Part 13

They are solid ships and withstand storms very well, whence the saying: “Koffen en Smakken zijn waterbakken” (Kufs and Smacks are reservoirs of water). I cannot partake of the opinion of Mr. Koenen, who claims that “Kof” is descended from “Kog” because the “Kofs” made their appearance much later than the Kogs and are descendants from small inland boats. They are, as a rule, vessels of light draught, 72 feet long, 17 feet wide and 8 feet, 3 inches deep. Their capacity varied from 100 to 300 tons. They have ordinarily two masts, the larger being at one-third the length of the vessel from the bow. They are provided with a slightly raised deck aft without “statie”. The small “Kofs” have lee-boards, the large ones, none.

Making the bow of these vessels finer was begun in the XIXth century (~Van Loon~, p. 65), and this caused their old characteristics to disappear. It was desired to give to them, in this way, greater steadiness in steering. These vessels are still built in the province of Groningen, where they originated. Now, they are made, however, as are the “hoys”, with a more rounded bow. Formerly they were also met frequently in the province of Holland; they ran not only to the Baltic Sea, but also to Norway, England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Portugal and the Mediterranean and even to Rio de Janeiro. (~Le Comte~, p. 11.)

THE SMAK.

[Sidenote: II 216]

[Sidenote: III 23]

The “Smak” (smack) is as interesting a vessel as the “Kof” which it resembles a great deal. It is a pure Holland type, bluff and flat and very stable on the water. Le Comte calls it the sister of the “Kof”. The shape of the “hoy” is found clearly again in this type. They are not fine either at bow or stern, and resemble exactly the old engravings of the “Smalschepen” and “Wijdschepen” and the “Turfschepen”! Furthermore, they belong to the same family with these last, but they are rather more strongly built as they are intended to make longer voyages. The “smack” is the type of Frisian vessels. It carries a “_statie_” and lee-boards. The main mast is at one-third of the boat’s length from the bow and it carries also a small mast at the stern in the “_statie_”. These vessels are generally 80 feet long, 22 feet wide and 9 feet deep. Their capacity varies from 70 to 140 tons. They traded with France, England, even with Lisbon, to say nothing of their traffic with the Baltic Sea. They were, however, especially built, as ~Le Comte~ says (p. 12), to sail across the “Wadden” to Groningen, Friesland and East Friesland. Witsen does not mention the “smack”.

[Sidenote: II 210]

[Sidenote: II 209]

If the design of the “smack” be compared with that of the “Wijdschip” mentioned by ~Witsen~ (p. 171), it is seen at once that it is a question here of a mere change of name. Nor is there at bottom any essential difference between the “Smalschip” and the “Wijdschip”. ~Van Yk~ says (p. 308) that the only difference between the two types was this: the “Smalschip” was so narrow that it could go through the city of Gouda, while the “Wijdschip” had to go around. Hence they are two like vessels which differ only in dimensions. If now, the designs of these boats be compared with those of the “Turfschepen”, a perfect resemblance is again to be noted. It is at the end of the XVIIIth century that the generic name of “hoy” is given to all these vessels, thus imitating what was done in Friesland.

THE SMALSCHIP AND THE WIJDSCHIP.

[Sidenote: II 210]

The “Smalschip” had the following dimensions: length, 60 feet; beam, 16 feet; depth, 14 feet: those of the “Wijdschip” were respectively: 70 feet, 20 feet and 8 feet 2 inches. These vessels carried a “statie”.

THE DAMLOOPER.

The “Damlooper” was a vessel of the same type as the preceding but so built that it could pass through the lock of the “Leidschen Dam”. ~Van Yk~ gives its dimensions as follows (p. 312):

[Sidenote: II 212]

“’T Schip (de Damlooper) zal lang zijn 56 voeten, wijd dat de zwaarden afhangen, het rakende en echter gemaklijk door de Duikers van den Leidsen dam kan gebragt werde, zo sal dat schip op de bovebuitekant van de Kimmegang of wentelstrook, so wijd als op ’t Barkhout wesen moeten en ten minsten van binnen tegen de zetwegers gemeeten zijnde elf voeten en een duym wijdte hebben.”[22]

The capacity of the vessel is given further on as 18 last (= 36 tonnes).

