Boat Rental Recommendations Please

> On a more positive note, one-way A-to-B rentals/hires are quite possible from most fleets, but not always and not everywhere. There is also, usually, a price premium.

Thanks James. I imagine that single-base companies would not offer one-way rentals unless one paid for someone to collect and return the boat, but multi-base companies should offer this at a modest extra charge, as they do in for example for sailing rentals in Greek waters.

Peter

I won't rise to that one , save to comment that without those irritating plastic (some) hire/rental/self-drive boats the French canals network would be a very different, greatly diminished, thing. 
On a more positive note, one-way A-to-B rentals/hires are quite possible from most fleets, but not always and not everywhere. There is also, usually, a price premium. 

James Newcombe wrote:

Incidentally, it's interesting that terminology varies . . . hire boats are variously called - 
Germany - houseboats / hausboot
America - rental boats

And by some members here, rather despairingly as "Tupperware boats"!

Peter

Incidentally, it's interesting that terminology varies . . . hire boats are variously called - 
Germany - houseboats / hausboot
America - rental boats
We have tended to call them self-drive boats, but our contact at Le Boat returned from a show in the U.S earlier this year to report that 'self-drive' = they drive themselves without human intervention . . (like self driving cars)

Just to chip in some FW links and a few comments . . .

• Overview and FAQs with onward links including by boat type and region -  www.french-waterways.com/boating-holiday...re-boating-holidays/  
• Search widget -  www.french-waterways.com/boating-holiday...-self-drive-holiday/

We have excellent relationships with our four hire fleet partners. Le Boat are the most professional with the biggest fleet (the Vision could indeed be a pig to steer, but the newer Horizon series are excellent), Locaboat the friendliest (and Pènichettes of all dates and sizes are very good) and Nicols have their own, particular style of aft-deck boats. France Fluviale have a 'barge type' boat, the Euroclassic (but some folks find them difficult to control)but also the superior quality Linssen cruisers (as do Locaboat). 

Peter Cawson wrote:

> It is well-known that one reason why rental-boat pilots speed is that in addition to the rental cost they are also charged by the engine running hours. It my friend's case this was about 19 euros / hour.. Ouch!

I've said this before, but I think charging for engine hour use should be outlawed, though I'm not sure who could do this unless there's an Association of Charter Boat Operators. It encourages speeding and his results in high canal bank maintenance, inconvenience to other waterway users and damage to moored small boats. Charteres pay for the fuel they use and engine R&M should be covered by the basic rental cost.<




In my days (decades!) operating hire boats on the U.K. canals fuel charging was a common discussion at APCO (Association of Pleasure Craft Operators)  meetings. Some charged by the gallon, some (including us) included fuel in the hire fee. One argument in favour of fuel  charges then was that if fuel was “free” people would cruise faster and further!

That was in the days of red diesel at nothing per gallon, but the legal problem was that we could not meter the fuel used accurately enough to satisfy Weights & Measures law. Hence we gave it away, and saved a bit of petty administration as well.

Our answer to speeding  was to fit hidden “throttle” stops under the Morse controls to physically limit available engine power. Enough in forward and a bit more in astern. The physical stops also prevented the hirers leaning on the control lever and breaking the cables. Of course the governing didn’t work in every section of waterway but it helped reduce the worst excesses of wash.

We were always very careful to educate people on the relevant laws of canal hydrodynamics. More power = more wash and very possibly less actual speed over the ground (although it might feel faster). Unfortunately hirer training has never seemed to be a priority with French hire fleets!

Balliol.

 

> It is well-known that one reason why rental-boat pilots speed is that in addition to the rental cost they are also charged by the engine running hours. It my friend's case this was about 19 euros / hour.. Ouch!

I've said this before, but I think charging for engine hour use should be outlawed, though I'm not sure who could do this unless there's an Association of Charter Boat Operators. It encourages speeding and his results in high canal bank maintenance, inconvenience to other waterway users and damage to moored small boats. Charteres pay for the fuel they use and engine R&M should be covered by the basic rental cost.

Peter

Prompted by Balliol's comments I quizzed my friend (who has considerable boating experience) on his experiences with the Vision 4 SL. He said the boat was basically in good condition but had handling issues. He also thought the boat 'handled like a pig '-  due to high windage, a flat bottom and mechanical design flaws. The boat's engine drives a hydraulic pump and the prop drive and bow and stern thrusters are all driven by hydraulic motors. Even though the bow and stern thrusters were quite weak there was a problem with the hydraulic balancing as, if a thruster was activated with the engine at idle revs it would stall. Just what you need when entering a lock in a crosswind! See Balliol's comments about hull damage!

It is well-known that one reason why rental-boat pilots speed is that in addition to the rental cost they are also charged by the engine running hours. It my friend's case this was about 19 euros / hour.. Ouch!
Trevor

Thanks for all the replies and PMs with lots of useful information.   I'll be looking at all these suggestions.

Midi - Either early May (hopefully not too hectic then) or October seem best, and thanks for info on the nicest stretches.  If a one-way between Castelnaudary and Homps is possible, I guess a 2-week charter could take us via Capestang or maybe Toulouse without too much doubling back.

Nivernais – The one-way rental from Migennes to Tannay sounds ideal.  Otherwise I guess it’s from bases in Auxerre or Vermention.  Balliol – I’m aware of the “skaters”, including some that were built in Reading for the Vermenton base.  In fact it was one of these France Afloat boats exhibited (in the water!) at a Southampton Boat Show that sparked my interest in EU inland waterways.

Mecklenburg Lakes – Great information, thanks.  Any experience with Yachtcharter Romer who seem to have 3 or 4 bases?  I ask because (believe it or not) I had a small hand in the design of their Aquanaut “flagship”.  At “from €2443 per week”, possibly a rather expensive option.

Peter

Trevor,

Some may be interested in your friend's recollections of the Vision 4, specifically how it handled and how reliable it was. I had some dealings with these boats about 4 years ago and gathered the impression that they were pigs to handle (as evidenced by colossal fendering damage on all examples I saw) and that they had severe reliability problems with the hybrid drive / steerable drive pod installations.

At that time Le Boat were commencing a programme of refitting many of these boats (at vast expense) with a far more traditional shaft drive / rudder propulsion system, but the handling of these boats might still be an issue given the lack of innate lateral stability in the hull form of this high-windage shallow draught design. As originally built these boats were fitted with twin steel deep fin keels to give some degree of lateral stability but in most cases I saw these had inevitably ripped off and were not being replaced.

My further impression was that if choosing a boat from this fleet the earlier Norfolk Broads built types (with long keels) were likely to be far superior from a handling point of view.

Balliol.