Onderwerp: Sailing Vecht canal : South - North

Hello,

Bought a sailing yacht in Roermond and in a few weeks from now I'll be taking her north to Markermeer. It's a small yacht and the engine is not so strong capable of doing around 4 knots.

I saw in a cruising guide the advice to avoid the Amsterdam-Rijnkanaal due to heavy shipping and take the Vecht canal instead.

Her draft is 1.7 meters and in some places according to Navionics, the depth is 1.6 so, I'm a bit unsure if the Vecht is a good option for a sailing vessel.

Does anyone did that before with a sailboat?

Appreciate your input.

Thanks,
Pedro

Hi, many yachts use the river Vecht every year. The river was dredged recently, so 1.7m won't be a problem.

Gepost met de officiële Zeilersforum-app

Thanks for your reply.

Pedro: there are several fixed bridges in that route. Can you put the mast down?
For instance: Maarssen: 9.6 meter. Opburenbrug: 3.75 meter. (From Amsterdam-Rijn kanaal towards Maarssen).

A good site to use is: safeboating.eu or vaarweginformatie.nl

Hi, yes... the mast needs to come down as there is no other possibility to make the trip from Roermond. However, even with the mast down I don't know the height above the water. I guess it won't be more than 2.5 meters maybe close to 3, but I don't expect to be more than that.

I bought the "Inland waterways of The Netherlands" (Imray) where I also saw that the connection south of Maarssen with an air draught of 3.75 meters.

My concern is/was the draught in some spots further north, since as I mentioned above, I saw in Navionics spots with 1.6 meters DoW.

Thanks for the tip about the websites. Will take a look.

Cheers

Also mind that the bridges on the Vecht are only operated from April 1rst onwards. And a lot of bridges are around 2m air draft, so they need to open for you. I think you can request opening times earlier on, when contacting the operator, but there are quite a few of them so this may complicate things.

paredondo schreef :
Another option to consider is to do take the Amsterdam-RijnKamaal and time it such that you pass it on Sunday. On Sundays traffic is significantly less.

Hello Pedro,

Draft should't be a problem.
Apart from that, is is a very nice trip, enjoy!

Have fun, Jurriën

For planning you ould use the free navionics pc chart viewer: webapp.navionics.com/?lang=en#...@8&key=syo%7DHypx%5E
When clicking on bridges you also can see the height and opening or not , especially through the town of Utrecht there are several fixed bridges to pass.
See first automatic calculated route on navionics below around Utrecht and secon one through Utrecht ( very nice part!):
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For planning use the free app RiverGuideRecreant and give it the dimensions of your boat. It can give you alternative routes with all obstacles as bridges, locks, operating times, telephone numbers etc. I would use the Amsterdam Rhine Canal on sunday.

AlexG schreef :
This is indeed an impediment... Although I wanted to make the trip before April-1st the boatyard where the boat is currently located, already told me they can only put the boat on the water on that day. Before is not possible. This means I won't have that problem but, maybe I will have other kind of problem as during that week is Easter and I'm sure all of us are eager to start sailing so... maybe more crowded canals.

Thanks

mvgalen schreef :
This is a good tip... Thanks! I will see if this fits in the passage planning or, if I can adjust it somehow.

Thanks

Jurrien schreef :
Thanks Jurrien... looking forward

Yellow Boat schreef :
Yes... I already created a draft route using it. I also started to building the passage planning considering the information I could see from Navionics and other sources.

I will carry some extra jerry cans with fuel, as I don't want to stop for refueling. Just want to stop to sleep and/or if something requires me to stop.

Thanks

Eastern the Amsterdam Rijn canal will be very quiet!

Waterblok schreef :
... but never take it from Wijk bij Duursted up north, unless you are a very experienced sailor in canals.

The main problem is the fully loaded ships that willl overtake you.

I sailed it many times with 6m-35m boats and it was allways risky.

De Vecht definitely will be crowed at Easter, but as suggested prevouiy, the ARK is less busy on Bank holidays and Sunday's
Or do a mix ARK until Weesp then take the last part of the Vecht,
Or start de Vecht at Nigtevecht...
Have a good trip,
I'll wave when you pass by.

JB

La Mavare schreef :
That advice is a bit strange to understand looking at the AIS targets on the part of the AR canal from Niewegein to Wijk bij Duurstede . See picture. Is quite quiet and also the shortest route from Roermond via Meuse and furtheron. But better take the route via the Rhine and short part of the Waal and just after Nijmegen the Maas-waal kanaal to the Maas ( Meuse) . Much less traffic and only a short track with no strong current on the nose at the Waal.
At normal levels the Rhine has only very little current.
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Aquaplanning schreef :
Thanks! Should have learned Dutch by now!

Yellow Boat schreef :
Not sure if I understood it currently, based on what mentioned above... The trip is from Roermond to Markermeer... so I'll take the Meuse, all the way up to Nijmegen, then take the Wall until the ARK with he possibility (or not) of going via the Vecht.

I will be going with the current until the ARK. From that point on, the current will be against.

Thanks

I brought my boot from Noordschans to Markermeer once, mast down just before we reached Utrecht leaving the "Lek". The plan was to follow the ARK until Maarssen and follow the "Vecht" afterwards until we understood the bridges on the "Vecht" would not open. It was December on a Saterday evening. We decided to motor on further on the ARK to Amsterdam keeping starboard as much as possible and that worked out fine.

Palomine schreef :
Good to know Palomine thanks. Is there any current on the ARK??

paredondo schreef :
No, there's no current-flow on the ARK.

Did You consider this route? By the river Ijsel?
No ARK stress, nice trip trough the country-side.



EDIT;from that last waypoint of the shown route, it's a easy sail to the markermeer.


A

AdB schreef :
No... I didn't explore that option yet but I will take a look for sure... however, there's already a point of concern for me. The Nijmegen area of the Waal, according to the cruising book, the current can be quite strong, particularly in narrow bends, reaching speeds of 4.5 / 5 knots. The boat has a small engine (10 hp) capable of 4 knots so, I wouldn't be able to make progress in an extreme current situation.

Nevertheless yes, I will take a look and see also on the cruising book the available information.

Thanks