Advice on Belgium and Netherlands Cruise.

[Daydream believer]

I thought that the Customs in Ostend was next to the railway station.

In Vlissingen there is a newish marina straight ahead without turning into the lock. That is a short walk from the customs office.

The immigration office is exactly where you say. It is the last door at the left hand end of the railway building.
Perhaps the reference to "no customs" may have confused with Immigration. I have certainly had police, army, immigration & customs officials visit my yacht over the years
I think that you will find that the new marina is inside on the canal side, so you have to enter the lock. You enter & keep left. There is another small old marina on the right & I did stop there years ago. However, it is not really big enough for visitors. The Michiel de Ruijter Marina is outside. I have never been there though.
A friend told me that the flushing immigration met them at the lock & papers were lowered/raised in a bucket before they could complete lock transit

 

[johnalison]

With a boat of your size and performance, I think that further north should be within your limits in two months. We did the Frisians and back in three weeks in a Sadler 29 from the Blackwater. Canals can be fun for a while but I get an urge to go sailing after a few days of it. You can sometimes get decent sailing from the Scheldt up to Willemstad but the Ijselmeer can be enjoyable, even challenging in the wrong weather. There can be problems with draft in the Frisian canals but you should be fine up to Lauersoog where the scenery is attractive and, er, flat.

There are a few bottlenecks in the Netherlands that can get very busy at weekends in high season, especially the locks, so it can be worth having a rest day on Sundays, when some bridges have limited openings, all recorded in the right almanacs and charts.

 

[Poecheng]

Ostend is the easiest to enter regarding passports. As DB says, it is on the extreme left of the railway building (their telephone number is on a notice on the door) and they are great to deal with. If you are in the RNSYC basin or Mercator, it is minutes away. If you are in the Royal Yacht Club Ostend (at the end of the port) then it is a good 20m walk, or short tram. The RYCO is in more of the docks area but is cheapish, very good and very friendly and helpful - we liked it; they arranged for the passport people to come to us !!! There is no lock to go through (xref Mercator) and no big swell (xref RNSYC) and it is only a short distance further on.

Cadzand is a nice location and the chap running the marina will arrange for the passport people to come to the marina for checking in/out.

Vlissingen:
Passport people seem willing to come to the boat and v friendly. We didnt use them but have spoken to them once there.

Michel de Ruyter: very good and right in the centre of town. Small entrance way but, as with all these things, it is big enough!

If you go through the main sea-lock towards the canal then the choice is
A) VVW Schelde (Yacht club marina). From the lock you proceed until you have to turn right and you will see the fuel barge on port side and the lifting bridge ahead. On the right are some alongside pontoons either side of an opening to the VVW Schelde Marine/Club. This can definitely accommodate you without any difficulty either on the outside pontoons, on alongside pontoons within on the stbd side or perhaps on conventional (to us) finger berths if that is what you want (We are 12m plus tender in davits and simply not an issue at all). This is a very nice place to stop and the clubhouse has good clubhouse food and very friendly and welcoming - stayed here a few times, the last time was for a few days.

B) New marina.
From the main sea lock, you head down towards the canal but, instead of turning right at the end, the entrance is at the very end, just past the Amels factory and through a new lifting bridge at about 11 o'clock. Certainly last year, it only opened a few times a day, was pretty empty inside and a bit of a ghost place. The harbourmaster from VVW Schelde went across in a boat to service things so that gives you an impression.

C) In the old fishing dock there is now a collection of pontoons but not sure it would be classed as a marina and not sure who runs it - maybe a boatyard based around it but not obvious. As you head away from the sealock, this is on the right and shortly before you turn right for the canal/bridge.

