It’s the perfect weather for it: with a boat and some friends on the Brabant waters. But the traffic rules on the water are not always familiar to the fair-weather paddler. And as a result, accidents are lurking. To prevent this, Rijkswaterstaat inspectors sail around all day. We went out for a day with traffic controller Joost Jansen from Geldrop.
Joost sails across the Maas near Cuijk in a large yellow patrol boat. Since corona time, many more boats can be seen there in the summer than before. “Speed boats, jet skis, personal watercraft, sloops. We come across all sorts of things.”
Joost and his colleagues help in an emergency, supervise shipping and check whether everyone is complying with the rules. Hard sailors in particular are thrown on the ration. “There are some fast sailing areas here, where you can basically go as fast as you want. But on most of the Meuse, the maximum speed is 20 kilometers per hour.”
“Often people say, ‘when that ship comes, we’ll move aside.’ But then it is already too late.”
When we have been on the road for a while, there is a man sitting by the side of the river. Joost wants to know if everything is okay and the captain slows down. “He is resting for a while. In fact, he is not allowed to moor his boat just like that,” explains Joost. “But he will leave soon, so we won’t make a problem of that now.”
On the other side a ship approaches that wants to turn into the canal. According to Joost, things often go wrong at those moments. “Such a freighter has a blind spot of 350 metres. If you just sit there with your boat, you have a problem. People often say: ‘If that ship comes, we’ll pull over.’ But then it is already too late.”
“We sometimes suffer from watercraft that sail hard behind our boat.”
A little later, Joost stops a speedboat and checks the license. Everything is fine. “It’s very hot, so we think we’re going to sail for a while,” says Rianne Geutjes, who is behind the wheel. She herself knows the rules well, but she is sometimes annoyed by other holidaymakers. “We are sometimes bothered by watercraft speeding behind us. Then water can sometimes get into the boat. But in general, it’s big enough for everyone here.”
If you rent a boat in the coming week, Joost has some tips. “Keep sailing on the right side of the water as much as possible. Stay out of the blind spot of large ships. And check the sailing rules before you go on the water.” And for those who want to drink a beer under the sun, the following applies: “Alcohol is allowed in the boat, but not for the driver,” says Joost. call the police.”
Here you can see how Joost and his colleagues work on these scorching hot days:
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