Holland - up to date info pls

Marmalade

Marmalade

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Have a couple of weeks off work and, having been to Brittany the last couple of years, we're toying with the idea of sailing to Amsterdam and working our way back through Holland on the canals.

Is this feasible at the moment? Have read a number of threads which have talked about closed bridges and out of service locks etc. recently. Previous advice has been that depth is OK (draw 2m) but avoid the Aa. Any other goes or no goes ( see what I did there ;-) )

Also - have no ATIS. Is this a problem in reality?

Have a long standing yearning to do the night convoy - is that still a thing? What route does the panel recommend?

Cheers
 
No ATIS - not a problem IMO. I've only used my VHF once in the 3 years I've been here and that was at Lelystad lock a couple of days ago when there was a lot of commercial traffic knocking about and I wasn't familiar with the lock itself.

I use my mobile to call up marinas.

I think everything is back to normal. We met a guy a few days ago who had just done the night convoy.

Never done it myself - I'd rather have a sleep. Always gone A'dam, Haarlem, Dordrecht etc etc - a pleasant, easy trip (& never had to use my VHF on this route).
 
I have been to the Netherlands many times and have the Navin book but there is another book to consider.
It is Inland Waterways of The Netherlands by Louise Busby & David Broad. It is much more detailed than the Navin book and covers more things to do and see as well as the navigation. It is £30 from Amazon and can be had on their site for £25/26 pounds from various suppliers.
Local chandlers have it if you want a look e.g. SeaMark Nunn, Foxes, SYH.
Have a look and see what you think.
 
We had a few problems a couple of weeks ago with broken bridges and closed locks but it all seems to have been sorted now. The problems were the heat and drought.
Now the Dutch school hols are over the place is deserted. Many bridges have a button at the waiting pontoon to let them know. I almost never use the vhf and lack of atis no problem.
Ps the night convey was much less stressful than I expected. Watch out for overhanging trees though.
 
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I was there for 4 weeks May/June and never used my ATIS enabled handheld.

The Staande Mastroute is useful for the bridge times. Haarlem and Dordrecht are very nice. If you don't stop overnight in Haarlem then you have to pay a transit fee for the five bridges.
 
MoodySabre said:
I was there for 4 weeks May/June and never used my ATIS enabled handheld.

The Staande Mastroute is useful for the bridge times. Haarlem and Dordrecht are very nice. If you don't stop overnight in Haarlem then you have to pay a transit fee for the five bridges.
Click to expand...
I seem to remember you thought at one time, that ATIS was a "must have"
 
MoodySabre said:
I might have thought that before I went to Holland! You read the book and put it on your list. Reality is something else.
I used it once a few years ago when the engine wouldn't start in a lock. Don't switch the engine off now.
Click to expand...
Atis is not an issue. In over 30 years sailing in the Netherlands without Atis I have never had a remark. VHF sets on seagoing boats are not required to have Atis enabled.
Not switching off your engine in a lock is frowned upon, but being foreign you will probably not be told off.
 
ditchcrawler said:
I have been to the Netherlands many times and have the Navin book but there is another book to consider.
It is Inland Waterways of The Netherlands by Louise Busby & David Broad. It is much more detailed than the Navin book and covers more things to do and see as well as the navigation. It is £30 from Amazon and can be had on their site for £25/26 pounds from various suppliers.
Local chandlers have it if you want a look e.g. SeaMark Nunn, Foxes, SYH.
Have a look and see what you think.
Click to expand...

Incredibly I went to Foxes and found the Navin book - only the 2010 v5 as you and Peter point out... so I got the Busby/Broad book (2016) as it looked better!!
 
Marmalade said:
Incredibly I went to Foxes and found the Navin book - only the 2010 v5 as you and Peter point out... so I got the Busby/Broad book (2016) as it looked better!!
Click to expand...

I'd have saved the cost of a couple of bottles of wine and just gone for one of the perfectly adequate mast-up route maps for <e5. I am unlikely to experience the satisfaction of exploring uncharted parts of the Congo or Amazon, so like to fill in by finding things out for myself.
 
After a few years going through the Standing mast route through from Harlingen to Delfziel or bits of it wihout ATIS, we finally set it up last year. Without ATIS I often radioed bridges, and was never challenged or questioned why we hadn't got ATIS. SInce getting it activated (via a dealer, who charged us £60 I think), we have observed that the bridges open quicker, presumably because the bridge opener can see where we are rather than having to decode my abyssmal pronounciation! We also have AIS, which may allow them to work out which bridge we want them to open.

We came through from Delfziel to Harlingen just a few days ago, and it all worked very easily.
 
Ali-alshira said:
After a few years going through the Standing mast route through from Harlingen to Delfziel or bits of it wihout ATIS, we finally set it up last year. Without ATIS I often radioed bridges, and was never challenged or questioned why we hadn't got ATIS. SInce getting it activated (via a dealer, who charged us £60 I think), we have observed that the bridges open quicker, presumably because the bridge opener can see where we are rather than having to decode my abyssmal pronounciation! We also have AIS, which may allow them to work out which bridge we want them to open.

We came through from Delfziel to Harlingen just a few days ago, and it all worked very easily.
Click to expand...

Unless you actually transmit to the bridge, how will the bridge keeper get the AITS stream
Surely its your AIS with destination added, that gives them a clue
 
No. I still radio the bridges, and their response has been a lot quicker since we got ATIS. I expect they monitor AIS as well, but not carefully enough for them to see us coming reliably - there are an awful lot of bridges on that route, and often there is just one person controlling several remotely. That's not counting the men on bikes who do the Groningen and Dokkum town bridges (14 and 4, respectively, I think!)
 
I understand that ATIS only sends mmsi so no location info and only used by local authorities not lock keepers etc
 
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