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More information about the Deckhand Course & BHV
Deckhand
To become a deckhand on a sailing inland vessel, you do not need any sailing time.
What do you need?
- Inland navigation medical examination
- BHV (Emergency Response)
- A deckhand certificate.
- Minimum age 18 years
Deckhand Course
You will receive the deckhand certificate after completing the Deckhand course. You can take this at the Zeevaartschool; here you can find more information about the course. The BHV is also included in the deckhand course. This means everything is arranged at once.
Applying for a Service Record Book
With these two items: the medical examination for inland navigation and the deckhand certificate, you can apply for a service record book at the SAB (Stichting Afvalstoffen en Vaardocumenten Binnenvaart).
Skipper Sailing Inland Navigation
To obtain the Sailing License (Zeilbewijs), you need:
- The Certificate of Theory for Small Sailing Vessels (or the Skipper Sailing diploma (CBR))
- A medical certificate
- Copy of the statement of sailing time (2 seasons or 360 days)
- Passport photo
Below you can read what you can do to arrange everything. Here you will find all the information described in detail on the CBR website.
Certificate of Theory
You can obtain the certificate of theory at the EZS by following the Small Sailing Vessels (Kleine Zeilvaart) training. After successfully completing this training, you will receive your certificate of theory.
Medical certificate
This must not be older than 3 months and must be issued by a designated medical examiner. You can find more information here on the IL&T website
Statement of sailing time
You need 360 sailing days that have been stamped by the SAB*.
Afterwards, you can apply for a statement of sailing time at the SAB
* The required sailing time for Sailing Navigation can be reduced by a maximum of 1 year if you can demonstrate that you have sailed as a member of the deck crew on a sailing vessel:
- intended for commercial sailing at sea; and/or
- with a length of 15 meters or more, intended for non-commercial sailing at sea.
Radar qualification
It is not mandatory to have a radar qualification for the sailing license. However, if you do have one, you can send a copy of your certificate with the application. The radar qualification will then be mentioned on the sailing license.
