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Each section has a summary of essential points and useful vocabulary where appropriate.
Domestics Index
240V Mains Electricity Supply
Rubbish Disposal
Holding Tank Pump-out
Drinking Water
Fuel
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Rubbish Disposal
Holding Tank Pump-out
Drinking Water
Fuel
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to return to this indexThe Dutch marina 240 Volt power sockets are the same 16amp three-pin type that we have in the UK. No special adapters are required.
Most towns provide a 240V electricity supply to some or all of their municipal quayside moorings. Marina berths are usually equipped with 240V supplies, though some of the smaller rural marinas don’t have any mains electricity. There are a variety of ways of paying for your electricity.
Some of the supplies are energised all the time and come included with the mooring fee as at Middelburg and Willemstad.
At Gouda the electricity is included in the mooring fee, but you have to press a button every eight hours to keep your supply on. Inevitably, this means that your electricity supply will time-out and turn off at some time during the night. A typical set-up consists of a console with four numbered buttons serving four positions by the quayside; each outlet socket is correspondingly numbered. If you are lucky, someone will have got up earlier than you and pressed all the buttons first thing in the morning.
There are several other arrangements for payment based on the numbered button and numbered outlet concept. In some cases you put coins or special tokens into a meter slot and press the button number for your outlet. Your outlet then gets the credit. It usually requires a €0.50 coin.
The more sophisticated sites use an electronic "SEP" key, which you charge up with credit. You then use the credit for electricity, showers, even water, and the key for access to the toilets etc. There is usually a refundable deposit to pay for the key (€10 to €20) and you should get a refund of unused credit.
At Hoorn this method is used for electricity only. The harbour master issues the keys. You then charge them up with credit in units of €0.50 at a machine on the wall of his office. By inserting the charged key into the electricity distribution cabinet near your mooring and pressing the button for your outlet, you get €0.45 worth of electricity. A display tells you how much credit you have remaining. These keys are compatible and interchangeable with the keys for a number of other harbours dotted around the Markermeer and the IJsselmeer. It is all explained on a notice at the machine where you charge your key.
A further variation is where all of the outlet sockets for an entire quayside are located on one console. So there might be ten or more sockets in the same place, possibly all up one end of the quay! Presumably this makes the installation of the system much cheaper. But, depending upon where you are moored, you may need a very long cable. At Edam, where this arrangement is installed, our two cables totaling 40m, did not quite reach any of the eight sockets available.
Electricity Essentials
- The Dutch use the same 16amp 3-pin marina leads as we do in the UK
- You need a good supply of €0.50 coins
- Make sure that your 240v ship-to-shore power leads reach at least 50m.
Credit charge-up machine for blue key
Electricity distribution box - note the rows of numbered push buttons
Leiden town harbour. The blue electricity post on the right serves four positions using tokens purchased from the bridge keeper's office which is a good ten to fifteen minutes walk away. Buy enough tokens to be sure you don't run out - you can cash in un-used ones at the end of your stay.
The Dutch are very conscientious about recycling. There are glass re-cycling bins all over the place. At some marinas we have seen re-cycling bins for paper too, as well as the normal facilities for the disposal of waste oil.
Generally, disposal of rubbish is not a problem. Even at more remote moorings such as on the islands of the Veerse Meer there are large green rubbish disposal bins.
Rubbish compactors are not uncommon. At town quays they may be partially buried in the street. You open the door, drop your refuse sack in and close the door. You can hear the machine munching your leftovers. There is a big red button to press in case your dog jumps into the machine at the crucial moment!
Usually the use of these machines is free, but we have also come across compactors where a charge is made for their use.
If you have the choice, avoid mooring near to these machines. The emptying process involves a large truck, a lot of noise and can be quite smelly!
Rubbish Essentials
- Re-cycle where possible
Useful Vocabulary
- huis vuil domestic rubbish
Subterranean rubbish snarfing machine - a bit pongy!
With a few notable exceptions, the pump-out stations we have seen are of a standardised design (see picture). The amount charged varies from location to location. Self-service is the norm. Pump-out machines have two separate hoses and pumps, one to empty toilet holding tanks (Vuil Water) and one to pump out bilges for which the charge is much higher.
