‘Regatta’ promotes Serb canals

Radomir  Ječinac  reports from Belgrade, Serbia, on the ‘regatta’ (flotilla cruise) organised on the canals and waterways of Serbia in June/July 2012.

Remember IWI’s annual World Canals Conference held in Serbia, in the beautiful city of Novi Sad on the Danube, in 2009? The host, Vode Vojvodine (Vojvodina waters) is an all-important institution in our country, which was founded to manage the network of artificial canals in this relatively flat province in northern Serbia. When the Irish boat Aquarelle entered Serbia in July of that year (encouraged by WCC co-host Danube Propeller), and Mike and Rosaleen Miller asked for permission to cruise through the Vojvodina canals, this was en eye-opener for Vode Vojvodine, who were encouraged to give official status to what was previously an informal gathering of domestic boaters each year.

VV Regatta Route 2012

Itinerary for the 11-day cruise, including some of the lesser-used canals

The event has since gone from strength to strength, and I joined this year’s regatta, with a full programme to delight Serb boaters for 11 days (see map, left), from June 24 to July 4. This was the 4th to be organized by VV: 10 stages in 11 days over 300km of canals between Novi Sad and Bezdan. Ah, Bezdan! We heave a sigh at every mention of the name, because the entrance lock here from the Danube is still closed. We still had our moneys’ worth, though, since these 300 km represent half of the Vojvoodina network.

Warned that the number of boats had to be limited, the skippers of some 90 motor cruisers and dayboats of all possible types and sizes, 250 people in all, sent their booking forms as soon as the event was announced! Mothers and fathers of families, to say nothing of the Dog‘, as Jerome K. Jerome remarked. There were couples with children who had barely started walking.

Regatta enters the main canal at Novi Sad

Nearly 90 boats enter the main canal at Novi Sad, approaching the first lock on the cruise

Nearly half the  boats came from afar, boat harbours on the Danube or Tisa, for example: from Belgrade, Zemun, Pancevo, Smederevo, Novi Bečej on the Tisa, not afraid of all the extra kilometres and the strong current of the Danube to reach the starting point at Novi Sad. One sizeable boat came from Vukovar, Croatia, thus giving the event its international character.

The regatta’s Commodore was Mirjana Živković, hydrotechnical engineer at VV, petite, a bundle of energy with bright black eyes, tireless and ubiquitous, participating in the regatta herself with her boat and family, ‘to say nothing of the dog’ in this case also! She had to deal with a complex organization: locks, free passage for participating vessels, technical and first aid teams, municipal receptions for participants, refreshments and local cuisine, al fresco meals along the canals, folklore programs, minimum supplies by itinerant merchants, etc.). For us Serbs, with a litre of diesel costing €1.50, and average monthly wages between 300 and 400 euros, the benefits of organised navigation are obvious.

On pages 35 and 36 of the European Waterways Map and Directory (2008 edition) we read of the attraction of this annual regatta for Serbian boaters. IWI can therefore congratulate itself for having contributed in a way to what is now the biggest navigation event in Serbia.

Backi Monostor floating bridge

Backi Monostor floating bridge on one of the little-used canals on the VV system

VV Regatta mooring

The author beside his boat at a quiet mooring in Bezdan

Chanaz harbour an ill-conceived development?

It is sad how ideas conceived with the best of intentions by local politicians sometimes go hopelessly wrong because their implementation is dictated by trends and political expediency.
Visiting Chanaz on May 6, I discovered this impressive addition to what is already a superb site, and one of my top 10 waterside villages in France. This is at the western end of the Canal de Savières which links the upper river Rhône to Lake Bourget.
You see this ‘lakeside village’ and think ‘the architects had fun there’. You see hundreds of people enjoying the site on a glorious May day. Then your attention is drawn to the fine pontoons complete with water and electricity points. And you wonder why none of the chalets has been rented, and why there are no boats in the harbour?

New Chanaz harbour

New harbour and pontoons, but no boats

Then comes the explanation… and the disappointment, at least on the second observation. Access to this idyllic harbour is open to electrically-powered boats only (as well as unpowered craft), as shown by the sign on the swing-bridge over the harbour entrance.

The only electric boats present in the region are open boats for hire by the hour, and would not be clients for such an installation. So it seems that the mayor and his council have either been misled by the designers of the project, or have given in to pressure from environmentalists or government departments.

By excluding nearly all powered craft, the harbour and its pontoons are rendered practically useless, and that part of the total investment of EUR 1.8 million will be sadly wasted, while the ‘regular’ moorings along the backwater of the Rhône at Chanaz are fully occupied with many boats on the waiting list.  European regulations on boat engine emissions and noise (through the technical requirements for inland waterway craft) are increasingly stringent, so excluding boats from this harbour is a misguided choice.