So Holland this year if...

D

davidfox

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I can solve the following:

1. I have no holding tank, local Obergruppen Fuhrer swaggers aboard, what can I tell him/blag him, what would I need to do/have as a minimum (apart from fit a holding tank in the interim!)
2. Same Cove, satisfied with my answer to above now interogates me regarding ATIS. (My new Raymarine VHF last year mentions in the blurb something about ATIS, is this the same.) if it isnt, what to do?
3. I have never kept a log regarding engine usage and dont intend to start, I have an engine hours meter so know how many hours I have run it for over the years and as it is pretty much the same each year can gauge my yearly useage, I keep my receipts regarding fillups prior to crossing, but dont keep them after I get back, so I would not be able to account for every drop in my tank. His eyes narrow... will my receipts be enough, should i make up a little log book before i go with a load of old tosh in it and if I did what would its format be??
 
I'm off there too.

You don't need a holding tank. You are just not allowed to discharge black water. So outlet seacocks must closed. You can use a porta-potti or marina facilities. (Buy a porta-potti - use it once and then don't get caught discharging)

You have to ask Ofcom for an ATIS number (which will be your MMSI with a 9 in front). You have to ask for it so they can tell our RAINWAT friends. They will issue you with an amended licence. Program this ATIS number into your VHF.

Red diesel - hmmm well I keep a fuel log in the absence of a fuel gauge. Why not just garner the receipts you can and then write on them the hours at which the fill up took place (work out a suitable number). The chances of getting asked are slim - if you have already filled up over there then you may enough receipts to cover a tank full. The best you can do should show that you are not trying to deceive. (can Shotley give you copies of back statements showing fill ups?).
 
Thanks,
is the ATIS programming something that I can do? I am well known as a Luddite in these parts!
The whole palarver seems extrordinary, I always thought that the Dutch were a good natured lot who didnt give fig for all this bullsh.. it would seem that they are driving it! Has some jobsworth just taken over in the last year or 2?
 
David, don't know about your VHF set, but for mine, adding an ATIS number is a main dealer activity, not a user programmable feature....

It also, FWIW, is illegal in UK waters to have an ATIS enabled set...

go figure!

I'll be fitting a holding tank before next sojourn to Holland.... and will start an engine log in the few weeks before any such trip... no need to do it retrospectively IMHO....

If you want a porta pottie... they're available cheap in Lidl at the moment
 
I have just read the manual for the Ray 218E and the 55E and they can both be programmed by you with your ATIS number. I guess other models can be too. Detailed instructions in the manual. I'm sure Morgana would oblige:)
 
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I am going again this year and will be using a porta-potti.A friend in Holland says they have Flex-toilet bags on board.A sort of super nappy which you put in the existing toilet.You can buy these in Holland(try a google).It also seems that they are not taking much notice of the Atis stuff.I have had my Icom atised at Seamark Nunn for £25.My radio is now user switchable between Atis/DSC.An Atis enabled set is not in itself illegal in UK.The use of Atis is illegal in UK(you couldn't make it up) so you must switch back to DSC before leaving the inland waterways of Holland(which you would do to come across the North Sea anyway)
 
Honest Guv

I have a friend who knows someone who intends to travel to Holland on a boat in no way similar to ours and ...

i) Fabricate an engine log while unoccupied on the long boring bits between Harwich and Flushing. One column for date and another for hours run. Maybe 20 entries.
ii) Print his own fictional fuel receipts on a PC with DUTY-PAID suitably emblasoned in large type.
ii) Use the heads only when there is not a Dutch official below decks and keep the sea-cocks closed at all other times
iii) Hide the radio in a drawer whilst in Dutch waters, using the mobile instead ... Or just shout loudly in English!
 
davidfox said:
I can solve the following:

1. I have no holding tank, local Obergruppen Fuhrer swaggers aboard, what can I tell him/blag him, what would I need to do/have as a minimum (apart from fit a holding tank in the interim!)
2. Same Cove, satisfied with my answer to above now interogates me regarding ATIS. (My new Raymarine VHF last year mentions in the blurb something about ATIS, is this the same.) if it isnt, what to do?
3. I have never kept a log regarding engine usage and dont intend to start, I have an engine hours meter so know how many hours I have run it for over the years and as it is pretty much the same each year can gauge my yearly useage, I keep my receipts regarding fillups prior to crossing, but dont keep them after I get back, so I would not be able to account for every drop in my tank. His eyes narrow... will my receipts be enough, should i make up a little log book before i go with a load of old tosh in it and if I did what would its format be??
Click to expand...

There are no guarantees in this world, but if your question is "how do I minimise my chance of a white knuckle encounter in Dutch waters?" here's my take:

1. Don't shoot poo in their (or UK) marinas, use the ashore facilities. So no need to go to the considerable cost of fitting a holding tank, just yet. But if there are young ones or infirm crew aboard, be a considerate skipper - a porta potty costs £39.95 in Aldi right now (we can all afford one at that price!) - I just bought one for those wet nights when....

2. If you use DSC in the inland waters of RAINWAT countries you will not conform to their system, you need ATIS which tags every broadcast with your personal code. Some radios can be programmed, others (like mine) cannot. So I don't use the DSC button, just regular VHF channels. If you can programme with ATIS just get on to UK radio licensing and they will issue you with the number and a letter of variation for your licence, for free. This feature is illegal in UK waters and must be disabled before you return home - DSC is the law here.

Dismantling/disabling your non-ATIS VHF in Dutch waters serves no purpose.

3. Fuel: more likely to encounter a challenge here. The essence of it is that you are entitled to use red diesel in your UK registered vessel, providing you can show you bought it over here and paid tax. A VAT receipt will suffice for this. To prove you have not traded the red fuel over there, it is advised that you keep a log showing hours of use - not a hardship; having red in spare tanks undermines this condition, so keep all red in the main tank. White in spare tanks is not a problem. No need to account for every drop in your tanks - how could you - just that you have a reasonable trail showing conformity with their law.

I have never encountered hard-necked aggression in Dutch or French officials over more than 20 years of cruising their waters. These measures do not put me off at all, but regulations are piling up and there is no alternative to showing conformity.

My experience is that guns, drugs and illegals are so much more important to officials; I can therefore welcome them aboard to look as closely as they like..just like you.

PWG
 
See RYA advice.

If you have a DSC radio then you have to disable the DSC function and activate the ATIS function whilst on inland waterways.

If you don't have a DSC radio (I don't) then you just need to be able to broadcast an ATIS number. My non-DSC handheld has been reprogrammed by SH with ATIS on the Canadian set so I just switch to that and bingo.

The alternative is not to use a radio but rely on your mobile phone. As we are going for some weeks I have unlocked an old mobile and acquired a Dutch SIM card.
 
I must be missing something here, I don't get the "disable DSC function". What's to disable, how would one disable it ? There is no option on my VHF set to disable it, but i don't have to use it. In fact, i have only ever used any DSC functions to see how they work.
 
PaulGooch said:
I must be missing something here, I don't get the "disable DSC function". What's to disable, how would one disable it ? There is no option on my VHF set to disable it, but i don't have to use it. In fact, i have only ever used any DSC functions to see how they work.
Click to expand...

Sorry, wrong terminology - don't use.

Peter - you are saying that if you don't use DSC you don't need ATIS - surely that isn't right. If you don't use your VHF you don't need ATIS (there is no requirement to have a VHF at all). Isn't DSC just a function of the radio. If the radio is used 'normally' it will need ATIS.
 
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