Keeping a boat in the Netherlands

jimi

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After seeing the cost of moorings in NL compared to the UK, the thought of keeping the boat there becomes attractive! I was mulling over having a summer mooring there and keeping the boat back on the east coast over the winter. Anyone any thoughts on the pros and cons?
 

MoodySabre

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The only person I knew who kept a boat permanently in Holland kept it at Delta Marina, Kortgene on the Veersemeer. He lived in Folkstone so an easy trip by car. His blog looked a bit limited in cruising ground covered. So the main factors for me would be the time and cost of getting to the boat and the lack of impromptu day sails.

It is tempting though. Flat water, lovely towns and friendly people and cheap and clean facilities. You could try it for 3 months and see if it works for you.
 

Tradewinds

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Tradewinds keeps his boat in the new Amsterdam marina


Yep.
€3160 inc tax for 13m berth. Elec extra.
Cheap flights by EJ. I use Southend.
Or, car ferry from Harwich when I have lots of stuff to take out.
Connection easy from Schipol to Amsterdam Centraal then free ferry (every 30mins) which takes 14mins to the terminus near the marina. From Rotterdam it's an easy 1hr 15m car journey.
Excellent steaks to be had at Loetje aan't IJ next to the harbourmaster's office.
Very good ablutions (when not abused by visitors).
Modern UK style pontoons with long fingers.
4 other marinas in the group you can use free of charge - short term or long term. Quite a few yachts come across from Medemblik to spend the winter in Amsterdam Marina which is less likely to freeze.

Downsides
It's not a service marina - for lift-outs etc you have to go elsewhere and travel lifts aren't that commonplace (there is one at a small yard at Zaandam - https://www.zaanhaven.nl - nice bloke). Otherwise it's a crane (usually static).
It's quite dirty - airborn grime from the shipyard next door and fallout from the chemical plant across the canal. At least you can wash your boat down though. Some marinas have restrictions on using the fresh water supply for boat washing.
Car parking is expensive - c€8 for 24hrs in the large adjacent car park (you cannot buy long term tickets - only 24hrs max). However, if you are staying for a while, you can take your car to the sister marina at Medemblik and park it for free in their secure car park. It's a train/bus trip back but easy enough.
Being remote from the boat means that maintenance interferes with 'quality time'.

This is my third season and, due to family circumstances, have only been across for short visits this year.
However, 3 week holiday coming up shortly. Woohoo.

I'm still happy to be berthed at Amsterdam Marina though there are loads of other options (cheaper) but maybe not with such easy connections.
 

Athene V30

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Am looking at a winter berth ashore in Monnickendam where I had the engine changed this summer and a summer box in Volendam.

Winter ashore cost for me isn't much different to cost of being at Morgans in Brightlingsea but summer very reasonable. Public transport is very easy and affordable.

Cons: weed (the water type!)
 

nauticalnomad

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I was in Scheveningen for 2 years and i thought it was expensive. Nice and central to Den Haag though. NL is a lovely place to visit but a difficult place to live. It gets icy cold in the winter.
 

sailorman

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After seeing the cost of moorings in NL compared to the UK, the thought of keeping the boat there becomes attractive! I was mulling over having a summer mooring there and keeping the boat back on the east coast over the winter. Anyone any thoughts on the pros and cons?
Why not joun the smgoes. The membership fees i understand are bery inexpwnsive and s boanext door. Wqsy train doorornghow's
 

sailorman

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After seeing the cost of moorings in NL compared to the UK, the thought of keeping the boat there becomes attractive! I was mulling over having a summer mooring there and keeping the boat back on the east coast over the winter. Anyone any thoughts on the pros and cons?
There are marina guides on linei have a hard copy given to me by the couplewho publish themone north holl and. The orher sourh and zeeland inv belgian coats
 

sailorman

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After seeing the cost of moorings in NL compared to the UK, the thought of keeping the boat there becomes attractive! I was mulling over having a summer mooring there and keeping the boat back on the east coast over the winter. Anyone any thoughts on the pros and cons?
The delts marina is on the grwvengmres zeeland
 

Tradewinds

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Just to return to this. After 3 years away I brought my boat back to SYH Sept 2019 when my contract with A'dam marina ended. I'm glad I did now due to an event we cannot talk about on the forum and of course C-19.

The major downside for me was that I found more and more of my visiting time was spent doing jobs rather than going out boating. I visited the boat quite a few times during the course of each year but it's not like having the boat 'down the road' and being able to nip down and do the odd little job when the urge takes you. Also, as I grow older (now 70+), I find the jobs take so much longer to do - a double whammy.

However, I still miss being based in the Netherlands and thoroughly enjoyed my time there (when not up to my eyes with boat jobs) - I really like the Dutch.

Why does UK marina berthing have to be so expensive in comparison?
 

johnalison

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Why does UK marina berthing have to be so expensive in comparison?
The capital costs of an inland, non-tidal marina must be tiny compared to something like Brighton. It is similar in the non-tidal Baltic, where a few wooden boards and some poles stuck in the water are all that is needed. The level of competition must also be a factor, with moorings every few hundred yards as it sometimes seems in the Netherlands, while our South Coast costs are set to whatever the market will bear. As a visitor, it is also noiceable that the costs of electricity and showers are also included in British marina prices, so you can knock a pound or two off the daily costs here in comparison. The country that seems out of line is Denmark, which is an expensive place to live and drink but yet berthing costs are quite cheap.
 

jimi

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The capital costs of an inland, non-tidal marina must be tiny compared to something like Brighton. It is similar in the non-tidal Baltic, where a few wooden boards and some poles stuck in the water are all that is needed. The level of competition must also be a factor, with moorings every few hundred yards as it sometimes seems in the Netherlands, while our South Coast costs are set to whatever the market will bear. As a visitor, it is also noiceable that the costs of electricity and showers are also included in British marina prices, so you can knock a pound or two off the daily costs here in comparison. The country that seems out of line is Denmark, which is an expensive place to live and drink but yet berthing costs are quite cheap.
Ahem, I pay for my electricity separately. As regards capital costs, the Dutch Marinas and British marinas seem of a very similar construction with the difference being that the pontoons rise and fall is considerably more.
 

johnalison

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Ahem, I pay for my electricity separately. As regards capital costs, the Dutch Marinas and British marinas seem of a very similar construction with the difference being that the pontoons rise and fall is considerably more.
My impression is that the tidal marinas such as Ijmuiden and Scheveningen cost much the same to visit as our East Coast ones.
 

Tradewinds

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Annual berthing - Marina Seaport, IJmuiden.
Annual 13m up to 14m berth €3200 ex elec inc tax (same as Amsterdam Marina)

SYH 13m £5054 ex elec inc VAT (roughly €5900)
14m £ 5443 ex elec inc VAT (roughly €6300)

Quite a difference in price from the UK.

Edit: Seaport 13m-13.99m day rate €34 inc.
SYH 13m (charged per m) day rate £38 (roughly €45)

Anyhow, it's all academic at the moment.
 
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Tradewinds

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...not the least because you will have to pay Dutch VAT on the boat...
Not if you nipped across to Blighty every 18 months and reset the boat's clock. Not a huge round trip.
(I'm assuming you are talking about berthing a boat annually/long term in the Netherlands.)
Whatever, I will only be there for a short visit if ever I go again.
 
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