and France is famous for wine. Todd also
said that Belgium was very crowded with many more boats than Dan describes in
France.
The last nugget of information may explain the difference in
traffic on the canals. It is a fact that
all of Europe takes the month of August off for vacation. If Todd was travelling in August he would
have much more traffic than Dan had travelling in September.
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Next Tuesday we will have a presentation by Mike Gross titled
“Race committee 101”. This will be about
conducting races and all that goes into it:
In mid-February Santa Cruz Yacht Club will be hosting a US Sailing One Day Race
Management Seminar for folks interested in improving their sailboat race
management skills or certifying as a Club Race Officer.
Separate from the formal training seminar, an introductory ‘Race Committee 101’
talk will be offered on Tuesday January 21, 2020 at 6:00 PM to anyone
interested in a better understanding of sailboat race management, competitors
and race officers alike.
US Sailing’s Race Committee 101 is a free, informative and engaging 90-minute
talk and PowerPoint that takes beginners through basic race committee concepts
such as types of boats and racing, the purpose and duties of the race
committee, equipment and jobs of the race committee and what to expect out on
the water. “RC 101” is not a training course, but it does provide an overview
of race committee functions for those who are interested in learning more.
If you are a race committee
newbie, a race committee chair, a race management instructor or a yacht club
leader, you may be interested in attending the presentation before committing
to a formal training class or seminar.
The upper clubhouse and bar will not be open, the talk will be presented in the
lower room. The grill will be fired-up from 5:00 to 5:45 if you would care to
bring something simple to grill.
This presentation will be an excellent way to get an
understanding of what happens on the administration side of regattas.
See you next Tuesday
Barry Keeler
Sailing Pair A Dice
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