Pleasure boats or Yachts have been described so often and so many different types have been used as such that they could be passed by in silence. Let it suffice to mention the Tjotter, which is spread throughout Friesland, and the Friesch Bootje. The “Tjotter” is a full, short and broad craft of elegant lines and steady on the water. It has a great deal of sheer, is fore-and-aft rigged (bazaantuig) and is generally very well finished.
The Laadbak and the Zolderschuit are so well known that nothing more will be done than to refer to the drawings given of these two vessels.
It is worth while to point out still another very serviceable boat which has always been much in use. It is the Onderlegger of which an engraving is given by WITSEN (p. 175) and which was used for heaving vessels down for repairs, for pulling piles out of the ground, for hoisting in masts, etc. It was 60 feet long, 16 feet broad, and 6½ feet deep and carried two capstans.
The craft frequenting our upper rivers are called Bovenlanders. They are totally different from the types met with so far. They are all relatively long and narrow, flat-bottomed and draw but little water. It may be said, as a general rule, that the “Bovenlanders” appear where the tidal rivers end. They have been in existence since the most distant times although they are rarely ever seen in the engravings. If they were not often mentioned, it was doubtless because they were not considered as being worth a description, or, perhaps again, because they were not sufficiently known. WITSEN mentions only the following vessels (p. 170-171) of which he says textually:
“A) The Overlanders, which come to us from the Upper Rhine, are vessels with high sides, heavy and rather unfinished. Whole families live on them.
“B) The Samoreuzen are very long flat boats which bring wood down the Rhine. They carry a very high mast, made in two parts, and fastened by lines to the ends and sides of the boat.
“C) The Aeken, which bring wine from Cologne, are long, high and very full. Their rudder is very wide.
“D) The Dortsche Koolhaelders are very long, open boats, flat-bottomed, so as to be better able to cross the shoals of the river. They have near the middle a square deck house which serves as a dwelling for the boatmen. They are square at the corners and the rudder is long and broad. The sail is square and is hoisted on a short mast, near the deck house, by means of a curved yard.”
VAN YK speaks of “Geldersche Samoreusen” (p. 348) and LE COMTE, of a “Samoreus” or “Keulenaer” (p. 44) which are to be seen on the Groenewegen engraving. (Series F, No 3.)
The “Overlanders” mean the “Bovenlanders”, and the “Samoreuzen” mean the boats coming from above Cologne, while the “Aeken” are probably big “Keenaken”. Finally, the “Dortsche Koolhaelders” are undoubtedly the “Dorstensche Aken”. Neither engravings nor description give any exact idea. But the types of these craft have been very well preserved on the Rhine until the introduction of iron; the clinker built hulls have even remained intact, and this enables us to appreciate even now what these boats of by-gone days were and whence they came.
As was seen in the general classification, the Rhenisch boats may be divided into two groups:
a) Those navigating the Rhine below Bonn;
b) Those navigating the Rhine, above Bonn, and its tributaries, with the exception of the Neckar, where is found a boat belonging to group a.
Group a includes:
1.—The Dorstensche Aak, so called from the town of Dorsten where these boats were frequently built. It is a long and narrow “ake” of which the bottom was continued all the way to the tip of the bow; the length was 6 to 7 times the beam and the hull was clinker built. The bow was full, the stern slender at the water line. The after deck included a poop deck, with a much curved tiller resting on a solid “luierwagen” (prop). The rudder was large and heavy. These boats had two masts. The cabin on the small boats was by the after mast; on the larger, there was a free space between the cabin and the mast. A dwelling was placed aft of the main mast and in the bow was a cabin for the servant. The hold was decked over with plane inclined hatch covers, which, formerly, were round. The “Dorstensche Aak” with round hatch covers was a “Samoreus”. Alongside of these latter there used to be akes with open holds called “Dorstsche Koolhaelders”. Although these boats were no fuller than the other akes they appeared, like all clinker built boats, more massive. They generally carried square sails on the main mast and fore-and-aft sails on the smaller. As a general rule, these boats reached us unfinished and it was only when the cargo (pots and other household utensils) was sold, that they were finished in our country.
