Here is the beginning of a French-English glossary of canal and canal boating terms. I started writing this in 2001 when we were cruising the Burgundy in Lady Jane. Hopefully, I can continue to expand it and add some Dutch terms to the mix.
Accostable - French for an area where securing alongside is possible.
Accostage - French for a mooring, a place for watercraft to secure alongside. See also amarrage.
Accoster - French for the act of securing alongside. See also amarrer.
Air Draft - The height from waterline to the highest fixed structure of a watercraft. This is important to determine whether it will fit under a bridge or other structure across a waterway. Tirant d'aire in French.
à la Dérive - French for drifting, moving only by the current. See also culer.
Amarrage - French for moorage or mooring, a place for watercraft to secure alongside or the act of securing alongside. Also used to refer to the fees paid for using the facility.
Amarrer - French for being secured alongside. See also accoster.
Apparaux - French term for the equipment required by regulations to be carried in a watercraft.
Appontement - Another term for estacade, French for wharf, a structure to facilitate securing alongside a river or canal bank, often mistakenly called a dock.
Aqueduct - A structure that carries a canal over a road, railway or other watercourse. Pont-canal in French.
Avalant - French term used to refer to watercraft descending a waterway, and important in considering Right-of-Way.
Avitailler - French for provisioning a watercraft with all necessities for its operation and the support of its crew.
Bâbord - French for port, the left side of a watercraft or a direction to the left.
Bakery - A vital daily visit throughout France. Boulangerie in French.
Balise - French for beacon, a navigation stake or a pole in a waterway. See also fiche.
Barge - 1. A long, flat bottomed watercraft for carrying freight on canals and rivers. Many are now converted for pleasure use or live-aboard. Péniche in French. 2. A long ornamental watercraft used for pleasure or ceremony, as an Admiral's Barge, a Royal Barge or an elegant cruising yacht. Croisière or Vedette in French.
Barrage - French for weir, a low dam used to control the height and flow of water on a canalized river.
Bassinée - French for the maneuvers required to enter and exit a lock. Also sassée or éclusée.
Baulard - An alternate and seldom seen spelling of the French for bollard. See also bitte, bitte d'amarrage, bollard, boullard.
Beacon - A navigation stake or a pole in a waterway. Balise or fiche in French.
Beam - The width of the widest fixed structure of the hull of a watercraft. Largeur in French.
Bec de chardonnet - French for the vertical hollow quoin or bearing in a lock wall to add to the watertight closure of the lock gate.
Berge - French for a river or canal embankment.
Bief - French for pound, the body of water between locks on a canal.
Bief de partage - French for summit pound, the body of water at the watershed of a canal marking the transition from ascending to descending locks.
Bitte or Bitte d'amarrage - French for bollard.
Bollard - French or English for a metal, masonry or wooden post or vertical structure around which lines are turned to secure or moor a watercraft. In locks, they can be fixed or floating. Baulard, bitte, bitte d'amarrage, bollard, boulard or pieu in French.
Bosse - French for a projection or promontory of the river bank.
Bouée - French for buoy, a floating navigation marker in a watercourse.
Boulangerie - French for bakery, a vital daily visit throughout France.
Boulard - An alternate spelling of the French for bollard. See also bitte, bitte d'amarrage, bollard, boullard, pieu.
Buoy - A floating navigation marker in a watercourse. Bouée in French.
Cajoler - French term meaning to swing in the current, as at anchor or on a mooring or when improperly secured alongside.
Cale à sèche - French for dry dock or dock. A chamber from which the water can be drained to facilitate work on a watercraft's bottom.
Capitainerie - French for the office of the marina manager.
Carburant - French for fuel.
Chamber - The area between the gates of a lock in which the water level changes to lift or lower a watercraft. Sas in French
Channel - The navigable route of a watercourse, usually the area of deepest water. Chenal in French.
Chemin de haulage - French for towpath, the path or roadway alongside a canal, formerly used for hauling a barge along by human or animal power. Now ideal for bicycling and walking.
Chenal - French for channel, the navigable route of a watercourse, usually the area of deepest water.
Chômage - French for stoppage, the temporary closing of part of a waterway for maintenance or repairs.
Coche de plaisance - The VNF name applied to a pleasure boat of less than 15 meters length.
Coque - French for hull.
