Le Canal de Bourgogne

Is there a mooring at Misy-sur-Yonne? The WwG has the nearest at Coulanges. If you get as far as Misy, why not continue to the good mooring at Montereau, which is a pleasant town with Napoleonic history and a lovely church?

The lowest bridge on the northern side of the Nivernais is at Mailly-la-Ville. It's flat and the clearance is 3.2 m in normal water. If canal levels are low, the clearance would be greater but you would likely have to dismount your excess air draft.

It always helps in such a discussion to have the raw airdraft supplemented by the width of the upper structures - some bridges are significantly curved so the raw airdraft is almost useless when making critical evaluations/decisions.

Ian

Lisette & Ian
Catharina Elisabeth

Thanks Cliff - By "you'll not get north of Auxerre",  I hope you mean south of Auxerre!  We will be starting from Auxerre and anticipate our 3.3m air draft will get us north to Misy maybe (I believe the latter section near the Seine is heavily industrialised and not pretty), and if time permits an excursion onto the Bourgogne, maybe to Tonnerre.  

Peter

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Thank you everyone for your helpful replies. Like Peter we will have to drop the canopy and screen on the Nivernais to reduce our air draft to 2.7m but we thought we would give it a go. What we can't change is our depth of course. 
I'm hoping to traverse the Bourgogne next spring when it should be ok for depth but maybe full of weed. Fingers crossed!

Sine the end of August VNF having been saying 1.2 metres depth from Migennes to Veneray. I think there would be a lot more than this from Migennes to Germigny (first lock above St Florentin). Thereafter may be around this (1.2) in places (notably in the biefs approaching Tonerre). Probably not a lot of difference with the Nivernais above Clamecy. 

Re height on the Bourgogne, the bridge above the basin at Tonerre is the test. Obviously depends on water levels in the basin; at 2.8m I sometimes chickened out and took the mast down.

Paul
Lanson Duchess

Peter
With that beam and air draft you'll not get north of Auxerre with the windscreen up. We have to lower our mast to 2.9mts at 3.5mt beam.  To get to Auxerre your boat must have come up the Yonne, so going downstream from there should not cause you any problems. 

The French Waterways website has useful detail on max air draft, width and depth, depending on which stretch of the Nivernais you are on:

[url] www.french-waterways.com/waterways/central/canal-nivernais/#:~:text=Information%20about%20the%20174km%20long,to%20the%20Loire%20at%20Decize .[/url]

However, be aware that even where the stated depth is given as 1.7 between Auxerre and Clamecy we have frequently touched, with a draft of 1.2, so it is very dependent on the prevailing conditions.

Judy Evans
MV Mon Amie

Hi Cliff - I'll be taking over my boat from a co-owner in Auxerre on 18 Sept. We had provisionally planned to go north and return to Auxerre for the winter, after 2 weeks or so, maybe with an excursion along the top end of Bourgogne if time allows.  I'd really like to sample the Nivernais - I've never visited either the Yonne or Nivernais, but I suspect our air draft may be too great for the Nivernais.  We need 3.3 - 3.4m before having to dismantle the windscreen, something I'm not keen on at this time of year.  

Are you familiar with the sections from Auxerre to Clemcy and if so, what's the air draft limit on this section? I have no charts at home.   Draft is only 1.1m and beam 4.5m.  Any other suggestions appreciated.

Thanks  Peter

I don't know about the Bougogne, but I can tell you the Nivernais is fine on Yonne side from Auxerre to Clemcy.  It may be OK beyond that later as some repair work is happening to a lock south of Clemcy. I'm in Auxerre at the moment. 

We're about to return to Migennes (Evans Marine) for our autumn tour. Had expected the Bourgogne to be short of water for a run up to Tanlay. We draw 1.15m so am I being too pessimistic or do you think we'd be ok?
Our alternative is the Nivernais down to Chatel Censoir but that also may be a no no.
Any thoughts? 
Peter Fall 

Hello Peter,

The stretch up to St Florentin from Migennes is not the best advert for the Bourgogne. If you go that way then worth the extra days to Tonnerre, Tanlay and (if Chateau are your thing) Ancy Le Franc. 

