Guided tour 
this page contains the English translations of the guided tour with panels around the shipyard

Panel #1

SHIPYARDS IN ZEALAND (THE NETHERLANDS)

Throughout the ages fishing has become a major sector of industry. As a result, shipyards were founded for the construction of new boats and their maintenance. Meerman’s yard is the oldest (1763) one still existing.  Together with three other shipyards they have built the greater part of the Zealand fishing fleet in the past three centuries.

The other yards are Van Duivendijk, Tholen, De Klerk, Kruispolder and Verras, Paal, the latter both in Zeeuws Vlaanderen (the most southern part of Zealand).

Panel #2

1. THE BEGINNING

In 1763 a man called Pieter Boers from Sliedrecht is granted permission by the Arnemuiden local counsel to establish a shipyard including a slipway. In the same year Jacobus Meerman arrives from Biezelinge in Arnemuiden. It is quite likely that he became an apprentice at the yard later on.

2. THE MEERMANS

After the shipyard changed ownership several times Jacobus seizes his opportunity:  in November 1786 he buys the yard including a construction shed, a side slipway, and tools for “forty-five pounds, eighteen shilling and eight Flemish groat”

From that moment on the yard remains a family business until the end of 2003. The first names alternate: Jacobus, Cornelis and Adriaan. Until finally Cornelis Adriaan Meerman hands over the yard to the town of Middelburg in 2004.

3. DEVELOPMENT

For two centuries the yard expands gradually. In the end there are three slipways, each with their own capstan to haul the boats out of the water, a wooden quay so boats could moor at high tide and a large crane boom, also known as the shear, to lift and (re)place masts. The two black sheds are built around 1870.

Panel #3

THE HOOGAARS

  1. The Rise
    The Hoogaars is the most typical barge on the Zealand Delta. Originally in use as a small open cargo boat it was later adapted for fishing purposes. Because of the increase in the scale of fishing in the estuaries of the Zealand delta, but also because of the beginning of the cultivation of mussels and oysters on shellfish beds, the boat is being increased in length to about fourteen meters during the 19th Twice as long, but also more seaworthy and powerful. Which was necessary to be able to gather shellfish on the aforementioned plots.
  2. The Decline
    Pressured by the fishing trade it becomes more and more necessary to build in engines. An engine ensures less dependency on the weather and the tides and brings about a consistent supply on the market.

    The single cylinder hot bulb engine was used the most. However, the vibration of such a low-speed engine caused leakage, especially on the older boats. Moreover, the boats had to be adapted. The weight of the engine caused it to lie deeper into the water and it therefore needed to be “buoyed up”, which means that the sides of the ship needed to be made higher. In the end it became clear that the design and the building materials could not be of use in a commercial future. They ended building them around World War II.

    Wooden Hoogaarzen for pleasure boating lasted longer. The last Hoogaars on this yard was launched in 1962. After that, the yard concentrated on restoration and maintenance of the boats. Until finally Kees Meerman closed the doors of the yard. Now, from about the two hundred boats built on this yard, about seven ships are still existing, most of them as a yacht.

Picture #1
The ARM 17, Vrouwe Adriana, as she is now, restored to the original fisherman version, berthed at Zierikzee.

Picture #2
The ARM 17 as a model showing the adjustments needed for placing an engine and the lesser elegant lines due to the “buoying up”.

Panel #4

THE SHIPPING WAREHOUSE

The shipping warehouse was built, just as the sawmill, in the second half of the 19th century, when everything prospered. On the left side is plenty of room for a hefty Hoogaars, on the right side you’ll find workbenches to make parts. The biggest wooden Hoogaars ever built here was over 18 meters long, but they had to break open the wall on the side of the street to do so.

In 2006 and 2007 both warehouses have been restored.  The lighter brown wood was then installed. The older parts are darker. When you take a closer look at those older parts, you will notice that many of them were already used at the time (1870), coming from dismantled boats.

The warehouse has a second storey (not accessible) with three rooms. The biggest one is for storage. The two smaller ones were in use as an attic for bolts and nails, and one for paint.

Panel #5

PILLAR DRILL MACHINE

This pillar drill machine used to be called a column drill machine: taller than a man’s height and solidly fixed on a concrete foundation. The electric power makes it suitable for the heaviest action, notably heavy ironwork. When wooden shipbuilding was about to come to an end Cees Meerman switched to making parts for the new steel ships. He particularly focused on the metal parts for the new “korvisnetten” (trawl nets). To that end he had a rolling mill for the bending of the beam heads at the end of the steel pipe. Those beam heads ensure that the pipe will slide over the sea bottom at the desired height. The tickler chains are attached underneath those heads. Tickler chains startle the fish and make them rise.