Crane or Gantry - A lifting machine. Grue or Portique in French
Croisière French for cruiser or cruising yacht. Kruiser in Dutch.
Culer - French for drifting, moving only by the current. Also referred to as à la dérive.
Défense (en caoutchouc) - French for (rubber) fender. A cushion to absorb the berthing energy or to protect the hull from damage. May be fixed to a dolphin, wharf, quayside or hull, or temporarily suspended overboard.
Dérives Latérals - Broad paddles or leeboards fitted to the sides of shallow draft Dutch sailing barges. They are lowered to act as a stabilizing keel to counter the press of the wind. Swards in Dutch
Dérivation - French for diversion canal, usually a cut to bypass a winding or sharply bent section of a river.
Déversoir - French for overflow channel, a drain to divert water to a lower level and prevent flooding the banks of a waterway.
Digue - French for dike, usually an earthen structure alongside canals and rivers to maintain water within the watercourse.
Digue submergée - French for submerged dike, a structure submerged in the watercourse to control water flow.
Dike - Usually an earthen structure alongside canals and rivers to maintain water within the watercourse. Sometimes submerged in the watercourse to control water flow. Digue in French.
Dock - Another term for dry dock, a chamber from which the water can be drained to facilitate work on a watercraft's bottom. Often incorrectly used to refer to a moorage, jetty, float or wharf. Cale à sèche in French.
Dolphins - Vertical mooring posts, usually several in a line and often used as waiting places before locks on rivers. Ducs d'Albe in French.
Dry Dock - Another term for dock, a chamber from which the water can be drained to facilitate work on a watercraft's bottom. Often incorrectly used to refer to a moorage, jetty, float or wharf. Cale à sèche in French.
Draft - The depth of the lowest part of the watercraft below water. This is important to know to determine whether it can safely navigate a particular waterway. Tirant d'eau in French.
Ducs d'Albe - French for dolphins, vertical mooring posts, usually several in a line and often used as waiting places before locks on rivers.
Écluse - French for lock, a floodable chamber used to lift or lower watercraft on a canal or river.
Éclusée - French for the maneuvers required to enter and exit a lock. Also sassée or bassinée.
Éclusier - French for lock keeper.
Embranchement - French for a branch or an arm off the main canal.
Épicerie - Grocery store.
Escale - French for a short-term mooring for passenger vessels.
Estacade - French for wharf, a structure to facilitate securing to a river or canal bank, often mistakenly called a dock. See also appontement.
Fascines - French for brushwood faggots used to protect works such as bridge piers, jetties or embankments from current erosion.
Faux busc - French the upstream sill, the masonry shelf on which the upstream lock gates are mounted. Care must be taken to have the stern clear of it to prevent damage to the boat when descending. Also mur de chute
Fender - A protective pad or buffer used to protect a watercraft or mooring from damage. Traditionally made of rope, but now usually made of plastic or rubber. Défense (en caoutchouc) in French.
Fiche - French for beacon, a navigation stake or a pole in a waterway. See also Balise.
Flood Gate - Gates along a navigation that are normally open except during floods. Porte de garde in French.
Franc bord - French for freeboard, the height of the lowest part of the deck of a watercraft above its waterline. See also revanche.
Freeboard - The height of the lowest part of the deck of a watercraft above its waterline. Franc bord or revanche in French.
Freycinet - The name given to the dimensions to which most French canals were standardized in 1877 to 1879. Named after Charles Louis de Saulces de Freycinet, the Minister of Public Works who was responsible for inland navigation, a Freycinet lock measures 39 metres by 5.20 metres and allows barges with a length of up to 38.5 metres, a beam of 5.05 metres and a draft of 1.80 metres to navigate.
Fuel - Carburant in French
Gabarit - French term for the maximum size of watercraft a particular waterway will allow to safely navigate.
Gaff - A long pole with a hook and a blunt spike on one end to assist in mooring or retrieving objects in the water. Gaffe in French.
Gaffe - French for gaff, a long pole with a hook and a blunt spike on one end to assist in mooring or retrieving objects in the water.
Ganche - French for the concave or outer curve formed by a river bank in a bend.
Gantry or Crane - A lifting machine. Portique or Grue in French
Gardiennage - French for moorage, the provision of a place for a watercraft to secure to land. Also used to refer to the fees paid for using a moorage facility. See amarrage.
