Visit to the netherlands

Hi Sealine,

If you search the forums, you'll find a wealth of information. But here are some of my recomendations.

Comming from Ostend/Dover/Ramsgate. But wait, why take Ostende? Yes, a nice citry, but locking through takes time. So do Ostende if you plan to stay a whole day, otherwise go to Blankenberge. The yachclub has a BBQ with a lawn, the harbour master will take your order for fresh delivered bread in the morning.

From Blankenberge/Ostende, go up the Westerschelde (comparable to the thames: beware of currents, shallows and HUGE cargo ships at 15+ knots), and maybe consider go to the historical city of Ghent (new marina in heart of town) or Antwerp (new marina near heart of town). If going to Ghent, you must do the Leie River.

If you are not going to visit Belgian towns, then from Blankenberge it is on to Flushing, take the Michiel de Ruyterhaven, the old port in the town It's tidal, so access only +-2 HW, and in the middle of town, so can be noisy.

Other gems: Middelburg, Veere, GOES!!!!!, the Grevelingen lake (need to pay a 10€ tax sticker, it pays for the refuse collection on the islands), Willemstad, GOES!!!!, Middelharnis

And depending if you have the time (3 weeks+), go through Amsterdam, passing by the Vecht river and Utrecht.

Oh, did I mention Goes?

Places to avoid: anything called "marina", as these will invariably be project development places, so out goes Wemeldinge, Port Zélande, Bruinisse, Kortgene and Kats. However, Bruinisse, Kortgene and Kats are the places to go if you need full service and facilities for the boat. Bring an extra credit card, though.
 
Oh, nearly forgot:

Mussels in Oostende in "De Kombuis" (the Galley)
Oosterschelde lobster in the restaurant above the harbour masters office in Kats (they do not accept plastic!)
 
Re: Visit to the Netherlands

Do I assume Belgium ports en route?
If so please be aware that the authorities now insist on passports valid for six months AFTER end of visit.
Summat to do with John Major not signing theSchengen Treaty.
 
Dont pass by the Vecht river, go down it ,much better than the Dutch Rhine Canal,its the original passage to the west before the Dutch Rhine Canal was built,consequently the Dutch merchants built their houses there.The canal can be hell(busy) but the Vecht is charming.Holland is a fab. place but can be V.cold and windy at times.Dont underestimate the Isselmeer if its windy,especially if there is a north in it.I,ve got nearly all the ANWB books for Holland as well as Belgium and central France, if your interested post me.
 
Reading all previous posts, you'll easily be spending quite a few weeks if you want to visit all places that were recommended, so you need to make a clear choice about what you want to do.

This is largely my boating area so know it reasonably well.

Anyway, some recommendations for you and others ...

Alternative for Blankenberge or Oostende is Zeebrugge. Close to the entrance of the Westerschelde and no locks or whatsoever, just beware of the red lights at the entrance of the port, as they incidate large vessels or ferries will be leaving or entering port and you need to wait.

Visiting Gent, Bruges or Antwerp is going to take some time and is not immediately on your route to Holland, though very, very nice.

The Westerschelde is not that difficult to navigate, use proper charts (large sand banks) and stay indeed away from the big boats : be careful about their bow wave, as they can be quite steep if you're on the plane and go right over them (even if the ship is already at 1 km distance) !

Veerse Meer is a beautiful cruising area but not that wide and lots of raggies makes it sometimes challening to navigate :-)
You enter Veerse Meer thought the lock at Vlissingen and then via Middelburg to Veere. There are 5 bridges between Vlissingen en Middelburg, they are operated on a schedule, may take while before you get to Middelburg but worth the trip !

Also, cheapest fuel price in the wider area is at Middelburg with local chandlery "Jos Boone" : I refuelled there two weeks ago at 0,96 euro per litre (white diesel) whereas elsewhere in the wider area prices fluctuated around 1,10 euro per litre. Marina is in the centre of Middelburg, very nice place to stay and to visit, just like Veere.

On the Veerse Meer, there are islands where you can overnight for free. At the other end of the Veerse Meer, there's a lock for the Oosterschelde.

Oosterschelde, Grevelingenmeer, etc ... I love it, can indeed be quite windy but never (too) stormy.

Nice towns to overnight (Zierikzee, Goes, Tholen, Sint Annaland, ...), some marinas offering more facilities than others. The larger ones (Wemeldinge, Bruinisse, ...) are indeed large marinas (500+ boats) but I don't dislike them that much.

Anyway, area is large enough to cruise for two or three weeks w/o having to go up to Amsterdam, etc. All depends what you want.

I'll see if I have some pictures that I can post later on about the area.

PM me if you want more information.

Cheers,

Alain
 
fully agree with the comments from seagarta,

just to add a few notes,

"Brouwershaven" is a very nice place on the grevelingen meer
smaller but similar to "Goes"

be aware that there is a speed limit of 8kn on Veerse meer and Grevelingenmeer !!! and in most canals.

On "Oosterschelde " officially there is a speed limit aswell, but they tolorate cruising speeds on the main routes.

Despite what another post say's, Wemeldinge is a big but very nice marina, with very good facility's in the center of the small village with some nice and good restaurants in different budget ranges

enjoy !
 
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