Are Dutch inland water tugs (sleepboot) suitable for Mediterranean Aegean sea?

Unfortunately I can't leave for many days because of my work.

 

From Holland to the Med, by rivers and canals . .

Route:
From central Netherlands via the river Maas to Maastricht, then...
La Meuze (is named river Maas in Dutch)
Canal de l'Est (North branch)
Canal de l'Est (South branch)
La Petit Saône, Corre - Auxonne
La Saône
Le Rhône
Med (just west of Marseille)

Charts:
Navicarte Voies Navigables 9 - Canal de 'Est (Maastricht to Corre)
Navicarte Voies Navigables 10 - La Saône et la Seille (Corre to Lyon)
Navicarte Voies Navigables 16 - Le Rhône (Lyon tot the Med)

That's ± 1,200 km and ± 230 locks after Maastricht, which is in south of the Netherlands.

A long but beautifull trip !

 

Here's a Dutch forum in Dutch about boating in France, you could ask for permission to post in English. They could give advice on the route and a skipper, I think many capable retirees would love to do the job as a free holiday of several weeks, or do parts of it, but the whole trip is best to be covered before starting, I believe.

Please post a link here if you start a thread there, so we can follow how you are doing . .

Good luck !

 

Here's an route example on the above linked forum: 1,600 km + 240 locks, not exactly the shortest route, due to works to the waterways at the time, and starting from the Frisian lake the Fluessen, which is almost in the North of the Netherlands, so ± 350 km and 11 locks of those figures were before Maastricht in the Netherlands.

The above link has an email address for info, here some photo galleries on the forum.

Good luck, Yiannis !

 

Dear Angelique you are a real angel!
I have already mailed to the guy in the dutch forum, I look forward for his response

 

Hi Yiannis, please keep us posted about your progress . .

Good luck !

 

For the proposed delivery I would favor the eastern route. Up the Rhine, then Rhine-Main-Danube canal, then down the Danube to Cernavoda and then the Danube-Black Sea canal to Constanta. From there to Greece via the Bosphorus.
The western route is shorter on the canals, but after you exit the Rhone you have the Cote d'Azure and the whole lenght of Italy to go down, around it and then up to Athens. The boat is not a deep sea one, you can not take the direct route from France to Sicilly, you will have to make it coastal. The eastern route depends less on the weather.

On the other hand considering that such a vessel takes 25-30l of diesel an hour and has a cruising speed of 15km/h it will cost around 1000 euros/500km to operate. Add paying the skipper and one crew for at least a month, maybe two, food, berthing fees and other consumables that might be necessary and the shipping quote starts to be reasonable.

 

If the distance is about 1200 km, that makes about 80 hours. Unless the crew spends a lot of time partying at the bars, four days should do it.

 

About 1,400 km from central Netherlands is only to Marseille, and ± 230 old locks take a lot of time too, plus often you also have to wait for the locks opening hours, and then the Med has yet to come, going East along the French Côte d'Azur and then rounding Italy before heading for Greece. Rumars' above post makes a lot of sense in this regard, comparative calculations about all options are in place here, especially since there is a lot more risk in a long route by a hired or volunteered crew, compared to shipping her to Greece.

 

Gonzo 1400km on Europe's canals is at least 10 days, probably more. A lot of the canals have a 10km/h speedlimit. When you have to pass 1-3 locks a day you can be glad if you make 100km. A lot of locks have operating hours, so driving the boat by night is usually possible only on the big rivers and commercial canals. Basicly non-stop till you drop is not an option for pleasure boating (actually the profesionals also have limits, like truck drivers on the road).
Going coastal from Marseille to the tip of Italy is another 1500km and then at least another 1000 to Athens. A grand total of around 2000 nautical miles done at a speed of 5-8kn. The Western Med can be unpredictable so you have to plan for some harbour days waiting for weather windows. You have to be lucky and have a profesional delivery crew and a well prepared vessel to do this trip in a month.
On the eastern route there are less locks, you can go higher speed, drive at night more often and have less coastal and open sea.

 

Sounds like a big deal to me, getting the thing home. And that is without some mechanical issue emerging.