Rotterdam Reunion Friday 15th to Sunday 17th November 2019
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Delta Hotel, Vlaardingen, Rotterdam mv Elbe/PDWN
This will be our first reunion visit to the Continent of Europe and where better to visit than the busiest port in Europe. We will be staying at the perfectly situated Delta Hotel in Vlaardingen that is right on the banks of the very busy River Maas with large amounts of shipping constantly moving past. The bar overlooking the river is likely to be popular. Whilst I anticipate that the whole weekend will be successful I think that for many of us the highlight is going to be a 3 hour tour of the port that we have arranged on former deep sea salvage tug mv Elbe/PDWN. The vessel was built in 1959 for Smit International and at the time of building was the most powerful tug in the world. Many members may recall seeing similar vessels in the ports of the world. I have personally visited Elbe and the experience was most enjoyable. She has a fully working Radio Holland fitted Radio Room and also hosts a radio amateur station – PI4DWN. This has not been easy to organize and the cost will raise the overall amount to above that we normally pay but I think for such a unique experience members attending will agree with me it is money well spent. Details of what I think will be a most interesting day are given below.
Friday afternoon 15thNovember: members arrive, some travel options given below. Pre dinner evening drinks followed by comprehensive buffet.
Saturday morning 16th: Transported by coach to Head Office of Radio Holland for a tour followed by lunch, courtesy of Radio Holland. Coach transport to mv Elbe berth in Maasluis. 3 hour harbor tour from Maasluis via Europoort back to our hotel, where Elbe will drop us off. Pre dinner drinks followed by formal dinner.
Sunday morning 17th: Disperse homewards after breakfast.
Apart from the usual stalwart attendees from Britain and Ireland we very much hope that several Dutch former R/Os will join us and there are initial indications that a few members of our sister organization, SFK, in Germany might also attend. Initial indications of numbers look quite good. Options to get to Rotterdam for members resident in the British Isles include the following:
By car: This will involve either a ferry or Eurotunnel crossing and then an approximate 3 hour drive to Rotterdam. This might be an economic option if 3 or 4 can travel together.
By train: Eurostar has a direct train to Rotterdam from London St Pancras with morning and afternoon departures. A possible option if you do not like flying or ferries.
By air: Probably the method by which most will arrive. Although Rotterdam has an airport it is not very well served from the UK and fares are expensive. Much more likely is to fly to Amsterdam Schiphol which has a very comprehensive service from London and virtually all UK regional airports. There is a frequent train service from Schiphol to Rotterdam Central station from where a light rail service to Schiedam is easy and then a short taxi ride to the hotel. Alternatively a taxi from Rotterdam Central to the hotel is a more expensive option. More details in June QSO and booking form in September QSO. We are planning to offer a booking option in Euros for our Dutch and German visitors (plus Irish if they wish) but we need to work out further details on how to achieve this.
I do hope as many as possible of you will consider attending what I think may turn out to be our most interesting ever reunion. I formally thank what is now known as “The Dutch Mafia”, aka, Tiel Notenboom, David Kegel, Lourens Visser and Johan Karels, for their invaluable assistance.
Tony Selman