Eye Spy boats

Posted by Crew of Lady Christina Posted on April 7, 2017
  1. Tjalk Pronounced ‘challuk’, offers “several advantages between the bow and stern has a large displacing area,many of them provide several comforts such as dining room, bedrooms, a well distributed bath room and large recreating areas.”
  2. A skûtsje (pronounced ‘skootshuh’) is a Frisian sailing boat of the type tjalk,originally an ordinary cargo boat, but today a prized ship and one of the icons of Frisia. Skûtsjes were built from the 18th century until about 1930 and are 12 to 20 m long and on average 3.5 m wide, with a maximum of 4 m (based on the standard dimensions of Frisian bridges and locks).In the 1920s and 1930s many skûtsjes were fitted with engines and after World War II the sails were even often removed. Nevertheless other, much larger, powered boats took over water transportation in the area and many skûtsjes were rebuilt into houseboats or luxurious sailing yachts. Over time, more and more were restored to their original state.

    There is a yearly racing event in Friesland called Skûtsjesilen. Such races were already held in the early 19th century, but since 1945 they have been regulated through a committee, SKS. In these races, each Skûtsje represents a city or village. In 1981 another organisation, IFKS, also started organising races.

    This racing already started early in the 20th century where villages in Friesland or more precisely often the bar and hotel owners made prizes available for the winner. At that time the skipper and his family lived on board in a narrow cabin and before the race the family and the interior of the cabin was placed ashore to make the boat as light as possible at the start of the race.

    The Skûtsjemuseum[1] in Eernewoude (Frisian: Earnewâld) started building a new skûtsje named the Æbelina,[2] out of wood in the old traditional way, it was launched in August of 2009.

  3. Lemster Aak  An example from a broker. “Beautiful classic barge, very interestinghistory, adapted to the demands of 2015, a centreboard for in a seaway. a ship for long journeys at sea, but also inland waterways, with the comfort of a modern home.”
  4. Hoogaars John Seymour sailed a Hoogaars (or Hoogaerse) around the EastEngland rivers in 1955. He wrote that “delicacy forbids me to translate (Hoogaerse) into the more fastidious English tongue. They used to range the whole of the North Sea winter and summer in search of fish. They used to load salt and barrels and sail as far from Holland as the Shetland Isles.”
  5. Praam  The sail barge was originally a farmers ship. At the end of the 18th and thebeginning of the 19th century the roads in Friesland were very poor and farmers used the boats as a means of transport between the fields and the farm. Like skûtsjes the barges were first built of wood, to be made more and more steel around the turn of the century. The hull of a barge can be compared with that of a skûtsje, only and without even lower deck and superstructure.As a result, the barges were very light, and they could be very shallow in the water. Ideal for transport through narrow, shallow ditches and canals. With the barges could be sailed, but more often they were moved by means of trees.
  6. Botter  Botters were used primarily for fishing on the former Zuider Zee. These days, there are still a handful of boats cherished by enthusiasts, and being used as pleasure boats. Botters are fast sailing ships that are intrinsically suited for sailing in the shallow waters of the Zuiderzee. The ships have a flat bottom and angular bilges that turn into rounded sides. The botters are fitted with a “bun” (well) , a storage compartment on board for the fish. This compartment is made in such a way that fresh water can flow in through small holes in the hull. The sails on a botter were originally brown, because they were treated with tan, a brown-yellow disinfectant and colouring that protected the sail against the effects of the weather.