In both inland Holland and Belgium; we have come across few "marina's" in the sense of those that we are used to in England's "MDL" controlled land. There is, however a national sport boat organisation, which has local 'clubs' spread all over both countries. We have taken to using these 'club' moorings whenever possible, they are often cheaper and friendlier than the big commercial marinas, particularly in Holland where there is no boat licensing arrangement and they tend to charge for boating via the marina pricing. We have even had to pay a tourist tax, per head on top of mooring fees in some big marinas.
These smaller club moorings are adequately fitted out with facilities; water & electric are often thrown in with the overnight fees. These is usually a lively clubhouse (always closed on the days we visit, of course). The downside is, they are frequently located in old rented commercial wharfs; which tend to be within industrial areas, or close by railway yards. But there are also 'gems' to be found - See Venlo below.
WV de Kraaijenbergse is typical of these clubs. It was a bit of hassle to find the place and we had to run the gauntlet of several heavily laden gravel barges in a narrow section and under another guard sluis before we got there, but it was well off the main river, which is important for a peaceful night's sleep we quickly discovered. The duty Havenmeester for that week, waved us onto a pontoon giving us a local map and some information about shopping in the nearest town of Cuijk, but he suggested that a bicycle might be needed to get there! Although we had only one, even that would not be a problem, many of these moorings had a selection of bikes available to rent; or you simply borrow one from the rack, when needed.
Now, for those readers who are really into ship's flag etiquette, we have to make a huge apology. For some reason, when we left the UK, we had forgotten to bring along our British Red Ensign with us. Not wishing to fly the Dutch, German, or Belgian flags (which we did have onboard) we instead, used an Australian one that Deborah had sent over to Colin as a birthday present. Shock! Horror! I hear you scream, Ok we are sorry, but at least our earlier pathetic boating manoeuvres couldn't be blamed on the Brits!
Of course we had to come unstuck one day?
The club marina at Venlo is very well run, as you turn into the entrance a huge illuminated sign indicates the free berth number allocated to you and a flashing arrow points in the right direction to it, most impressive, we thought! We found the spot and tied alongside a floating pontoon. Looking over toward the clubhouse we then noted with horror, that they had run up an Australian flag on the flagpole, alongside those of other 'visiting nations'. What do we do now? How do we explain this one then?
We sat and thought about it, Colin was showered and given a quick haircut, then dressed in his best 'whites' dispatched to the clubhouse to try and explain. (It has to be said that he did think that affecting an Auzzie accent and calling everyone "Bruce" might be the simpler solution? Luckily, when he finally got to the club bar, the harbourmaster had left for the night!