The lock of the “Leidschen Dam”, which is in question here, was built under authority of the provincial Act of 1617 and reconstructed in 1648. This lock, like the one of the Gouwe, dating from the XIVth century[23], was only replaced in 1885, by a new lock of 7 metres clear width and with a depth of 2.20 m. on the mitre sills. The provincial States of South Holland had the following inscription placed on a stone in the lock keeper’s dwelling of the “Leidschen Dam” in order to commemorate the event.

“In 1885 is de verbetering der vaart tusschen Rijn en Schie door de Staten van Holland ondernomen. Hier waar de naijver der steden tot 1648 slechts een overtoom en daarna een verlaat van 3.80 m. wijdte en doorvaarthoogte van 2.20 m. gedoogde, hebben zij deze sluis wijd 7 meter met beweegbare bruggen bevolen”[24].

Hence, the existing obstacles were only removed in 1885. It was therefore up to this time that the “Smalschepen” and “Wijdschepen” and the “Damloopers” had any reason to exist. They are no longer mentioned, however, in the XIXth century, the “hoys” being then almost exclusively spoken of. Hence, it is here again merely a change of name without any change of form in the vessels. All the same, the inland boats underwent an important modification in the course of the XIXth century. Indeed, ~Van Loon~ tells us (p. 69): “The angular forms of the bow and stern gave way to the more rounded forms of these parts of the vessel and of the hull in general”. This gave the boat a generally regular and smooth shape. These angular shapes are no longer found save in a few old “Poonen” and “Schuiten”. The old engravings give a good idea of this angular construction which, on some of them, is so deep that it would be believed that the planking outside was clinker laid.

Hence it is seen that, in the XIXth century, a certain number of vessels, which had been known previously by different names, were all included under the generic name of “hoy”.

THE TJALK.

[Sidenote: III 26]

[Sidenote: III 29]

The “Tjalk” or “hoy” properly so called, is a native of Friesland and of the province of Groningen. Its capacity varies between 30 and 80 tons, but sea-going hoys, measuring up to 200 tons, are built, however, in the province of Groningen. The essential difference between a Groningen and a Friesland hoy is this: the former has a “draai-over-boord” and the second a “statie”. The Friesland vessel is sometimes called “Friesche Praam” if its lines be a little more nearly straight. (~Le Comte~, p. 17).

Furthermore, the stem of the Frisian hoy has a greater rake. Like our inland boats, the “Tjalken” were rigged formerly with sprit sails which, during the XIXth century, were replaced nearly everywhere by the ordinary fore and aft rig. They generally carry a single mast, but some large “hoys” have, at times, a second small mast on the “statie”.

THE SCHUIT AND THE POON.

[Sidenote: II 252]

[Sidenote: II 254]

[Sidenote: II 236]

[Sidenote: III 40]

[Sidenote: III 43]

[Sidenote: II 211]

The “Schuit” is for South Holland what the “hoy” is for Friesland and the province of Groningen, and the _Poon_ for Zeeland and the island of South Holland. There is very little difference between the “Poon” and the “Schuit”; each of them recalls the Dutch type of the “smack” of which the lower part is rather fuller. Hence the deck is rather less wide than the bottom, and the “Poon” has a greater sheer than the “Schuit”, of which the deck is more nearly flat. Both of these vessels have a “statie” but the “Poon” has often a “draai-over-boord” and a slightly raised deck in the stern. These characteristics are rarely found in the “Schuit”.

They are very strong vessels and, above all, very steady in heavy weather. One peculiarity of these vessels lies in the fine point which terminates the stern. This point is thrown back a little and should point toward the hounds of the mast (upper part where the standing rigging is fastened to the mast). This same point is found among the boats which frequent the Belgian Scheldt, with the exception of the hoys.

THE KAAG.

[Sidenote: III 24]

Alongside of the Schuit, there is found in North and South Holland, especially about Amsterdam, the _Kaag_ which resembles the “Poon” closely. The hull of the kaag has sides which do not fall in as much as do those of the “Poon” and therefore, it forms a sort of transition between the hoy and the “Poon”. This vessel is much used as a light boat and is rigged with a sprit. Some are met with, however, carrying gaff sails; they are then called _Gaffelkaag_ or _Gaffelschip_. The kaag is of about the same size as the “Poon” and the hoy. The “Schuit”, the “Poon” and the “Kaag” kept their angular shapes until the end. It is useless to dwell on the fact that the kaag also carries a “statie”.

The last three types of boats also kept longest the round hatchways which were formerly in general use.

THE STEIGERSCHUIT.

