Explore the Netherlands with mast-up: CA launches new guide to the Standing Mast Routes

The Cruising Association has launched a comprehensive new guide, Cruising the Standing Mast Routes of the Netherlands, offering practical advice and inspiration for yachts cruising the country’s unique inland waterways without lowering their masts.

Each year, several hundred yachts head to the Netherlands - Europe’s only country where mast-up yachts can cruise extensively inland - visiting such historic cities as Leiden, Delft and Amsterdam, as well as the lakes of Friesland.

More than a transit route

The Standing Mast Routes comprise more than 1,000 kms of navigable waterways. While many yachts use them as a convenient inland transit route to and from the Baltic, they represent an unrivalled cruising ground in their own right for yachts with a draught of up to 2.5m and mast height of up to 33.99m (route dependent).

Up-to-date information is essential, as passage planning can be affected by frequent bridge openings and route changes. This new Cruising the Standing Mast Routes of the Netherlands guide has been developed to address this need, providing detailed, practical information to support safe and enjoyable cruising. It complements the CA’s existing Netherlands titles, Through the Netherlands via the Standing Mast Routes, aimed at transit passages, and 50 Great Cruising Routes in the Netherlands, designed primarily for motorboats with a maximum air draft of 4.0m.

“For most sailors the mast-up route through the Netherlands is like a motorway, simply an inland route to and from the Baltic, but this publication is an eyeopener, commented Jules Dussek, Secretary of the European Inland Waterways Section (EIWS).

“There is so much to explore in inland Holland that I had never realised is open to boats with masts. I particularly like the detours section, it is like leaving a main road and discovering charming villages. For anyone visiting the Netherlands, this guide is a must.”

What the guide covers

Produced by the CA’s European Inland Waterways Section and authored by Dutch members Machiel Lambooij and Remko Sinck, the 275-page, full-colour guide covers all practical aspects of cruising the routes.

Topics include immigration and customs, sea approaches and access points, navigation and charts, bridges and locks, as well as tidal and weather considerations. The guide also highlights alternative routes, refuelling points and navigation rules, alongside recommended moorings, facilities, historic cities and towns, local attractions and transport links.

Availability and member benefits

Available in both digital and print formats, the guide includes extensive hyperlinks for further information and will be regularly updated by CA members cruising in the region. As with other CA inland waterways guides, purchasers are eligible for a 15% discount on first-year membership* (valid until 31 December 2026). Members enjoy complimentary access to the full digital library of guides.

Cruising the Standing Mast Routes of the Netherlands is available via the CA online shop at £39.95 (plus P&P for the print edition).

The EIWS produces six further guides: An Introduction to the European Inland Waterways, Cruising the Inland Waterways of France and Belgium, Through France via the Inland Waterways, Cruising the Dutch Islands of the Waddenzee, The River Moselle/Mosel and The German Rhine as well as 17 guides to moorings on the French rivers and canals. Further information is available on the EIWS webpage.

*First year of membership, when paying by Direct Debit - for one or two members at the same address.