At 480 kilometers long the Saône river is one of the most important river navigations in France and the town of Port sur Saône is to be found on the upper reaches often referred to as the Petite Saône. The upper Saône river is a joy to navigate with French countryside and culture at every turn. Port sur Saône is also where you will find the boat yard and marina run by Franche Comté Nautic, a family team headed by José Salas and his partner Valerie.

José was bitten by the canal bug early on in life and after a number of years working with hire company Locaboat decided to take the leap from employee to employer in 1999. Now in their 17th year Franche Comté Nautic has gone from strength to strength and currently needs a team of 5 people to run it. With 120 moorings, full marina services, including fuel, small chandlery, mechanical repairs and boat repairs including painting, refits and renovation. Franche A great advantage of the Franche Comté Nautic operation is they have lift-out facilities on site for boats up to 30 tons. An active boat sales operation is handled by Valerie in collaboration with Boatshed Bourgogne.com using the Boatshed.com international boat sales platform. Valerie also looks after the Franche Comté Nautics boat hire activity in collaboration with Nicols boat hire and has ten hire boats available for weeks and short breaks with a capacity from 2 to 12 people.

If you’re cruising the French waterways and or planning a visit to the Haute Saône it’s worth putting Port sur Saone and Franche Comté Nautic into your “waypoints”

Translated from original text by Cathy Bouguereau