Gasoil - French for diesel oil.
Gate - A movable door at each end of a lock chamber to hold back water and allow the changing of water levels. Vantail in French.
Gaz - French for propane or butane.
Gouvernail - French for rudder.
Grocery Store - Épicerie in French
Ground Paddle - A below ground valve or sluice that allows water into or out of a lock chamber.
Grue or Portique - A lifting machine, a crane or gantry.
Halte nautique - French for a simple mooring facility alongside the river or canal bank, with room for up to 30 pleasure craft. Water and garbage facilities and sometimes with electrical connections.
Haut fond - French for shoal, literally high bottom.
Hélice - French for propeller.
Hivernage - French for winterizing.
Largeur - French for width or beam, the width of the widest fixed structure of the hull of a watercraft.
Leeboards - Broad paddles fitted to the sides of shallow draft Dutch sailing barges. They are lowered to act as a stabilizing keel to counter the press of the wind. Dérives Latérals in French, Swards in Dutch.
Left Bank - The left side of a French waterway when facing downstream. Rive gauche in French.
Length (Overall) - The extreme length of a watercraft, including all fixed parts such as pulpits, rails, davits, swim platforms, etc. Longueur hors-tout in French. This is the measurement you need to determine whether the watercraft will fit in a lock or moorage.
Length (Registered) - The length measured from the foremost part of the main deck to the rearmost, but excluding any bow or stern projections, such as pulpits, guardrails, davits, swim platforms, etc. Longueur in French. This is the measurement on which license fees and if you are lucky, moorage fees are based.
Linguet - French for a short breakwater separating the immediate upstream approach to a lock from an adjacent weir to reduce the risk of being drawn toward the weir.
Lock - A floodable chamber used to lift or lower watercraft on a canal or river. Écluse in French.
Longueur - French for length. For registry purposes, this is measured from the fore most part of the main deck to the rearmost, but excluding any bow or stern projections, such as pulpits, guard rails, davits, swim platforms, etc.
Longueur hors-tout - French for overall length. The extreme length of a watercraft, including all fixed parts such as pulpits, rails, davits, swim platforms, etc. This is the measurement you need to determine whether the watercraft will fit in a lock or moorage.
Lourd (Bief lourd) - French for a reach of a river where the current is particularly strong.
Mediterranean Moorage - A space-saving method of securing a watercraft by dropping an anchor forward and backing to a wharf or embankment and making the stern fast with lines ashore.
Montant - French term used to refer to a watercraft ascending a waterway, and important in considering Right-of-Way.
Moorage - A place for a watercraft to secure to land or the act of securing with lines ashore. A float or buoy secured to the bottom of a body of water and to which a watercraft can secure away from land. Also used to refer to the fees paid for using a moorage facility. Amarrage in French.
Mooring - A place for a watercraft to secure to land or the act of securing with lines ashore. A float or buoy secured to the bottom of a body of water and to which a ship can secure away from land. Amarrage in French.
Mooring Pins - Spikes or pins driven into the ground on the bank of a canal or river when no bollards are available for securing alongside.
Mur de chute - French for the height of the upstream sill, the masonry shelf on which the upstream lock gates are mounted. Care must be taken to have the stern clear of it to prevent damage to the boat when descending. See also Faux busc.
NNN - French term for the guaranteed normal water level for navigation on a canal.
Paddle - A valve or sluice in a lock that allows water into or out of a lock chamber. Ventelle in French.
Passerelle - French for foot bridge.
PBEN, PHEC, PHEN - French terms for lowest navigable water level, highest water level known and highest navigable water level on rivers.
Percher - French term meaning to sound depths.
Péniche - French for barge. A long, flat bottomed watercraft for carrying freight on canal, river and estuaries. Many are now converted for pleasure use or live-aboard.
Pieu - French for bollard, a metal, masonry or wooden post or vertical structure around which lines are turned to secure or moor a watercraft. In locks, they can be fixed or floating. See also baulard, bitte, bitte d'amarrage, bollard or boulard.
Plafond - French for canal bed.
Pompe eaux usées - French for waste water pump or pump-out station.
Pont-canal - French for Aqueduct, a structure that carries a canal over a road, railway or other watercourse.
Pont levant, Pont mobile - French for lift bridge or mobile bridge.
Ponton - French for pontoon. A floating mooring.