Wider comment to original post - the strech from Germigny (just above St Florentin) is fed (with water) separately to the rest of the canal, hence (in part) why it generally remains open when the rest of the canal closes - even if it's only on request. For the remainder of the western side, it generally closes from the tunnel / Veneray / Tonnerre down in sequence. For those short of a winter mooring in the area I can recommend St Florentin.

Paul
Lanson Duchess 

Thanks Judy

We are already booked at Auxerre so should be OK for us.

I visited Moret and travelled the Loing, Loire, etc several years ago.  Indeed a lovely spot, but I suspect we may keep to the Yonne this time, but probably continue to Misy-sur-Yonne if the stretch past Sens is worth a visit.  Then, again if it's an attractive proposition, an excursion onto the Bourgogne as far as St-Florentin probably.  I'm using McKnight's somewhat out-of-date guide for my planning so any more recent suggestions very welcome.  We could take down the windscreen panels to shimmy under the Nivernais bridges but I'm inclined to leave that waterway for a future trip, maybe in a rental boat.

Peter

Peter,

I can highly recommend going to St Mammes and Moret sur Loing, as well as Samois sur Seine if you have time. Sens is lovely ☺️

Judy Evans
MV Mon Amie

Be aware that there is a ‘scrummage’ developing for spaces in Auxerre following the Bourgogne threat of closure … if you’ve not already booked but are contemplating it you need to get cracking 😆😜😆

Judy Evans
MV Mon Amie (in Auxerre ☺️)

Good news you can switch winter locations.  In fact, my boat is wintering in Auxerre, arranged by co-owner, so may see you there! 

It's a part of France I've not yet visited so looking for a 2-week there-and-back trip from Auxerre.  Unfortunately the Nivernais is probably not available as bridge heights too low, so probably to Sens or somewhere beyond and an excursion onto the Bourgogne (if open) to St-Florentin maybe.  Any other suggestions very welcome.

Peter

And that's what we just did. Luckily our moorage in Auxonne will slide over to next year and we will winter in Auxerre for this year. 
It's a sliding pieces game, with this many moving parts. 

>  We chose to turn around, rather than strand our partners in Migennes.

An alternative would be to winter at Auxerre or some other location accessable from the western end of the Bourgogne.  In that case, your handover could remain at Migennes.  I suggest that only because I am picking up my boat from co-owners at Auxerre in mid-Sept and wintering there after a 2-week local cruise.  

Peter

The word we got from the VNF staff was that they weren't sure what was going to happen. They said we would have no trouble getting to Migennes, but they did not think the Yonne side of the canal would be open when our partners would have been trying to return our boat to SJDL. A few of the VNF people we talked with didn't expect the Yonne side to be open after the first of the month.

We chose to turn around, rather than strand our partners in Migennes.

I'll be watching this, as our plan is use that canal to get it out winter mooring in Auxonne. 
Is your impression that the canal would close and that's the end of the season? Or was your info incomplete and it would re-open once the water levels increased? 
This is our first time in the French canals and so I'm unfamiliar with how it works with re-opening during the season. 

We are currently at Pouilly-en-Axois. We were talking with a boat coming up from the Yonne side who said he had been told by the VNF that the Burgundy canal would be closing in the next week or two.  Checking with the SJDL VNF office we were told no problem going from SJDL to Migennes would be easy to do as the canal would be open till October 31.

The éclusier here said it all depends on the water there is no date in mind at this time, but it could close early.  Anyone have any more concrete information?
We are headed to Migennes to hand our boat off to partners on Sept 13. They are planning to take it back to SJDL for winter storage. If it's going to close we'll turn around so they aren't stuck on the Yonne side.

Any info is appreciated
Thanks
Michael
Canal Boat Juniper