1,5 de calado, 3,3 mts de altura y 5,45 de ancho. Esto es lo que dicen las guías que se mantiene a lo largo del canal, pero hay que tomarlo con mucha precaución.
Los 2 pilots:
Using a pilot-guide book is strongly recommended: Breil Guides or
Fluviacarte (Navicarte) Guides.
Más info por ejemplo, en:
http://www.french-waterways.com/waterways/midi.html
Canal du Midi : Cruising in Detail
Information about the 241km of canal from the Etang de Thau to Toulouse. There are 65 ecluses (locks) all oval in shape, many of them double or triple chambered. From PK241 les Onglous (at the etang) the canal rises 190m from sea-level through 50 ecluses to the watershed at la Segala, then falls 56m through 15 ecluses to the port de l’Embouchure at Toulouse. The
Canal du Midi together with the
Canal de Garonne (the renamed Canal lateral a la Garonne), forms the ‘canal des deux mers’ (the canal of the two seas – the Mediterranean and the Atlantic).
The Midi is one of the world’s wonders, commenced in 1665 thanks to the initiative and skill of
Pierre-Paul Riquet, the most significant ingredient of which was his strategy for keeping the canal’s summit supplied with water, from the Black Mountain 20km away, via a feeder canal. This had been the fatal problem for a scheme that had been discussed with Leonardo da Vinci 150 years earlier. Riquet is an honoured hero to this day, in
Languedoc. Riquet had the essential enthusiastic support of the King’s chief military engineer de Clerville and the abilities of his own engineer Andreossy but he also had the surprisingly significant expertise of a group of 1,000 peasant women labourers from the Pyrenees with a centuries old tradition of practical water management. The omni-present oval-shaped ecluses themselves are testament – their arched shape is inherently strong against the sideways force from the excavated or built-up ground. The total workforce peaked at 12,000; it was the 17th century’s biggest construction engineering project.
This delightful canal’s green waters twist and turn through the countryside, following the contours, bordered by an avenue of thousands of plane trees whose exposed roots interlock at the water’s edge, reinforcing the banks. The canal passes through a great number of wine growing areas, including the Herault, the Aude, Minervois and Corbieres. You will also see many fields of sunflowers.
The Midi has just cause to be popular and it is. During the season hundreds of hire boats travel to and fro, not always completely sure of what they’re doing, particularly in the ecluses (tricky enough for more experienced boaters) that are subject to a perpetual overflow waterfall noisily cascading over the upper gates. It pays to be somewhat ‘on guard’ when sharing a lock with hire boats. The quantity of hirers naturally increases during the ‘grandes vacances’ in July and August. Thefts from this tempting array of targets are not unusual – lock up!
See also
general notes (foot of page).
Basic Information
- Approximate minimum depth 1.50m, headroom 3.3m, width 5.45m. These are the ‘book’ values and may vary according to conditions. The ‘real’ depth of the Midi is the subject of seemingly constant debate because it varies according to season (governing the amount of water available to feed into the canal), nature and location. Some stretches are highly prone to either silting or to falling leaves forming a ‘soft bed’ that can be ploughed through but which certainly reduces the actual water depth. As in most other waterways, the given depth is the middle of the channel; the sides may be noticeably less deep and this may affect ‘coming alongside’ especially if one has twin bilge keels or twin propellors. The final factor is that on the ‘down’ side of an ecluse the outgoing water scours a depression immediately outside the gate but then deposits that silt a short way beyond as a ‘bar’.
- The canal carries virtually no commercial traffic. It does, however, have a number of converted peniche hotel-barges travelling along it. Naturally, they are big and if you meet one coming round a bend on a ‘tight’ section you will need to be careful. We’ve never had a problem, they are all skippered very responsibly. Hire boats that go too fast and/or on the wrong side are another matter.
- The speed limit is 8kph, 3kph past moored boats.
- Most, if perhaps not all, simple ecluses are now (2011) user-operated. There is a control panel at the lock-side with buttons. Crew must be let off in advance of the lock in order to press the appropriate button actually to prepare and open the lock-gates before a boat can enter. Once moored, a button is pressed once more to empty/fill the chamber, etc. Reports indicate queues of boats waiting to pass through ecluses, where once eclusiers would ‘encourage’ (sometimes vigorously) boats in so as to fill them as well as managing the actual operation.
- The Canal du Midi is part of the south-west region of the VNF, one of the most energetic and go-ahead.
- Using a pilot-guide book is strongly recommended: Breil Guides or Fluviacarte (Navicarte) Guides.