For foul water (toilet) the charge ranges from €0.50 at Edam for three minutes, to over €3 at Haarlem for an unspecified time (it was broken, as many of them are).
The hose nozzle on the machine at Edam had a screw thread which mated exactly the thread on our deck fitting. This saved having to hold the nozzle in place for all the time it was pumping. The others have all been rubbery things which rely on the suction to hold them in place - not so good.
These machines also have a bilge water pump-out option (the green hose in the picture) for which the charge is much higher. We reckon that the foul water pumps have a low pumping capacity. It took fifteen minutes (€2.50) to empty our tank at Edam on a machine that seemed to be in full working order, and twenty minutes (€7.00) at Naarden (compared to less than five minutes using the DIY EA facilities on the Thames, (but for what now seems an exorbitant £6).
There have been a few exceptions to the pump-out saga. At Sneek, there is a free municipal service with machines that have a good pumping capacity. These are at several locations, one in the basin, close to the Waterpoort, and one on the Houkesloot not far from the town centre. Also on the fuel pontoon at Hoorn where no charge was made either (we had just spent €100 on fuel). In these cases the machines have been much quicker.
New rules came into force in 2007; all marinas/harbours of significant size now have to have pump out facilities. As a result there are many more free pump out machines available at municipal sites in 2008 compared to 2006: Willemstad (funded by municipal harbour but located in nearby marina), Leiden and Alkmaar for example. But they are all quite slow to do their job by our standards.
The trick with most pump-out machines is to uncoil the whole length of the hose and lay it on the ground. This reduces the pumping head and helps the pump to do its job. Some won't work at all unless you do this!
Pump-out Essentials
- Plan ahead! It is common for pump-out machines to be out of order.
- Dutch pump-out machines are slow by comparison to UK machines
- See Wateralmanak Deel 2 listing of marinas and harbours with pump-out facilities
- Always have a supply of €0.50 coins
- Uncoil the whole length of the hose and lay it on the ground
Pump-out station - also a bit pongy!
Sneek has one of the most picturesque spots for a pump-out anywhere in the Netherlands (the world?). On the right side of the picture is the machine. And its free too!
Usually water is available adjacent to paid moorings with a hose already attached. Sometimes it is free, but quite often a charge will be made by €0.50 coin for 100 litres, or by SEP key depending on location. You need lots of €0.50 coins for basic survival!
Occasionally we have found no hoses and then you need your own - there may just be a threaded tap, but these have always taken our Hozelok screw socket adapter without difficulty.
In Sneek, a pump-out was free but drinking water was not. In some places you are not allowed to use drinking water to wash the boat. Check if in doubt.
Water Essentials
- Expect to pay for drinking water, even in marinas
- Always have a supply of €0.50 coins
- drinkwater - drinking water
- vuil water - foul water
One of the water points in Gouda. Lady Martina in the background.
Taking on water at Grouw
Finding diesel fuel is not a problem, but paying for it is! More about that later.
Fuel can be obtained from some marinas, the occasional chandlers and from fuel barges. If you are entering the Dutch waterways via the Kanaal door Walcheren at Vlissingen, there is an excellent “Watersportwinkel” at Middelburg, where you can fill up with diesel.
Fuel barges are marked on the relevant ANWB/VVV Waterkaart. You can identify marinas selling diesel and petrol in the listing at the back of the Wateralmanak Deel 2. There is a big price variation per litre for white diesel, so it is worth shopping around if you are not in any hurry to fill up.
It is almost impossible to pay for fuel with a UK credit card. The marina in Naarden and the “Watersportwinkel” at Middelburg are the only places we have come across that would accept a UK chip and pin credit card for fuel purchase. There is a 24/7 self-service diesel pump at a marina in Zwartsluis that accepts Maestro debit cards, but not UK chip and pin credit cards. Everywhere else we have had to pay cash.
The Dutch tend to prefer cash in any case, and at some locations such as the fuel barge at Hoorn, it is cash only for everyone except account customers.
Fuel Essentials:
- Expect to pay cash
Useful Vocabulary
- benzine - petrol
- brandstof - fuel
- bunkerschip - fuel barge
Copyright © 2006-2009 Mike Hawkridge