Picture
Two “botters” from Arnemuiden enter the Veere harbour in the year 1957. They are equipped with beam trawls, the horizontal metal pipes with the beam heads.

Panel #6

1. DISCOVERIES

After the transfer of the yard to the town of Middelburg a small working party was given the task of emptying both black warehouses of all loose elements, to start restoration. A couple of containers were thus filled with approximately eight hundred numbered objects. Most objects could be identified by the two retired carpenters in the group, who both had boating as a hobby. But the object shown on this panel remained partly a mystery. It was clearly a template out of the bow of a Hoogaars, but we had no clue at all concerning the weird signs. We encountered similar signs two more times. One of them on an upright beam in the warehouse, at the back by the stairs.

Two years later, a certain Dr. Ing. H. Janse wrote an article concerning signs on wood in the Trade and Tools Society’s magazine (Vereniging Ambacht en Gereedschap). In building cathedrals for instance, roof beams were numbered corresponding to their matching bearers, to avoid exchanging them by mistake. Towards the end he also mentioned other signs that could be encountered on old wood. Indeed yes, our wood, our unknown signs. In the following correspondence it became clear: they are raft marks.

2. RAFT MARKS

There are relatively few forests in the Netherlands. Its wood is usually inferior to that of other countries. After the Middle Ages, The Netherlands became a seafaring nation with shipbuilding as an important industry. Growing prosperity saw to the building of big projects like palaces and cathedrals. Importing wood became big business. Much of the wood originated from Scandinavian countries, but an equal amount arrived by the rivers from Germany and France. It entered our country as rafts coming downstream.

The lots of the raft are tagged by carving them with a so-called timber scribe. It goes crossways and slanting over the grain of the wood. A new written language came into existence. The signs revealed e.g. name and address of the seller, size and type of the lot and its destination. The template shows, according to Mr. Janse, as the first series: M1#26MR1726B and as the second series N115510M51X58. What it means is not yet clear. He wrote: “It seems to me a 17th century oak board.”. Raft marks are usually found in old buildings. But also, in old mills where the highest quality of wood is needed to withstand the heavy interaction.

Panel #7

THE COAL CHEST

In 1927 young apprentice Cees, 12-year-old son of yard master Jacob, builds a coal chest for the fishing of prawns. Prawns are being cooked on board on a coal fired stove. A similar chest was used for salt. The bottom of the chest has four holes to facilitate the draining of rain and spray water. This particular chest however has never been used and is still in fine condition after almost a hundred years. Cees will become the last yard master: Cornelis Adriaan Meerman. The picture shows both chests left and right of the stove.

Panel #8

1. TREENAILS AND TREENAIL WEDGES

Joints, especially under water joints, are made by using pine treenails with oak treenail wedges.

Method of working:

  • The two parts that need to be joined are being firmly held in the right place and drilled through.
  • The treenail, made to fit, is being hammered through both parts with a wooden mallet.
  • The protruding parts are being sawn off at both ends.
  • An iron awl is used to stab a hole in the middle of both ends of the treenail.
  • The harder treenail wedges are then driven into the holes on both ends, as deep as possible. The shipbuilder knows he can stop when the sound of the blow becomes dull.

2. AN AMAZING TECHNOLOGY

The joint becomes even stronger and more solid once the ship is launched into the water, because the pine nail will soak up water with its tapered ends. This technique has been used for centuries, and not just in Arnemuiden! It has been in use all over the world, including e.g. for Chinese junks and Indian cargo boats. Unfortunately, the vibrations of the earlier built-in engines on the older ships caused the nails to become loose in their holes.

Panel #9

PIET’S HANDS

Apprentice Piet arrives at the yard when he is 14 years old. A young lad without any experience. He is entrusted with the task of cutting the pine treenails for the underwater joints. Bent over the chiselling block, here left on the bench, he has to chisel out the pine nails. Right length, expertly rounded, and above all with the right thickness! He is holding the chisel with its hand grip in the hollow of his shoulder, the best way to keep control.

After a year Piet has seen enough. He quits the job and signs up on a ship. After a long career as a seaman, risen to captain on long navigation journeys, he retires.  Nowadays he likes to demonstrate what he once did.

Panel #10

THE LITTLE MAN ON THE MAST

The fishermen of Arnemuiden may not be very keen on decorations, but this special adornment is often seen on their boats: the little man. Right atop the mast, even higher than the vane that tells the wind direction. The little man has a very pointed hat with a shred of worsted woollen yarn (sajet) secured at its very top: “It will sweep the sky clean!”

