Which cruising guide for Holland?

I wasn't that impressed with Navin's Holland one, though we've used his guides for Germany and Denmark and liked those. We tend to use the charts for the chartlet of harbour/marina entrances, and the Dutch almanac (vol. 2) for the marinas, bridge and lock opening etc. We don't speak the language, but you can usually get the gist. You are supposed to carry the almanac (vol. 1, the less useful one) anyway on inland waters - not that we've ever been asked for it.
 
We use an ancient 1996 copy of Navin, but all the information is in the form of SWMBO's annotations, mostly how much each bridge costs so we can have the right change, as well as changes to opening times. There's also a useful free chart from the railways giving bridge times. The almanac's proably the best place to start.

As a cruising guide it might be a better use of your cash to get a tourist book like the Spectrum guide giving you places to see.
 
If you're interested i have some Dutch Charts & Pilots for sale at about 1/2 price + postage (or arrange handover reasonable distance Salisbury)

Pilots:
Imray Cruising Guide to the Netherlands (Navin) 4th Ed.
Imray N Sea Passage Pilot (Navin) 4th Ed.

Dutch Charts:
1801 Folio- 2007
1807 Folio- 2007
1808 Folio- 2007
ANWB Wateratlas Y- Ijsselmeer 2007/8
ANWB Wateratlas Z- Zealand 2007/8

All hardly used - in new condition.
 
I have both,but I think the Busby and Broad one is better(and more up to date).You have to bear in mind it was written from the aspect of a motor boater so just keep an eye on depths.I have same boat as you and no problems over last 3 years in Holland.
 
Dutch Cruisers

I'm trying to establish a Social Group for people who cruise the Netherlands. The idea being it would provide a forum for this type of discussion. Obviously, at the moment it is a bit lacking, but the more people who join, the better.

http://www.ybw.com/forums/group.php?groupid=34

Perhaps I can link this thread into the Social Group.
 
Roger - Imray pilots are good - can't remember which we use as it's on the boat. If you're aiming for southern holland - ie westerschelde and oosterschelde you'll need chart folios 1803 and 1805 too
 
Navin

We tried Navin's book when arriving in NL some years ago and found it not helpful unless you have local knowledge already.
IMHO there is no reliable and helpful English book covering the North (have been tempted to fill the gap before). That said there are several good ones in other languages, but then again who reads Dutch or German?
chris
 
I note that one member is offering 2007 dutch charts at half price, I would suggest you do not use old charts as the buoys/sand banks change regularly. Purchase new charts for the year you wish to cruise in the area. You may also wish to get a copy of the “Staande Mastroute” for inland waterways between Willemstad and Delfzijl. Navin’s book “Cruising Guide to The Netherlands” works but it is vague. I believe with the Dutch charts for the area and a little research on the internet you can find all the places of interest to visit. How do I know? Because I have sailed the area for 10 years
 
Mal113 said:
I note that one member is offering 2007 dutch charts at half price, I would suggest you do not use old charts as the buoys/sand banks change regularly. Purchase new charts for the year you wish to cruise in the area. You may also wish to get a copy of the “Staande Mastroute” for inland waterways between Willemstad and Delfzijl. Navin’s book “Cruising Guide to The Netherlands” works but it is vague. I believe with the Dutch charts for the area and a little research on the internet you can find all the places of interest to visit. How do I know? Because I have sailed the area for 10 years
Click to expand...

Thanks Mal. Caution noted. Plenty of armchair cruising to be done:)
 
Here is an example of buoys moving.

The chart is 2007 the red track was today. The southern track appears to be in the middle of the shipping lane, but we were actually just to the south of it.

Hollandschdiep.jpg


However, I have searched the Dutch Hydrographic office web site for the relevent chart updates and have not found any mention of these buoys being moved!
 
publication of changes

Yes, it has been published: http://www.iidesk.com/water/locationdetail?locnr=1256&showold=1 not sure who picks these up and translates into English, but they are published...

For the same reason, though, you cannot trust even current charts. I remeber buying a set of charts for the German isles and finding that the channel had been moved by about a mile between May (publication date) and July (our trip) due to some storm that changed sand and mud around a bit ;-)

If you have a specific route to plan, you may very well buy an old set of charts and update your self based on notices to seafarers...
 
Indeed it is wise to be careful - in 2007/8 many area's had fundamental changes in buoyage, including the IJsselmeer. Especially the Wadden isles channels change every year. You can get up to date corrections on the site http://www.filo.nl/users/kortweer/indexeng.htm.
It is in English and you have to pay a small fee, but in my experience it is worth it, if you want to sail the waddenzee or the German isles.
 
MoodySabre said:
There seems to be two in my catalogues:

Imray's Cruising Guide to the Netherlands by Brian Navin
or
Inland Waterways of the Netherlands by Busby and Broad

Any others? Which one to go for?
Click to expand...

I lived in Holland for seven years and cruised extensively while there, inland and along all coasts. I agree entirely about the charts. We changed our coastal ones regularly and noted considerable changes from one to its update. Inland ones seemed to remain current for longer. One point is that buoyage is superb, so it is difficult to go wrong. E.g. on many inland waters there are buoys marking 5 metre and 2 metre depths, sometimes at very frequent intervals.

We used the Brian Navin guide throughout, the other one was not available then. It isn't the easiest guide to follow and some study is necessary. We always thought him over-obsessive about tidal flow, which although significant is nowhere near as critical as he would have one believe. Some bridge and lock timings change quite frequently and should be checked against the wateralmanak. Overall though it isn't a terribly expensive book and is worth having.
 
For the north:
It isn't just that 2007 charts will be out of date in 2010, it's that 2010 charts (issued in February) are likely to be out of date by the summer. We met a Frisian island coastguard last year, who said that the Waddensee channels change so frequently that the charts are out of date by the time they are published. Anyone who has old charts would be well-advised to check the bits they intend to use with up to date ones - we did that last year and found one channel had moved by several miles, and two new islands had appeared in the previous year!

Note that the buoyage is brilliant - if in doubt, just follow the buoyed channel, and just use the chart to work out which of the channels is the one you want to follow! In fact the best advise the coastguard gave us was to wait for good visibility - you really don't want to be out there with dodgy charts when the fog comes down and you can't see the next buoy.

Apart from all that - it's a super place to visit.
 
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