Hope this helps

 

[MK101]

If the bridge at Haarlem is closed , what about the bridge on the motorway to schipol airport on the night route through the nieuwe meere? One has to pass under the railway at Amsterdam of course, but I cannot imagine both railway bridges being shut together.
That is route 8 in Brian Navin's book
When they had the bridge collapse at Alphen aan de Rhin some years ago the Dutch arranged convoys down the coast for craft to bye pass the standing mast route. So I cannot believe that they have totally left voyagers to their own devices

To clarify the closure - it's the bridge near Schiphol which is totally inoperable at the moment (indeed till next year). So the night route is out. But the route through Haarlem to the North Sea Canal is open - although until 7th June there are quite severe restrictions at the Cruquiusbrug, so it's currently not that easy that way either. But once that's done, from the south it's the same route as going via the night convoy until you reach Oude Wetering. You turn west there and go via the rail/motorway bridge at Sassenheim. Or you could go via Leiden and the Kaag. Cruquiusbrug restrictions are here: Fairway Information Services

 

[MK101]

8 weeks sounds wonderful. I'm jealous. The Delta is lovely, as you know. Oosterschelde and Westerschelde both fun to sail. We really like Zierikzee. It's always busy but so is everywhere, and we were able to get a berth at the yacht club before the town centre, saving rafting out into the middle of the channel. Westerschelde tides are something else. Dutch tidal chart atlas HP33 is invaluable. Info is available online as well (NLTides - HP33D) but the book is much easier to use.

But (and you certainly have the time) if you do want to go north then the Standing Mast route via Haarlem will take you a couple of very interesting days to get from the Hollandsdiep to beyond Amsterdam, and then there are so many options. Or you could get an urban fix and head back to sea via the Maas. Maasluis is a convenient place to stop and then head out past Hoek van Holland/Europoort, and go up the coast. You could stop in Scheveningen, but last time we did it we left Maasluis at about 1400 and arrived in Ijmuiden at about 2200. Another day sail from Ijmuiden will get you to Den Helder/Texel and the Waddenzee.

 

[johnalison]

On average, you are more likely to meet westerlies later in the season, which can make the cruise more problematic than, say, the Channel Isles. If you do choose to do the north, which I do recommend if possible, then it makes sense to be within reach of home by the last week, or earlier. In all the years we went to the Netherlands or passed through, there was only one when we manage to have a free wind outside, when we spinnakered from Ijmuiden down to Stellendam. Often it is a bit of a slog, and involves working one's way down to Flushing/Breskens/Roompot before going to sea.

 

[DJE]

Just to say thanks for all the advice. We're currently in Hoorn and having a great time. A couple of serious delays with bridges in the Staandemaast route but great to lock out of Amsterdam and get the sails up again.

The problems were with the swing bridge in Middelburg which was only opening once or twice a day when we were there three weeks ago and the A9 motorway bridge north of Haarlem where they had problems with the matrix signs so they couldn't stop the traffic. The 20:15 opening didn't happen until about 22:30.

 

[johnalison]

On our first trip that way in 1980 we were in company with our club commodore who seemed to know what to do. We ended up too late for the Middleberg bridge and had to tie up to the approaches for the night. It took us a while to realise that the commodore was not to be trusted, something that his wife found out when he went off with someone else. The three couples in the other boat had all split or swapped within the year after that. The Netherlands isn’t always that bad. Horn is nice if you avoid the weed.

 

[Daydream believer]

The problems were with the swing bridge in Middelburg which was only opening once or twice a day when we were there three weeks ago

I hope to go to Middleburg again in August this year so your comment re the bridge interests me. I always thought that it opened every 2 hours for convoys, plus additional openings for commercial traffic.
Are you saying that the practice has been abandoned?

 

[DJE]

I hope to go to Middleburg again in August this year so your comment re the bridge interests me. I always thought that it opened every 2 hours for convoys, plus additional openings for commercial traffic.
Are you saying that the practice has been abandoned?

No. It was just that on the day we arrived in Flushing there was a problem with the Stationbrug in Middelburg and they could only open it a couple of times per day. So three of the afternoon convoys were cancelled and we had a six-hour wait. That was three weeks ago and I don't know the current situation.

 

[MK101]

Sounds tremendous. Glad it’s been a success. Hoorn is our base, a very nice place. We’re now in the Waddenzee - planning on heading further east for a change. Enjoy the rest of your trip!

 

[johnalison]

Harlingen was always our favourite spot in that area, mostly staying at the sailing club round the back. There’s a very good fish restaurant at the back of the dock, and I always enjoyed a visit to the ceramics shop. Their tiles are attractive and significantly cheaper than Makkum or Delft.

 

[Koeketiene]

No. It was just that on the day we arrived in Flushing there was a problem with the Stationbrug in Middelburg and they could only open it a couple of times per day. So three of the afternoon convoys were cancelled and we had a six-hour wait. That was three weeks ago and I don't know the current situation.

