Holland waterway cruise – Marinas, harbours and moorings – part 2

Busy marina of Elburg

Costs and facilities in Holland

The cost to berth overnight at marinas or town visitor’s berth is usually Euro 1 per metre per night.
Sometimes this includes the Tourist Tax of Euro 0.80 per person, and other times it is extra.
Possibly the biggest challenge is actually finding an available spot. I think we got the last available berth in Elburg, and we arrived mid afternoon.

On chatting to the Harbour Master, he said that in season, his harbour was usually full up by 10 or 11 in the morning.

Typical power point

At one or two marinas, I saw the Harbour Master come out and hang a ‘Reserved’ sign at a berth or jetty, so it would appear it is not uncommon to telephone ahead and book a berth.

If you just arrive, there is very often jetty with the sign ‘meld aan hier by het Havenmeester’. Tie up here temporarily, and go into the Harbour Master Office, and he will allocate a berth for you.

Otherwise, find yourself an empty mooring and then go and report in at the Harbour Master.
220 V power supply is always available.
Typically it is dispensed from distribution boxes as in the picture. Normally, one drops a Euro 0.50 coin in the slot, and gets about 2 Kw of power.
We had got wise to this and had stocked up on these coins, but were fooled by one particular place where special tokens had to be bought from the Harbour Master.

Typical water supply point

Fresh water is also readily availabe.
In this case, Euro 0.50 gets you about 100 litres.

In marinas there tend to be several fresh water points, but the towns seemed to have only one, located at a jetty specially allocated for filling up only.
Here in Holland, there is always a hose at the water point.

Unlike UK and France, where I remember, we always carried our own hose on the boat with us.

The laundry at Buitenhaven marina

Toilet and shower facilities are pretty good and are usually included in the berthing cost.

Only once we availed ourselves of the laundry – lovely and clean and in good working order. Tokens for this had to be bought from the Harbour Master – Euro 8 got us a 1 load wash and dry, including washing powder.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I was surprised by the relative lack of wifi or internet access at the marinas.
Only one place, Steenwijk town mooring, provided us with good wifi.
However, we always seemed to have very good cellphone signal, so when we do Holland again, I will be prepared and arrange to buy a dongle for my laptop.

If you are going to cruise in Holland, here is an excellent guide – well worth having:

We loved our trip in Holland and will definitely be back. Happy boating!