Panel #11

A HOOGAARS’ BLUEPRINT

The yard master did not have blueprints. He only used a few details from his own private notebook (for his eyes only). In it, you would find the measurements of each Hoogaars. Hoisted high in the warehouse you will find grooves in the beams which were used as reference points for each ship’s measurements.

The blueprint on display here has been made after having measured an existing ship. From top to bottom is shown:

  1. Starboard half of the ship, seen from above.
  2. Next to the text: a drawing of one the two lee-board’s sides.
  3. Cross sectional area at the level of the mast, next, a semi-cross-sectional area at the level of the front of the “kot” (cabin) and at the level of the back of the “kot” (cabin).
  4. Longitudinal cross-sectional area of the side of the ship.

Panel #12

THE HOOGAARS

Fishery in the Netherlands on the inland waterways and near the coast was done for centuries with wooden boats with a flat bottom. These were required because of the limited and often changing depths. Through the ages each region of the country developed its own type of flat-bottomed boat, for catching fish or shellfish. In Zeeland the Hoogaars was the most built fishing boat. In Arnemuiden, the Hoogaars had its heyday from 1870 onwards.

The ample hauls, but also the growing market (the arrival of the railway and the growing export to England) generated a huge revenue. That of course, also went for the yard. This was its heyday: with a work force of over twenty men no less than five ships a year were built for a longer period of time. After the turn of the century that number dwindled. During World War I it stagnated. The sea was full of mines, and the fighting partners readily thought a lonely fisherman a spy from the enemy. While after the war fishery struggled to return to normal other problems arose. The market for fish demanded more and more a regular supply. Sailing fishery had to give way to motorised fishery.

Panel #13

THE HOOGAARS

Hoogaarzen are being used in all kinds of fishery, contrary to the deeper lying “hengst” which is mainly used for clam fishing. Characteristic of the Hoogaars are the straight, acutely flaring angles of the bow, the stretched sheer and the shallow stern. The Hoogaars from Arnemuiden was usually rigged with a sprit rig, gaff rigs were used elsewhere. All Hoogaarzen have a “fishing” rudder: it sticks out deeper than the stern. The rudder is hauled up when wanting to dry out at low tide. Through the changes in fishery the length of the Hoogaars has increased considerably. Most Hoogaarzen ended up having a length of 12 to 14 meters. The Hoogaarzen from Arnemuiden show more curvature looking towards the side and have a higher bow than the Hoogaarzen fishing in the more eastern parts of the waters. In this way they are better equipped to withstand the heftier swell of the estuaries. The most well-known yards are Van Duivendijk on Tholen and of course Meerman at Arnemuiden.

THE HENGST

The Hengst has mainly been built for clam fishing in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen (Dutch Flanders). It is squatter in its appearance than the Hoogaars. The equally flaring bow is straighter than on the Hoogaars. Because of the higher flanks there is more space in the hull, allowing for more clams. When several waters in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen silted up and were drained many Hengsten departed for Yerseke (Beveland). The most well-known yards are De Klerk in Kruispolder and Verras in Paal.

Panel #14

THE SAWMILL

Over a century and a half ago yard master Meerman ordered this warehouse to be built. In here mostly parts for Hoogaarzen are being made, but also small boats like rowing boats. The old woodworking machinery is kept here. Nothing is thrown out. It is now fitted out as a museum where the public can gain insight in the use of old techniques and tools.

Panel #15

WORKING CONDITIONS

The heyday of the yard is between 1860 and 1880. Prawn fishery is very successful, while the market for fish is developing. The opening of a railway (from Vlissingen to (the province of) Brabant with a railway station in Arnemuiden) was largely responsible for that growth. There are years in which five or six Hoogaarzen are being built by twenty or more employees. Workdays of twelve hours a day or more were customary, in winter the day lasted as long as there was light. The yard master did not use blueprints: the details of each ship were recorded in his own little notebook. Clients explained what they wanted for their new ship by referring to details of earlier built ships. The new yard master was always trained by his own father.

Picture #1
In the picture on the far left Kees Meerman, the last yard master, and on the far right his father, Jacob Meerman, yard master at the time the picture was taken. (1957).

Picture #2
The shipyard around 1957. Left to right: Kees Meerman, his son Jaap, Chris Bliek, Jaap de Nooijer, Maatje Boone and her sons Jaap and Piet, Jacob Meerman, Kees’ father. Maatje is one of Jacob’s granddaughters.

