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The Staande Mast Route (Dutch for Standing Mast Route) enables yachts with their masts up to transit nearly 1,000 kms of inland waterways in the Netherlands leading from Vlissingen close to the Belgian border as far as Delfzijl near the border with Germany. Although often described as a single route, parts of it can in fact be transited via several alternative routes. Authorities responsible for the various sections of the Staande Mast Route co-ordinate bridge and lock opening times to provide smooth passage for users, which include numerous commercial vessels as well as leisure craft - or 'sport boats' as they are known in the Netherlands. Several hundred yachts (both sail and motor) use the Route each year as an alternative to braving the exposed west and north coasts of the Netherlands, where ports of refuge are not plentiful. This guide to the Route is produced and edited by the European Inland Waterways Section (EIWS) of the Cruising Association (CA) and relies on regular updates from its members, many of whom cruise all or parts of the Route each year. It also includes a 25 per cent discount offer on first year's CA membership to purchasers joining online during the year. Members have access to the CA's proprietary CAptain's Mate app, enabling them to access the most up-to-date information on routes and moorings locations. It also includes a special code providing a 25% discount on a PDF version of the guide from the CA's Shopify online store at https://cruising-association-eiws.myshopify.com throughout 2024.
A propos de l'auteur
Andy Mulholland was smitten during early holidays on the Norfolk Broads and the love of boats has since been a strong lifetime influence. Moonlighting as an engineer in his 20s on Thames hire boats led to building his first boat, using a cheaply-acquired GRP hull. Ever bigger boats ensued, till by the 90s a Broom cruiser and enthusiastic wife enabled widespread cruising of Channel coasts from his Solent base. A special Millennium trip from Le Havre to Paris planted an interest in inland cruising. Now equipped with a new Dutch-built cruiser designed and fitted out for extended inland cruising, he has over 12,000 kms under his belt in the Netherlands alone, plus 4,000 kms in France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany.
James Littlewood sailed Fireballs, Finns and Lasers in the 70s, before purchasing an Achilles 24 sailing boat in 1979. Getting his Yachtmaster ticket in 1983, he progressed through a Feeling 720, Jeanneau Attalia 32, Southerly 115 and a Moody Eclipse 38. On retiring as senior partner in his business, he cruised as far as the Norwegian Arctic Circle, most of the Baltic and down the French coast to La Rochelle.that time he used the Staande Mast Route many times heading to and from Norway and the Baltic and clocked up over 60,000nm. In 2013 he switched to a 13m Dutch steel motor boat, exploring the Netherlands away from the Staande Mast route and most of Belgium and France and visiting Berlin and the Mecklenburg lakes.
