EuroCanals.mobi website now online

January 15, 2012: A new service is now available from EuroCanals, a website designed for smartphones and tablets (it also works well on laptops/desktops, except that the display is unusually large.) This is at the request of several cruising members who do not carry a laptop on the boat and prefer to use their smartphone regularly. The service is intended for use by EuroCanals Subscribers, although some pages can be accessed by the interested public, such as a glossary of CEVNI signs and lights.

The Home screen is shown at left. The country maps for France, Belgium and the Netherlands lead to an enlarged map of the country, then to individual pages for the most popular canals and rivers.

The icon titled "Closures/Delays" is available to all viewers; it opens a page describing urgent notices on the waterways of the three countries; for example, in the summer of 2011 the Canal des Vosges was abruptly closed for several days when the gate of a lock failed. Such notices would assist travelers in planning an alternate route.

"Notices/Comments" is for subscribers only, offering news, notices from waterway authorities and messages from subscribers.

"Send E-Mail" is a link to write to EuroCanals with questions, comments or messages for posting in the "Notices/Comments" pages.

At left is the map of France with zones to select detailed pages for that region. Tapping or clicking on Eastern France opens the page shown at left below. That page offers substantial information in itself, showing the network of waterways and the location of fuel stations. A tap/click on the map line or the title of a specific waterway opens the page shown below.

There are, at the startup of this website, 55 pages detailing a canal, river or waterway intersection (more will be coming for France, Belgium and the Netherlands.)

A map, elevation chart, dimensional data and operating schedule form the top of the page. Then there are active telephone links for assistance from authorities. Beneath the map is a table of fuel station locations, with directions to find the station and a telephone number to confirm that the station is open and can serve the type of fuel needed.

The rest of the page is a list of all ports and haltes along the waterway, with telephone numbers (all numbers shown in blue should dial the call when tapped) and a note of the facilities available, along with the price for an overnight stay and the length of boats accepted, if applicable.

Shown at the bottom of this page is an example of the CEVNI signs; the page continues down, displaying 43 of the most common signs and lights seen on European waterways.

Try the new website: eurocanals.mobi

Read about a subscription to EuroCanals Guides