Jacoba - The Boat
Ten years of weekly blogs · Wijnjewoude
Jacoba
Hull circa 1900. Still going.
I've been going back through ten years of these blogs (with help from Claude) and one of the things that comes up, week after week, is the boat. Not always in a big way — sometimes just a mention that she's been winterised, or that I've been varnishing the wooden bits, or that we didn't get away this weekend because of the kids or the bookkeeping or the weather. But she's always there.
So I thought I'd try to put it all together. What follows is more or less the story of Jacoba — the mishaps, the good moments, the things I had to fix, and why, after fifteen years, I still can't quite bring myself to sell her.
We Weren't Actually Looking For Her
In 2009, friends of ours — Ivan and Louise — had friends who were looking to buy a boat in Friesland. Andrew and Terry, from Australia. I ended up helping them look around, which mostly meant driving to various yacht havens and having a good look at boats we couldn't afford. (A perfectly enjoyable way to spend a weekend, actually.)
Andrew and Terry found their boat — Houtrib — which they used every year for three months at a time, including a trip to France and back. A few years ago they sold Houtrib to new friends Ron and Annette. We've kept in touch with AnT ever since. But whilst we were looking for theirs, I stumbled on Jacoba.
She was a former hire boat — one of Noordman's fleet,but now privately owned. Other boats of the same or similar build were still operating out of Haskerdijken near Heerenveen. The hull dated from around 1900, the superstructure from 1976. She was rivetted together originally, sealed with tar. She looked a bit sad, to be honest. But she was sound underneath, and she was more "us" than anything else we'd seen — the right size for two people, the right shape, the right price. (And she had a bow thruster, which turned out to matter more than I realised at the time.)
She was registered as Jacoba. We tried calling her Australia. The kangaroo on board probably gave it away. The new registration and insurance papers meant that she is now "officially" Jacoba again.
The Paint. Always the Paint.
If you've been reading these blogs for any length of time, you'll know that painting the boat is a major annual event. Or biannual. Or whenever I can get her into the workshed and the weather co-operates and I can find someone to help with the sanding.
The first big repaint was in late 2016 going into early 2017. We changed the colour from Claret and Oyster to Antiek Groen and Antiek Wit. Antique Green and Antique White.
"Totally unimaginative, as they are the colours I use around the farm!"
But they look right. They've always looked right. The same colours as the chookshed, as it happens.
After that first repaint, the boat went in again in 2019 for a black antifouling bottom coat. Then in March 2020 — right as Covid was starting — she went back into the shed for what was supposed to be some painting repairs and turned into a rather more serious operation.
2022 was the big one — 39 hours in the shed over 6 days, with Tjeerd helping. That was also the week I spent puzzling over why the new paint had a reddish tint, until I finally noticed there was a gap in the shed roof behind the boat, allowing sanding residue from the nextdoor shed to seep through onto my fresh painting." I wrote at the time that I was more than a little annoyed. But that's boats. The problems that feel catastrophic usually turn out to be a hole in somebody's roof.
She's booked in again. There is always a next time.
Things I Kept Meaning to Fix (and Eventually Did)
The stern thruster. Also 2020. Also recommended. The boat is now, in theory, capable of going sideways — which sounds absurd but is occasionally exactly what you need.
The compost toilet. This took approximately three years from idea to installation. The research alone was considerable. (Did you know that in nineteenth century London, people sold their urine for a penny per bucket for fixing dye? I do now.) The main challenge was the urine pump — the toilet bowl is below the water line, so gravity doesn't help. An old pump was reconditioned and installed (just for the urine).. It works. No smell, as promised. I should have done this earlier too. Cleaning up is simply a matter of disposing of a plastic rubbish bag.
The heater. A diesel ducted heater, installed around 2021. This extended the boating season into October and even November. Dokkum in autumn is quite beautiful, as it turns out, and considerably less crowded than in August.
The cushions. New cushions were finally ordered in 2022 after approximately twelve years of meaning to do it. (We had actually booked someone to come and quote around 2010. He never showed up. So there was a twelve-year wait.) Worth every euro.
Where We've Been (and Where We Haven't, Yet)
Jacoba is not a fast boat. At 1400 rpm we potter. At 1600 rpm we move with purpose. The Turf Route — the canal near us that runs from Gorredijk through locks and bridges to Felder's Boskje and beyond — we've done more times than I can count. Boornzwaag is about three hours. Dokkum is six or seven. Blokzijl is a full day. These are our regular trips, and we never tire of them.
The big voyage was 2018: Heerenveen to Utrecht and back via Groningen. "Three Old Blokes on a Boat" — Robin from Darwin and Lyall from Canada, with me as skipper. Robin served as Chief Engineer and Navigator, which turned out to be useful. We went south through the Prinses Margriet Canal and the polder and into Utrecht and then headed north to Groningen and Drenthe. More than 200 bridges in total.
Day 2: Blokzijl into the polder
Day 3: Through the Hollandse Plassen
Day 4: Almere Haven to Weesp
Day 5: Weesp to Utrecht
Day 6–7: Utrecht
Day 8: Heading North, into new territory...
...and so on, for four weeks.
In 2022 we went to Rotterdam for the World Police and Fire Games, with Frank and Pam on board and Ron and Nettie following in Houtrib. Son Paul crewed the return trip. We waited for the high tide at Rotterdam before heading out onto the tidal river, which added a bit of drama, and arrived in Gouda in time to be told there were no moorings — so we tied up four boats deep alongside a traditional ship and bought them a bottle of Australian wine as thanks.
