Sailing to Belgium

[Skipper Dan]

I was just wondering. What are the risks and what time of the year would one go if he were to travel St. Pierre, Iceland, Faroe Islands, (North Sea) Amsterdam, ending up in Brugge, Belgium. Also any thoughts on vacationing in Belgium? (lots of restrictions and such or cruiser friendly? There is a nice channel there that looks very tranquil. How high it too high?

Dan

[PyotrBee]

Originally Posted by Skipper Dan

I was just wondering. What are the risks and what time of the year would one go if he were to travel St. Pierre, Iceland, Faroe Islands, (North Sea) Amsterdam, ending up in Brugge, Belgium. Also any thoughts on vacationing in Belgium? (lots of restrictions and such or cruiser friendly? There is a nice channel there that looks very tranquil. How high it too high?

Dan

Belgium is really nice in summer. I don't know how boat friendly it is though...

[swagman]

Hi Dan,
If you've a yacht then you'll need to remove the mast to get to Brugge. If you need to check air height then I suggest you'll also need to check your depth also so suggest securing a pilot book on the Dutch / Belgium / French waterways.
I've always found Belgies very friendly - provided you like lager and chips.
JOHN

[PyotrBee]

And chocolate.

[jim_thomsen]

Belgium is a great place. We have stayed twice in the downtown marina in Antwerp. It has great security and is 5 minutes from downtown Antwerp. THere is also a marina across the river, about a 25 minute walk to downtown. You reach here with your mast up. From Antwerp you can take trains everywhere, so that, I think, is the way to visit Brugge.
We also did a trip through the Netherlands in the canals, following a "Mast up" route and that was fantastic. (here's some pictures: Home Page

If you have any questions about sailing in the Netherlands or Belgium, from an American's view, let me know. Someday we hope to return.

And everyone speaks English.

Jim

[Astrid]

This time of year in Iceland and the Faroe Islands you will have nearly 24 hours of daylight with only about four hours of twilight. Towards August one starts getting actual periods of darkness and the length of nights increases, so your best bet would be to reach Iceland mid-summer for best visibility. Always monitor your weather channel on radio, since storms can sweep in quickly out of the Arctic.

[MacG]

Belgium has 5 ports able to receive yachts:

1) Antwerp - for Antwerp you have to enter the "Westerschelde" a very busy waterway since it is the main entrance to the large port of Antwerp.
You have to watch not only the traffic but also the regular shipping lane since this estuary is full of sandbanks. Best is to travel at daylight if you are not familiar. Just at the beginning there is the small port of Breskens with an excellent marina.

The seaports of Belgium are: 1) Zeebrugge - Zeebrugge is a very busy harbour with many ferries leaving for the UK. Make sure that you are familiar with the approach.
Same for Oostende. Make yourself familiar with the approach.
Between Osstende and Zeebrugge you have Blankenberge. Blankenberge has an issue with the entrance of the port which is often, when not dredged, no more than 1.40 - 1.60 at ebbtide: enter only at HW if you sport a deep keel.
The last one is Nieuwpoort which got a large marina but is the least attractive (in my opinion). The Belgian ports are at close call, no more than 20 nm away from each other.