The _Steigerschuit_ (literally: landing boat) was often met with in the XVIIth century. The boats of this category were small Schuiten, Poonen or Kaag, used in ports and along rivers to carry passengers and freight back and forth between the landings on shore and the large vessels. The name shows the use and the type of boat.

THE YACHT.

[Sidenote: III 44]

[Sidenote: III 45]

If boats with a narrow deck were built in South Holland and Zeeland, narrow bottoms were preferred, on the contrary, in North Holland. This boat was then called “Yacht” a _Noord Hollandsche Yacht_.

It is generally about the size of a small hoy. In order to classify the preceding vessels in accordance with their bottom width, it would be necessary to begin with the “Yacht”, then to take the hoy and, finally, the “Poon”.

Its more narrow bottom and its more converging sides make the Yacht look more slender and more swift than the “Poon”.

The bends of the Yacht show a great deal of sheer with a straight element at the middle. The Yacht has a “draai-over-boord” with a slightly raised deck at the stern.

THE BOEIERSCHUIT.

[Sidenote: III 46]

The _Boeierschuit_ belongs to the family of the “Boeiers” or “Kromstevens” above mentioned, but it is smaller and also somewhat like the ordinary “Schuiten”, whence comes probably the name of “Boeierschuiten” given to these vessels. The stern carries a “draai-over-boord”, often with a poop deck. The Boeierschuiten have one characteristic and that is a sort of cockpit where the helmsman stands in order to handle easily the tiller. This cockpit is often met with among the _Boeieraken_. The “Boeierschuiten” are found in South Holland, Zeeland and Flanders.

Shipbuilding was also early developed in Flanders. Let us mention only ancient Damme and Antwerp, and we shall not be surprised that the types of vessels found there resembled those of our country. Let us mention, in the first place, among them,

The _Pleiten_ and the _Otterschepen_ which are also to be found in the North-West of Northern Brabant.

THE PLEIT.

[Sidenote: III 51]

The “Pleit” is a very old boat, often spoken of in history. It was seen trading with England. It had about the same capacity as our “hoy”, of which it had the shape except that the length was proportionally a little greater as compared with the breadth. Hence this vessel appeared longer than the “hoy”. Its lines also were graceful. Its dimensions were: length, 23 to 27 metres; breadth, 4.80 m. to 5.00 m.; maximum draught of water, 1.90 m., capacity from 125 to 180 tons.

These vessels are now built larger; their length reaches 35 m.; their beam, 5.00 m.; their draught 0.40 m. light and 2.00 m. loaded; they carry 270 tons.

These boats are wrongly called _Bélandres Hollandais_ in Belgium, from the newer inland boats called “bélandres” of which more will be said later.

These latter have no affinity with the “Pleit.” (See ~Dehem~, _Annales des Travaux Publics_, August 1901, p. 508).

The “Pleit” has a “statie”. It is curious to observe that the “Pleiten” of to-day are rigged very lightly considering their length. Formerly they had two masts.

THE OTTER.

[Sidenote: II 253]

[Sidenote: III 52]

The _Otter_ a small, narrowed “Pleit”, from 16 to 30 metres long (see ~Dehem~, p. 507); 4 metres beam; draught of water loaded from 1.70 m. to 2.20 m.; generally, 1.80 m. Its capacity varied from 70 to 180 tons.

The “Otter” had a “statie” and carried the ordinary fore and aft rig mast, and a small jigger mast set in the “statie” often completed the outfit.

“Schuiten” which correspond to the Dutch “Schuiten” are still met with on the Scheldt alongside of the “Pleiten” and the “Otter”. This type of vessels is just as different from the “Otter” as our “Schuit” is from the “Hoy”. ~Dehem~ is, therefore, mistaken when he says, in his work mentioned above (p. 507): “The Schuit is an ‹Otter› of smaller size....”

The “Pleiten” like the “Otters” are often met with in the Netherlands.

If the boats of the West of Belgium thus show the same characteristics as those of our own country, it will be the same for those of East Friesland.

THE MOT.

[Sidenote: III 53]

[Sidenote: III 54]

The “Motten” replace the “Hoys” in East Friesland. They are divided into: _Buiten Motten_, _Binnen Motten_ and _Spitsche Motten_.

These boats have the same shape as those of the last two categories considered; they differ only in size.

They correspond to the hoys of Groningen, even in what concerns the shape of the bends and the rudder. Hence they belong to the family of the “Hoys”.

THE SPITSCHE MOT.