2.—The Neckaraak (ake from the Neckar) was a small “Dorstenche Aak” of which the length was about 6½ times the breadth. These vessels were long and narrow and worked well. They had a characteristic cabin which, compared with the height of the boat, rose a great deal above the deck. They had, in addition to a main mast, a small one near the rudder. They carried no lee boards, but their rudder was like that of “Dorstensche Aak”.
The Stevenschip resembled the “Dorstensche Aak”. Like this latter, it was clinker built, carried the same rig and was built in the same way. It differed from it only in this that the planking did not end at the nose, but, on the contrary, was rabbetted into a strong and somewhat curved stem.
The preceding types were met with also in our country both clinker and carvel built. They were then called Hollandsche Aaken (Dutch akes) and Stevenschepen, whereas alongside of the latter there were found formerly a large number of smaller akes along the Rhine, the Waal and the Lek as far as the point where the tidal regimen begins, and along the Yssel and its tributaries. These “akes” were exact copies of the large akes but at the same time they had more elegant lines by reason of their less length. Those which are seen in our album are made from some old specimens which date, probably, from the XVIIIth century. The bow of the “Hollandsche aak” is rather flatter than that of the “Dorstensche aak”.
The “Bovenlanders” took on also rather fuller forms, as can be seen by comparing the drawing of a “Dorstensche aak” with that of a “Samoreus”. A few small Dutch akes carry a discontinuous false stem, whence their name of “Hollandsche Schechtaak”.
A few of the “Aakjes” (small akes) are met with also along the Merwede and the Yssel.
In the region to the East of the line from Leiden to Delft, North of Rotterdam, South of the Old Rhine and West of Utrecht, there used to exist a very curious type of clinker-built boat of small dimensions, constructed in the German way, called the Turfijker, which has disappeared but of which the characteristics are found in the “Hagenaar”.
The “Hagenaar” is a flat boat without sheer, which rises very little above water on account of the small clear height of the bridges at The Hague, whence its name of “Hagenaar” (Boat of the Hague). Here then is found in the very heart of the province of Holland, a type of “Bovenlander”.
It is curious to note that the same large Dutch “aaken” (Dorsten type) are still to be met with in the North-West of North Brabant (Langstraat) where they are still built while this kind of construction has been abandoned on the Meuse and the Lower Waal.
The second group of boats under consideration and which circulate above Bonn is easily distinguished from the first by the long rudder, attached to the main-piece which traverses the stern. From the end of the rudder, called “klaphekken”, starts above the main piece, a strong piece of timber solidly fastened to the tiller.
This rudder is called the Klaphekken. All the boats belonging to this group carry this characteristic rudder; they are, moreover, flatter than those of the first group. They are clinker built although many are now met with which are carvel built.
The Keen may be considered as the fundamental type of this second group. It was rigged formerly like the “Dorstensche Aak” but it now carries, like all the boats, a fore and aft sail. The bottom rises both forward and aft to the level of the nose. Hence the “Keen” is an “ake”. The planking is assembled on the bottom very nearly along a right line. The stern carries, as a rule, a poop deck.
The Keenaak is broader as compared with its length and it is generally a little larger, it stands higher out of water, its ends are fuller and the side planking ends in a point at the nose.
The “Keen” when entirely open is called a Lahnaak (ake of the Lahn); its size has been increased of late years. When vessels of this kind have nearly vertical sides, blunt bow and stern, and smooth planking they are known as a Slof.
One of the characteristics of the “Sloffen” is that they always carry at the bow a narrow cabin which rises a little above the deck of the boat. The “Sloffen” have been closed in of late years with hatch covers, and then they are called simply “Akes”. The boatmen even call the “Slof” sometimes the “Mulmsche Aak”. (Mülheim ake).