Panel #16

1. THE TWO-HANDED SAW

The two-handed saw is the shortest of these two. This saw is used to shorten, i.e. to saw cross grained on beams and trees. A man is standing on each side pulling it alternately. The saw teeth are usually small. The handgrips (“krukken”) are positioned in line with the blade.

2. THE PIT SAW

The pit saw is significantly longer, around 2,5 meters. This saw is used for sawing a tree lengthwise, e.g. for the shell strakes of a ship. The tree is put on man-sized trestles. The top sawyer is on the tree, the lower sawyer is underneath it. The saw teeth are bigger and not symmetrical like with the two-handed saw. The handles are at right angles with the blade.

Picture
Model of a true size pit saw set-up at the Wasa-museum in Stockholm.

Panel #17

THE BAND SAW

The electrically powered band saw is ready for use on its concrete base while there is not yet electricity in Arnemuiden. Finally, in December 1929, the day has come. After a festive parade the mayor pulls the handle. Arnemuiden celebrates. And the yard? An enormous time-saver! What a comfort!

The looping band is led over two wheels. The lower wheel is driven by the electric engine. Effortlessly the machine saws timber into boards. Furthermore, the saw can handle easy curves, as is seen in the picture. The control rod has been extended and actuates the sharpening machine for the band saw blades.

Panel #18

THE ADZE

The adze is one of the oldest shipbuilder’s tools. It is related to the axe. The cutting edge however is perpendicular to the handle rather than parallel, as is usually the case with an axe. The edge of the blade was either straight or curved. They are used for cutting either horizontally or vertically.  The straight adze is used to remove wood from the object in order to hollow out the surface lengthwise.

With the curved adze the object can be hollowed out length and width. You are in fact making a pit. Just imagine how in earlier times a tree trunk was hollowed out to get a canoe. Should you use an axe, the object could easily cleave. You would at least also need a straight adze. But a curved adze works faster and there is less risk. But mind your clogs!

Panel #19

ANCIENT DRILLS

  1. Auger
    This wood auger with its spiral point is used for drilling large and deep holes. The spiral point will pull the auger deeper into the wood while boring. At the same time the wood cuttings are being worked upwards.

  2. Spoon auger
    The use of a spoon auger demands pre-boring. Otherwise, the tip of the auger has a habit of “absconding”. To remove wood cuttings the auger needs to be retracted regularly. This tool requires a lot of muscle power.

  3. Pump auger
    This auger with a long spoon that ends in a hook is used for making ducts in wood, e.g. the bilge pump, a device to pump seepage water overboard.

These wooden bilge pump pipes existed already before the VOC ships were in use. On the Hoogaarzen they weren’t replaced until the 1900’s by metal tubes, which last much longer.

With a metal signal wire, attached to the hook of the blade, the blade is pulled into the pre-bored hole. The signal wire is pulled by the youngest help with a small winch. At the same time, two strong men will rotate the blade. When the auger has been worked through the hole, the job is repeated with an ever-broader blade. Just as long until the tube fits the dimension of the bilge pump’s piston.

Panel #20

1. ABOUT/ON WOOD

Nowadays, ships are mainly built out of metal and polyester.

Formerly, it was only wood. In our country, oak was used most. But our country had no large forests. Timber had to be imported, because it takes over a hundred years for a tree to be ready for felling. The largest import came from Germany by the Rhine. Big rafts were being descended down the river. Nowadays France is a large supplier.

2. A HOOGAARS’ WOOD

The ship’s hull is made of oak. For the flat bottom also elms wood is used. The cladding is made of pinewood. Pitch pine was used for round timber like the mast and outrigger.

Text on pictures: oak – pine – pitch pine – elm

Panel #21

1. TIMBER HARVESTING AND TIMBER TRADE

During the 17th century the Netherlands went through a period of economic bloom. After the discovery of new continents, seen from Europe, profitable trades came up with an ever-growing fleet. Particularly shipbuilding consumed enormous quantities of timber.

The timber arrived from ever further away, e.g. the Black Forest and the Vosges. Rather poor areas suddenly became significant. The woods were searched for straight pines about 30 meters long (for masts and such). A tree like that was called a “Holländer”. Big oak trunks were worth ten times as much. By way of lesser rivers, the timber drifted in small clusters towards the big rivers. Once arrived at those points the rafts are combined into larger units. The pines, being lighter and therefore having more buoyancy, are put underneath and the oak trunks on top.

