The French legislation does not require navigation licences for rental periods under 15 days and for boats that do not exceed 12km/hr.
Initial instruction, both theoretical and practical, is given at the point of embarkation, enabling you to master your boat quickly and grasp the essential rules of navigation. You will then be given a licence which is valid for the duration of your stay.

As soon as you arrive at the base and are installed in your boat, a technician will come on board to explain the workings of the boat to you. You will be given a course of instruction in piloting and shown how to manoeuvre the boat. You will then have an opportunity to ask any questions that you wish. In no time at all, you will be feeling quite at home at the helm and familiar with the handling of the boat.

Nowadays there are hardly any barges on our canals and rivers so there is no problem regarding this type of traffic. There are the occasional hotel barges which have priority at all times, also at locks. Avoid going too near to the hotel barges, particularly when they are in the process of mooring or turning.

We envisage offering navigation training courses in the future. This will entail a half day course or a course for a few hours depending on demand. We would be interested in knowing what you think about this new approach and whether or not you would be interested in participating. These courses will not be exclusively for Navigfrance customers, other future boat pilots could take part in the training as well.