Similar situation when we were last there (2020) - then they blamed it on Covid.

 

[Plum]

Has anyone entered a Belgium port as your first port of entry into Schengen since July 1st or planning to go? They changed the process for entry from outside Schengen. You fill out a "declaration form for pleasure boating" online and once you have submitted it they say "further communication and processing will also take place via electronic means". It's all here:- Pleasure Craft Declaration. Does this mean you no longer have to get your passport stamped at the port by the Maritime and River Police (SPN) and instead you will get an email?? Not clear to me.

 

[CliveG]

Has anyone entered a Belgium port as your first port of entry into Schengen since July 1st or planning to go? They changed the process for entry from outside Schengen. You fill out a "declaration form for pleasure boating" online and once you have submitted it they say "further communication and processing will also take place via electronic means". It's all here:- Pleasure Craft Declaration. Does this mean you no longer have to get your passport stamped at the port by the Maritime and River Police (SPN) and instead you will get an email?? Not clear to me.

Hi Plum
You definitely need to get your passports stamped in and out - you risk a large fine if you don't
We have just returned from a Holland trip.
We entered and left the Schengen area at Nieuwpoort.
I had tried to submit the form 3 times before leaving UK but it failed each time.
I called the Nieuwpoort customs number and spoke to a very helpful lady.
She said that can help us when we arrive.
I told her that we would be in Nieuwpoort late on the Thursday and would go to the office (in the pyramid building next the the VYM marina building) on Friday morning.
She said that the office was not maned on Fridays and they would arrange for 2 to come form Oostende to see us which they did.
I sat down with the Lady officer and filled in the form again with her, she was surprised how complicated it was.
Any way we got our passports stamped and were all sorted.
Coming home I did manage to submit the form on line.
I called the to ask if it would be possible to exit on the Sunday so we could make an early start on the Monday.
They said the the office would be open until 6.30 p.m. on the Sunday - we got in at 4.45ish and went straight to the office.
The officer was please to see us as he had been asked to wait for us and he and his partner could head for home as soon as they had sorted out departure process.

 

[DJE]

We entered Schengen at Neiuwpoort last month and the police were very friendly and helpful. We sent the form online in advance and when we arrived at about 18:30 my mobile phone rang and they asked me to come up to the office as they were there until 19:00.

 

[CliveG]

I hope to go to Middleburg again in August this year so your comment re the bridge interests me. I always thought that it opened every 2 hours for convoys, plus additional openings for commercial traffic.
Are you saying that the practice has been abandoned?

There is definitely a convoy system both ways.
Heading towards Middleburg we followed a commercial barge and got though with no issues straight away.
On the return we managed to time it just right and the 1st bridge was about to open as we arrived.
You do need to keep up with the other boats going though - the operator called on the radio saying to keep up in both dutch and english.
One small yacht did not and they closed a bridge in front of him.
Best the call the Operator on VHF 22 and they will let you know the timings.

 

[Daydream believer]

Times used to be posted in the marina at Middleburg & the internal bridges used to be opened to suit.
I spoke to a Dutch chap in Ramsgate & he had just sailed from Amsterdam, via the outside, to Ostend. He avoided the standing mast route, as he said that so many bridge repairs had not been done, all along the route, that opening times were extremely unreliable. He felt that they would remain so for the foreseeable future, due to financial constraints.

 

[Plum]

Times used to be posted in the marina at Middleburg & the internal bridges used to be opened to suit.
I spoke to a Dutch chap in Ramsgate & he had just sailed from Amsterdam, via the outside, to Ostend. He avoided the standing mast route, as he said that so many bridge repairs had not been done, all along the route, that opening times were extremely unreliable. He felt that they would remain so for the foreseeable future, due to financial constraints.

The Water Kaart Live app gives you all the up to date bridge times, including maintenance work times and the blue-wave (convoy) times : Waterkaart Live | App met Nederlandse waterkaarten

 

[Dee Bee]

Passports at Dieppe is about 30 min walk from port not 10 and has restricted hours - but they are efficient when they deign to open. There is also a preavis form but not sure the passport guys ever looked at it.