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31st July 2010
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You can't just get in a boat and go!Sailing on Lake Eguzon - a reader's advice
John Southworth and his wife Linda live in a house on the edge of the beautiful Lake Eguzon. Wanting to take advantage of living near the water, they bought a boat earlier this year. Coming from the UK, where rules on boating on inland waterways are minimal, they thought they would just be able to launch their boat and enjoy their days out. John reports... Having purchased a fishing/leisure boat in the summer of this year (we live close to the shores of Lac Chambon, or Lac d'Eguzon as it is also known), I assumed that launching it on the water would be a matter of going to the slipway at Fougères plages and putting it in. Of course, this being France, nothing could be further from the truth. I soon realised that to use a powered boat on inland waterways (including rivers and canals) with an engine capacity of over 6 h.p. entails completing a practical boating course over four weekends plus sessions in the classroom.
The culmination of this is a theory examination of multiple choice questions which takes place in the mairie in Eguzon, followed by a practical examination back at the lake. This lake seems to be the main centre of such activity in the Department as there were people from Issoudun, Le Blanc and Chateauroux on the course and at the examination centre. It is also possible to complete a boating at sea course which is not as intensive. The training staff were based at Chambon at the Ski Club D'Eguzon and it is there that I made my initial application for the course. Pasqual is the contact and the usual documentation is necessary, i.e. proof of identity, 2 photographs etc. Once there are sufficient numbers (only 2 in my case!), the course starts with lessons on the practical points of using a powered boat on inland waterways. The classroom is at the ski centre and I was given a manual to learn (rather like a highway code), a CD to take away and download onto my computer which contained sample question and answer sessions, plus an answer book for the questions in the manual. I am afraid that the instructor has very little English so a fairly good knowledge of French is required both for the training and for the exam. (Mine improved somewhat over the weeks.) Weekend sessions are Saturday and Sunday 9 a.m. to around 4 p.m. with the usual break for lunch. The practical examination takes place in the school's boat with an examiner from Argenton. The skills are fairly basic, complete a figure of eight, approach a buoy as if you are docking at a landing stage, rescue a 'man overboard' from the water, reverse for some distance, and finally safely park the boat back at the school jetty.
Our intention is to use our boat for lazy days in the quieter months for picnics, fishing and bimbling up to Crozant for lunch, dinner or whatever. Beyond the campsite at Fougeres the lake opens out into a totally uncommercialised stretch of water, very reminiscent of New England scenery.
Beyond this area, speed restrictions apply in both directions. (10 kph.) I haven't yet had the opportunity to explore beyond Crozant along the River Creuse but I am pretty certain it is navigable for some distance. For anyone interested, the Eguzon Ski Club telephone number is : 02 54 47 43 86 Anyone who wishes to pick my brain can e-mail me on j.southworth@wanadoo.fr or telephone : 02 54 47 21 68. John SOUTHWORTH Tourism and Leisure in the Indre Home Page Looking for a property in France? Use FrenchEntrée's Property Finders to help you find your property and to help you through the buying process 
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