Port - The left side of a watercraft or a direction to the left. Bâbord in French.
Port de plaisance - French for a large marina with space for over 60 non-commercial watercraft to moor, and equipped with electrical connections, water and most other marine facilities.
Porte d'écluse - French for lock door. The movable dams that allow the watercraft to enter a lock, the water level to be changed and the watercraft to exit at the new water level.
Porte de garde - Flood Gates along a navigation that are normally open except during floods.
Portique or Grue - A lifting machine, a gantry or crane.
Poteau busqué - French for a vertical hardwood sealing strip (often oak) used to improve watertightness between two lock gates or between a gate and the hollow quoin in the lock wall.
Poubelle - French for rubbish, garbage or gash disposal containers.
Pound - The body of water between locks of a canal. Bief in French.
Pump-out Station - A place to pump holding tanks. Pompe eaux usées in French.
Quai - French for quay, a mooring facility along a river or canal bank.
Quay - A mooring facility along a river or canal bank. Quai in French.
Relais nautique - French for a mooring facility alongside the river or canal bank, with room for 30 to 60 pleasure craft. Water and garbage facilities and sometimes with electrical connections.
Renard - French for a fissure or small break in a canal bank through which water leaks.
Revanche - French for freeboard, the height of the lowest part of the deck of a watercraft above its waterline. See also Franc bord.
Right Bank - The right side of a French waterway when facing downstream. Rive droite in French.
Risberme - French for a slope covered with brushwood faggots (fascines) at the base of a bridge pier, jetty or other structure to protect it from erosion by the current.
Rive droite - French for right bank, the right side of a French waterway when facing downstream.
Rive gauche - French for left bank, the left side of a French waterway when facing downstream.
Sas - French for lock chamber, the area between the gates of a lock in which the water level changes to lift or lower a watercraft.
Sassée - French for the maneuvers required to enter and exit a lock. Also bassinée or éclusée
Secure Alongside - To make fast a watercraft beam-to on an embankment or shore side mooring facility or to another vessel using mooring lines. Colloquially, the terms tie-up or moor are often used. Amarrage in French.
Sill - The masonry shelf on which the upstream lock gates are mounted. Care must be taken to have the stern clear of it to prevent damage to the boat when descending. Faux busc and Mur de chute in French
Sluice - Among other things, a valve or paddle in a lock that allows water into or out of a lock chamber. Ventelle in French.
Souterrain - French for tunnel. Generally on a canal dug through the summit of a pass in order to prevent excessive climbing.
Starboard - The right side of a ship or a direction to the right. Tribord in French.
Stoppage - The temporary closing of part of a waterway for maintenance or repairs. Chômage in French.
Submerged Dike - A structure submerged in the watercourse to control water flow. Digue submergée in French.
Summit Pound - The body of water at the watershed of a canal marking the transition from ascending to descending locks. Bief de partage in French.
Tide Lock - A lock between fresh and tidal water. Some may rise or fall depending on the state of the tide.
Tirant d'aire - French for air draft. The height from waterline to the highest fixed structure of a watercraft. This is important to determine whether it will fit under a bridge or other structure across a waterway.
Tirant d'eau - French for draft. The depth of the lowest part of the watercraft below water. This is important to know to determine whether it can safely navigate a particular waterway.
Towpath - The path or roadway alongside a canal, formerly used for hauling a barge along by human or animal power. Now ideal for bicycling and walking. Chemin de haulage in French.
Tribord - French for starboard, the right side of a watercraft or a direction to the right.
Tunnel - Generally on a canal dug through the summit of a pass in order to prevent excessive climbing. Souterrain in French.
Vantail - French for a lock gate.
Vedette - French for cruiser or cruising yacht. Kruiser in Dutch.
Ventelle - French for a paddle or sluice in a lock gate that allows water into or out of a lock chamber.
VNF - Voies Navigables de France - The French inland waterways authority that is responsible for the operation, maintenance and regulation of most of the French navigable rivers and canals.
Vignette - French term for the permit issued for a fee by the VNF for navigation on its waters.
Waste Water Pump-out - A place to pump holding tanks. Pompe eaux usées in French.
Weir - A low dam used to control the height and flow of water on a canalized river. Barrage in French.
Wharf - A structure to facilitate securing alongside a river or canal bank, often mistakenly called a dock. Appontement or estacade in French.