[Sidenote: III 55]

The “Spitsche Mot” is a small boat which differs in shape from the ordinary boats of this class. It is sharper, less heavily built, and is 14.50 m. long; 3.90 m. wide, and 1.60 m. deep. The difference between a “Spitsche Mot” and a “Binnen Mot” is the same as that between an “Overijsselsche Praam” and a “Hoy”.

THE EVER.

[Sidenote: II 241]

[Sidenote: III 58]

The “Ever” and the “Bremerkahn” are met with all along East Friesland coasts as far as Denmark. They have kept some very old forms which recall the ancient “cogs”. They were built, especially, near Hamburg and were used originally as fishing boats. The same thing has happened here as in our country where the “Howker” and the “Bush”, which were fishing boats at first, became merchant vessels later.

The “Ever” will be treated of again among the fishing craft.

THE BREMERKAHN.

[Sidenote: III 57]

The “Bremerkahn” is a narrow “Ever”. Both have the square stern which came to them from the South.

These last two boats have smooth hulls; formerly they were clinker built. The “Kahn”, straighter and flatter than the “Ever”, has a less sloping stem. They are fore and aft rigged and have often a small additional mast at the stern. Their capacity is very much the same as our “Hoys”.

The Hamburg “Ever” is 17 metres long; 6.40 m. beam and draws 0.70 m. of water when empty and 1.50 m. when loaded. The dimensions of the “Bremerkahn” are respectively: 15.50; 4.80; 0.70 and 1.50.

Save the Galliot and the Galeas, all the vessels belonging to group II-B, are found all the way from Denmark along East Friesland, Groningen, Friesland, North and South Holland, Zeeland, the West of North Brabant, Flanders, the West of Utrecht and also a very small part (West) of the Betuwe; in short, all along the coast and on our lower tidal rivers.

So soon as the Meuse, the Waal and the Lek are reached, the character changes. This applies also to the province of Overijssel and to a part of Drenthe. The greater part of the province of Drenthe only became accessible to navigation after the opening of the canals built in the XIXth century. The southern part of this province formed early, however, one with Overijssel, from the shipbuilding point of view, and the types now in use were developed in both at the same time.

THE POTTEN AND THE PUJEN.

[Sidenote: II 201]

The oldest vessels known in Overijssel are the _Potten_ and the _Pujen_ (~Witsen~, p. 170), of which few engravings are extant. The names are now no longer met with; the primitive “Potten” and “Pujen” have, however, not entirely disappeared there. The old forms have been preserved there as everywhere else and, aside from a few changes, these vessels have merely changed their names.

Clinker built hulls gave way first to those carvel built, and later the forms of the boats became less angular. The old rig has changed and the old round hatchways have made place for more simple flat hatches. By these transformations, these vessels change their appearance somewhat although the hull remains the same, but the names of “Potten” and “Pujen” have given place to those of “Sompen”, “Peggen” and “Snijboonen”, more generally met with to-day.

Already, Witsen and other authors have noted that the “Potten” and “Pujen” are distinguished from the “Smalschepen” and “Wijdschepen” by their finer bow and stern; the same difference as is now found between the Hoys on the one side and the “Snijboonen” and “Sompen” on the other. Besides, the name “Snijboon” (string bean) shows that it is a question of a long and fine boat, that is: a flat bottomed boat with lengthened bow and stern.

THE SNIJBOON AND THE SOMP OR PEGGE.

[Sidenote: III 34]

[Sidenote: III 31-33]

The “Snijboon” and the “Somp” have the same shape. Both have a “draai-over-boord” and generally a poop deck. Their characteristics are the fine bow and stern, the sudden fall of the bends near the sternpost and the stem; these bends being almost horizontal for the remainder of the length of the vessel; the sternpost and the stem are nearly vertical.

These characteristics distinguish them almost immediately from the boats of the other provinces. The “Somp” is 15.50 m. long, 3.70 m. beam and 1.80 m. deep.

When the “Somp” is smaller and draws less water it is called a “Pegge”, of which the dimensions are respectively 12.00 m., 2.65 m. and 1.45 m.

The dimensions of the “Snijboon” are 17.50 m., 3.90 m. and 1.50 m.

THE HOOGEVEENSCHE PRAAM.

[Sidenote: III 53]

The _Hoogeveensche Praam_ is an open vessel, of relatively recent date, descended from the Somp but having a fuller bow and stern.

THE PRAAM (_Pram_).

