Travelling European Canals and Waterways.

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

I guess different countries will have some different requirements/procedures but I assume all countries give permission to pass through if you have whatever the basic documents are. 
What are the basic documents?

 

Amsterdam to Kiev is the journey. 

 

 

[magpie patrick]

1 hour ago, Goliath said:

Amsterdam to Kiev is the journey. 

 

 

Via the Danube? Or the long way round via Russia? 

 

I think both involve going to the Black Sea and then up the Dniepr, but I may be wrong if going via Russia

 

I don't think the link across Belarus to Poland is open

[wandering snail]

We had no-one taking any notice of us crossing country boundaries until the East German wasserpolizei near the border with Poland took a dislike to us. By then we'd been through three other countries and most of Germany with no problem. I think a new problem after January will be that you can't be in the EU for more than 3 months, private medical insurance needed for all on board and the payment of VAT due on your boat when you try to get it back in to the UK.

[Tam & Di]

In 25 years we never once had to show any papers, and as a training vessel we were very high profile and we also travelled widely. I have a commercial skipper's licence and the only time I showed that was once as proof of identity in a shop. However boat checks are getting more common than they used to be, and Brexit is bound to mean UK flagged boats will get looked at more than they have in the past. We have heard of boats being effectively arrested - forced to tie up until some omission of equipment or paperwork was rectified. Another thing is your route takes you into regions where rules are more rigidly applied. 

 

A quick list is registration documents for the ship and proof of payment of VAT, Ship's VHF licence and operator's certificate, appropriate helmsman's certificate, insurance. Fire extinguishers must be CE marked and require a test certificate - annually in France but less frequent elsewhere. Size matters, and vessels over 20m now have to have a safety certificate showing compliance with standards known as ES-TRIN.

 

You may find my site useful http://www.bargehandling.com/Bargehandling.com/BARGE_HANDLING_BLOG/Archive.html and I'd recommend joining the Dutch Barge Association (DBA), particularly for the Knowledge Base. Even daily life will change radically from 1st January, and you find up-to-date information there on e.g. mobile phones and banking which will cease to be as simple as they have been.

 

Tam

[Boaty Jo]

We were sub 20-metres.

We were never troubled in Holland.

In France we were boarded a couple of times, once in a very isolated 'lay-by' just outside a hamlet about 15km from Nancy. They checked all the stuff Tam mentioned. Our fire extinguishers were out of date. They gave us 2 weeks to upgrade them or it was a 1600 euro fine.

In Belgium we were boarded three times in as many weeks by three different branches of the authorities. We were based pretty much full time there. First Customs, then waterways police then regular police, All the usual checks plus diesel tanks (no red for propulsion) and bilge pumps, which from memory had to be auto and manual.

They also have 'control' locks where they check you and I believe have the right to refuse pasage. There's one near Veurne.

The sands are shifting but the point is there is lots of stuff to get right. 

Edited October 15, 2020 by Boaty Jo

[wandering snail]

1 hour ago, Boaty Jo said:

We were sub 20-metres.

The sands are shifting but the point is there is lots of stuff to get right. 

Do hope the OP's boat is not over 20m or there's a lot to comply with - see ES-TRIN regs.