We are planning to hire a boat in Carcassonne and go to Homps and back in 5 days. Is this feasible? I know this is one of the prettiest parts of the canal but is it difficult. We are a couple with 2 kids. Any information would be most appreciated. Thanks!
Barb (Vancouver, BC)
Posted by
Pensacola
9110 posts
The whole operation is simple and easy. The key to a good trip is stopping frequently and often. If the waterway is crowded, plan on stopping early for the night to get a choice spot. I'd double-check five days - - most rental durations that I've seen are for 3, 4, 7, 10, or 14 days. Not 5. The boat hire company would be the one to tell you if a distance is possible in a set time. They will also be able to tell you, with surprising accuracy, how many hours a run will take. Glancing at a map, it looks like about sixty miles for the round trip. The boats are goverened to about three miles per hour, so you're looking at something like twenty hours total. It's not as simple as dividing five into twenty and saying you have to be moving four hours a day. Typically, you pick up the boat in the afternoon, but receive some instruction, etc, first - - so you can only get in an hour or so of movment that day. You can't do much the day you turn the boat in since you almost have to be back to the marina the night before to make the turn-in time. My only run on the Midi was end-to-end helping a friend move a sailboat a good while back, other than that, I've only seen that segement from the road. I've stayed off of the Midi with rental boats since it gets really crowded. I've done a few of the other waterways in France as well as elsewhere - - it's great fun. Edit: I don't know if there are any locks on that segment. If there are, you'll need to figure that a lock transit takes about a much time as one mile of free running. It could take a heck of a lot more if there's a line of boats waiting to enter a lock.