Homps, a Le Boat Base

Homps was for a long time an active trading port where barrels of Minervois and Corbieres wine were loaded for transport to Bordeaux. In Roman times, a road ran through Homps, the village then called Aldomus.

For canal boaters, Homps is one of the few port areas on the Canal du Midi that is wide enough for longer canal boats to turn around. Homps also serves as a Le Boat Base, offering electrical hookups and water to re-fill boat water tanks. Shower and laundry facilities are also available at the base. A lovely pedestrian bridge, painted in blue, crosses the canal to access the main part of the village from the Le Boat Base.

Boaters who cruise the open seas are often surprised to learn that canal boats are very basic when it comes to equipment for operation and navigation. There is no compass, no depth sounder, no radio, and no GPS locator or chart plotter. This equipment is not really necessary as you can’t get lost; you’re either going upstream or downstream. Cell phone reception is good and water depth in the Canal du Midi remains pretty consistent around 5 feet. Depths can very, however, according to season and river flow. While the depth is shallow, you don’t want to fall-in! there are very few waste pumpout services for boats along the Canal du Midi.

For navigation and planning, boat rental companies provide guidebooks depicting locks, bridges, and towns along the canals, with some basic how-to information. 

Homps is a Le Boat Charter Base

Electrical Hook-ups at Homps Le Boat Base

It is common practice to keep fenders around the boat at all times, and to use the bow-thruster to help straighten the boat when going through narrow passages under bridges and entering the locks. We soon learned that if you are the first boat in the lock going up stream, you might not want to pull all the way forward unless you want your boat washed with a stream of canal water as they open the gate! Care should also be taken when standing above the lock walls, it’s a long way down. We also reminded ourselves not to get our fingers underneath wrapped lines, it’s a great way to lose some fingers.

A mind set of slowing down makes cruising the canals more enjoyable. We had to remind ourselves not to be in a hurry; we were on vacation, and cruising the canals is all about relaxing over wine and a good meal, and taking in the sights at a leisure pace. Boaters should keep in mind that chartered boats from Le Boat reach a top speed of only 5 miles an hour, so plan accordingly; people can walk or bicycle the towpaths faster! The boat has a "governor" so you can't go any faster.