A very strongly built boat, which dates only from the second half of the XIXth century, must also be mentioned as belonging to the first group: the Bunder. This boat is shaped like a “Dorstensche Aak”, but it is carvel built and is covered in with hatch covers.
Finally, these must still be mentioned among the boats of our country the “’s Gravenmoersche Aak” which made its appearance at ’s Gravenmoer in the XIXth century and which came from the Upper Rhine to be used at the Biesbosch. Boats of this category were provided originally with “Klaphekken”, a special rudder which later has been sometimes done away with, either because it was too long or because it was not sufficiently strong, and which has been replaced by an ordinary rudder. They resemble the “Lahnaak” and are used especially for carrying hay. The coming of iron and steel will cause these boats, like so many others to disappear.
In order to avoid confusion, it is necessary to dwell upon the fact that some Dutch Akes have been provided later with false stems, which gives them the appearance of “Stevenschepen” but which, does not make them so.
The long, narrow, light draught boats which frequent the Upper Meuse and its tributaries have an entirely different appearance from those which have just been considered. In the first place, their rudder differs entirely from that of the preceding types. It is true that the long rudder attached to the stock has been kept, but the piece of bent wood has given place to a curved balance beam in two parts of which the after ends are fastened to the after upper corner of the rudder, one on each side. The two parts of the balance beam are made fast near their middle and by means of a chain to the head of the stock of the rudder. The forward end of the balance beam is connected with the end of the tiller by a rope drawn up taut so as to make the whole very solid. The balance beam is composed of two twin pieces. The rudder stock comes up through the stern, but the latter, instead of rising gently and regularly aft, bends sharply inboard.
Originally, the bow of the Meuse boats had another form; of late years, these craft have been made fuller, and their bow has been bent back to reduce the length of the boat and increase its capacity. The oldest type of this category is the Whalemajol (or Mijole). Its bow and stern are pointed and its main frame is a trapezoid on which the three upper tiers of planking are clinker laid and the hull below is carvel built.
The Herna is of the same size as the preceding, is wider at bow and stern, and ends with a horizontal timber. Its main frame, formerly trapezoidal, as in the preceding case, is now rectangular like that of the Rhenish “Sloffen”.
The Spitsbek is a small “Herna” (old form) entirely covered over. It is made of all sizes and is called “Spitsbek” (pointed beak) on account of its slender shape.
The “Klaphekken” seems now to be preferred to the old rudder of the “Whalemajols” and it is gradually being adopted. A “Whalemajol with a klaphekken” is called a “Whalepont” or a “Maaspont”.
Boats of this kind are also found in the southern part of the Limbourg Meuse. Further down stream they are, however, the “Hedelsche Aken”, which come between the “Keen” and the “Majols”, which latter are the more numerous. These craft carry a “Klaphekken” and sometimes they also carry now an ordinary rudder.
[21] A part of the deck where people gathered to talk.
[22] The ship will be 56 feet long and its width at the lee boards will be such that it can pass the lock of the Leidschen Dam, which gives 11 feet and 1 inch as the maximum breadth.
[23] See the Gedenkboek van het Koninklijk Instituut van Ingenieurs, p. 51, Van der Vegt, p. ___ De Binnenscheepvaart in Zuid-Holland.
[24] The Holland States undertook, in 1885, the improvement of the navigable highway between the Rhine and the Schie. Whereas, up to 1648, the rivalry of the cities tolerated navigation above the dam only, and later allowed at this point a lock only 3.80 m. wide and 2.20 m. depth of water, they caused this lock to be built at the same place with a breadth of 7 metres which is spanned by movable bridges.
[25] By act of May 22, 1628, it is ordered that there be paid to Adam Clippens, Engineer, who built the mud mill, a sum of 100 florins for the bid which he presented.