[Sidenote: III 35]

The tendency, already noticed in the XVIIth and at the beginning of the XVIIIth century, to build larger and fuller vessels (~Van Yk~, p 348), became still more marked in the XIXth century. It is thus that the “Snijboonen” and “Sompen” are seen to increase in size and that birth is given to the _Praam_ of which the size and load can be compared with those of the Hoy.

[Sidenote: III 36]

The “Pram” has retained, however, the slender bow and stern as also the characteristic line of the bends. (~Le Comte~, p. 23.) All of these vessels have the “draai-over-boord” often accompanied with a poop deck. Hence these “Pramen” are totally separated from the vessels of the “Semaque” (hoy) group met with in Friesland and Groningen. They have nothing to do with the _Groninger Aardappelpraam_ or with the _Groninger Slijkpraam_, or with the _Friesche Praam_ which belong to the “Hoy” group. The name of _Praam_ which is met with in Overijssel only at the end of the XVIIIth or beginning of the XIXth century is not purely Dutch. The Marquis ~de Tolin~ says, for example (p. 175), that Napoleon caused to be built for his Boulogne fleet a few “prams”, flat bottomed vessels, 37 m. long, 8 m. wide and drawing about 2.50 m. They were rigged with three masts and were armed with cannon. (~De Bonnefoux~ and ~Paris~; _Dictionnaire de Marine à Voiles_, anno 1847, p. 59.) Twenty “Prams” of this kind are said to have been built. They had nothing in common, however, with our “Pramen” unless it were that both vessels were flat bottomed. The Marquis ~de Tolin~ describes the Dutch “Praam” in his book (p. 144); but this description lacks precision, because the “Overijsselsche” and “Friesche Pramen” are grouped together.

The “Friesche praam” (pram of Friesland) is merely a small hoy with rather slight sheer and provided with a “statie”; while the other is a flat bottomed vessel with “draai-over-boord” and never with a “statie”.

~Le Comte~ (p. 29) says that the first of these vessels were built only in the province of Drenthe, at Meppel and Hoogeveen, and he too groups the hoy with the “Friesche pram”. So he writes (p. 14), for example, that the “hoys” sometimes have movable washboards when they load above the gunwales, whereas this is especially characteristic of the “Friesche pramen”.

Meanwhile, the Pram is often spoken of in Holland, although no vessel bearing that name, or one resembling the Overijsselsche Praam, is found there. This name is used then to designate vessels in general.

The big “Overijsselsche Praam”, as it is known to-day, dates only from the second half of the XIXth century and its increase in size is due solely to the improvement of existing canals and to the opening to traffic of new navigable highways, nearly all dating from the same period. In this way, the “Drentsche Hoofdvaart” was only connected with Groningen by the construction of the Noord Willemsvaart in 1858-1862; (see _Gedenkboek Koninklijk Instituut van Ingenieurs_, p. 31). The Hoogeveensche vaart, dug in 1623 as an “Echtens nieuwe grift”, was only extended eastward and improved between 1850 and 1860 and the Meppelerdiep was improved only in 1860 and 1882.

The final junction of Friesland and Groningen by water is also of recent date; communication was had formerly only by sea. The inland communication between these provinces was still very primitive until the beginning of the XIXth century. It was only after 1851 that improvement was spoken of, and in 1864, the Gaarkeuken lock was rebuilt, at the boundary between the two provinces, with a width, of 6 metres and a neat length of 26 metres. The Stadskanaal, started in 1766 or 1767 was only finished in 1858.

It was also only in the XIXth century that the improvement of the junction between Overijssel and Friesland, accomplished by the removal of the high peat bogs, was begun, and the junction of the northern with the southern provinces of the Netherlands was brought about in 1820 by the opening of the “Willemsvaart” (which connects the Yssel with the Zwartewater). A water supply canal had really been built from Zwolle toward Yssel as far back as the XIVth century, and improvement of this canal, so as to make it navigable had really been begun in 1480, but the reciprocal jealousy of the cities of Yssel stopped these works. (~Dr. H. Blink~, vol. II, p. 282.) Up to the first half of the XIXth century, water communications between the northern provinces were had under these conditions, by way of the Zuyder Zee, communications for which vessels of the hoy group were, at first used exclusively. The “Potten” and the “Pujen”, like the “Sompen” and “Peggen”, were unable to stand the high seas (~Witsen~, p. 170.) and only the “Prams”, which appeared later, were able by reason of their size and strength to take the open sea, and soon to spread over all our country.