In 2023 Janny and I took her to Utrecht again, this time with Ron and Annette on Houtrib and David and Janice on their boat Sukey. Janny took the train home; I brought Jacoba back with Frank and Pam as crew (They had caught the train from Paris to Utrecht). It is the longest trip Janny has done on board, and she said it was an eye-opener — but also that "pottering around Friesland is just fine."
The Mishaps (There Are Always Mishaps)
The diesel tank. It had a leak...water in the bottom of the tank caused it to rust through. Our expert boat maintenance chap took one look and said yeah, that can be fixed - he cut holes in the side of each of two tanks - welded in new bottoms and then made removeable inspection plates to seal the holes he had cut. He's doing something else now with solar panels and house batteries...wish we still had him...
The bow thruster battery going dead at the worst possible moment — in a lock on the Tjonger canal, wind up, water dropping. Janny called out to some teenagers sunbathing on the bank to grab the line. They did. All was well. The culprit turned out to be a loose connection — probably disturbed during installation three years earlier.
Nearly crashing. August 2020, shifting the boat from Wijnjewoude to Mildam. Rising winds, bow thruster failed. "Nearly crashed the boat! Oops, indeed." We left her at Mildam for three days and went back for her on Thursday morning with no wind at all, and managed to moor without the bow thruster. "I've been spoilt with that over the years."
Three attempts at mooring. A windy return to Heerenveen. "Took me three goes to get moored properly — once the wind takes hold there's a lot of high revving in reverse and bow-thrusting and cursing — but I took a deep breath, went out to turn around, and just glided in as easy as you like. Luckily, not too many spectators."
Cutting corners. Once. In 2016, showing Robin around part of Friesland for the first time, I cut a corner instead of following the channel markers and touched bottom. "At least I was able to figure out what I should have done." I don't cut corners anymore.
"They have a saying in Dutch that 'the best skipper is always standing on the dock.'"
The People Who've Come Aboard
Janny is the First Mate, the Chief Negotiator, and the one who keeps the log and writes things like "grumpy bridge-keeper" on the chart. She is the one who walks to the bakery in Langweer for croissants while the coffee is being made. She says pottering around Friesland is just fine, and she is right.
Robin and Joy — Robin from the Northern Territory Fire Service, which is where I know him from, thirty-odd years ago. He came to visit in 2016 having just ridden his motorbike across Russia and Mongolia. I took him out on the boat, thinking it might be a comparatively tame experience after all that. They loved it. They ended up buying their own boat, Johanna — painted Antique Green and Antique White, same as Jacoba, same as the farm. They lived aboard for years, travelled extensively including down to Rotterdam and back, and have now returned to Darwin. We still keep in touch.
Frank and Pam — Frank from the Melbourne Fire Brigade, now living 6 months of the year in France near Dreux. He has been crew on multiple voyages and still says he wants a pay rise and a cabin upgrade. (The cabin he has is fine - it is the Master Cabin, after all.)
Lyall — Robin's friend from Canada. Crewed the Maastricht trip. Knew what he was doing, which was useful - and he was pleasant company.
Boeke — the dog. Technically boat-trained. In practice, prefers to sleep on the jetty, demands shore leave at dawn regardless of weather or lock schedules, and has his own chair in the wheelhouse. He still hasn't fully decided whether he likes the boat or not. We remain optimistic.
Renny - Janny's Mum has done a few day trips with us - just to see her Friesland a little differently.
Paul & Ros,
Brother Ross and Pam,
Cheryl and Alexander,
even the much younger grandkids in 2010,
Paul on the trip back from Rotterdam.
Ben with some of his friends,
Tjeerd helping me move the boat - and paint it!
Ankie and some Day clients for a picnic
Why We Haven't Sold Her
In 2023 a salesman came to look at her with a view to selling. The price was about right. Janny was pleasantly surprised. "BUT we are not going to do it just yet," I wrote at the time.
The Care Farm is busy. There are always kids, always day clients, always bookkeeping, always the mowing, always something on the building that needs attention. Life is full. The boat is the thing you escape to when it gets too full. We used to say — and it's still true — that all the stress of the week just seems to melt away after about fifty metres on the water. I don't know why fifty metres specifically, but that's about how long it takes.
"I just have to get out of the bookkeeping and drive to Heerenveen and get on board and twenty minutes later I can't remember what I was worried about."
There is also something about the waterways themselves. The Turfroute near us was dug by hand between 1630 and 1830 — two hundred years of digging, to transport peat to the cities in the west. The locks are still there, still operated by hand. You go through them slowly, nodding to the lock keeper, and somewhere in between entering and leaving you feel the weight of all that history and it puts your own bookkeeping in reasonable perspective.
So no, we haven't sold her. She's booked in for painting at the end of April. We're thinking Dokkum again in spring — we can get there without needing any bridges opened, and the electricity is cheap if you find the right spot and pay with the app. Boeke will grumble about the jetty situation. Janny will walk to the bakery. I'll wipe the spider poop off in the morning with the microfibre cloth and that will be the start of another good day.
We shall see how long we can keep it going. (Longer, I hope.)
Registered: Jacoba.
Hull: circa 1900. Paint: Antique Green, Antique White.
Status: booked in for April. As usual.
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