2. HOLLÄNDERFLOSSE

The rafts became bigger and bigger to even gigantic dimensions. The current allowed for the trip downstream. To navigate the bends and flow fluently with the current the front parts of the rafts (called “knees”) can be turned in the direction of the bend by tackles with large capstans and large straps, up to 21 meters. Small boats that accompanied the rafts could line anchors onto the raft to add more power for the turning. Several publications mention a variety of dimensions, from 330 up to even 600 meters. On the raft itself a small village was built to house the hundreds of workers on board.

3. DORDRECHT

Traditionally, Dordrecht was the destination of the big rafts. From there, the timber was usually shipped to the shipbuilding yards and other customers. During the 19th century rafts of this kind are increasingly prohibited.  Such a massive, difficult to navigate body is becoming more and more dangerous to the regular shipping trade.

Panel #22

A PICTURE OF CEES

Cornelis Adrianus Meerman was the last yard master. On this picture, dated 2005, he is seen behind his shipbuilder’s toolbox. In 2004 he hands over the yard to the town of Middelburg for a symbolic sum of money. With a few conditions: the new owner is to restore the yard and will exploit it as a museum for the shipbuilding of times past. In 2007, the restoration is completed, and the yard opens its gates to visitors. The organisation is in the hands of a newly set up (non-profit) foundation.

CARPENTERS TOOLBOXES AND SHIPBUILDERS’ TOOLBOXES

Every employee on the yard has a carpenters toolbox filled with his own tools. It is stored in a fixed place. At the beginning of the day’s work the employee fills his portable shipbuilder’s toolbox with the tools needed for the day. At night the cleaned tools will be stored again in the bigger toolbox. The shipbuilder’s toolbox differs significantly from a common carpenter’s toolbox in housebuilding. The shipbuilder’s toolbox has been made to sit on. Not meant to rest on, but, on the contrary, to spare your back if you work on the bottom of the ship.

Panel #23

CAULKING TOOLS

Upper row: All sorts of caulking irons, curved, straight, slanting, thick and thin.

Middle row from left to right
– Caulking cotton for narrow seams
– Vuilak (vuulak) (lit: bugger) Tar brush for sealing seams with tar.
– Hemp to fill up broader seams.
– Tar, needs to be heated before use
– Caulking mallet to hammer the hemp into the seams.

Bottom: The shipbuilder’s toolbox for caulking activities.

With the caulking mallet and the caulking iron, the hemp is hammered in between the seams. No need for a heavy mallet or hard hammering, for then it would work the hemp through the seams and leave them open again. Caulking requires a flexible filling because wood will swell when wet and shrink when dry. The hemp is worked slightly deeper into the seams to leave enough capacity for the tar to stick to the wood. Subsequently, the tar is applied. On deck a ladle can be used to pour the tar. That is impossible for the sides and bottom. Then the “vuilak” (tar brush) is used. Dip it in the tar bucket and bring it with a twisting motion, so as not to lose any of it, towards the seam and fill it. Obviously, some of it will be spilled: “bugger it!”. Nowadays the caulking gun is used instead of the tar brush, no more tar, but flexible sealants.

Panel #24

1. (SPIRIT) LEVEL

A level enables the shipbuilder during the build to check if the hull of the boat is set up Level-To-The-Water. This design is not made with a bubble of air in a little water filled tube. It is worth your while examining this tool closely. The maker of this tool has evidently tried not to just produce a useful tool but also to make it look elegant. This goes for most old tools. Around 1900 this habit run out of practice: firstly, tools need to function well, secondly, they need to last. Elegance comes down to the bottom of the list.

2. CALLIPERS

Callipers make a difficult job easy: measuring a round object, e.g. a mast. When making a mast out of a tree, a gradually decline in diameter is wanted. Callipers always give the right diameter at any place accurately and fast.

Panel #25

JACK

The jack (jack screw –screw jack), also known as a rack jack, is a very important tool in the old shipbuilding trade. By turning a cranked handle on a gearwheel, a dented rod is pushed out in vertical use. The power needed is thus strongly multiplied. With jacks you can slant a flat-bottomed boat when caulking the bottom. There is no need to work lying on your back and brush above your head. The smallest of the collection of jacks is also the oldest: it is noticeable on the decorations, like the handle, which is twisted, so to speak.

Panel #26

NO YARD WITHOUT SLIPWAYS

Two out of three slipways remained on the yard: a (simplified) cradle way and the traditional slipway

1. (TRADITIONAL) SLIPWAY

Fishing boats are put on slip once a year to clean the bottom of fouling growth and, when necessary, to reclose splits in the seams. The latter is called caulking. On a slipway, also called a boat ramp, the ship is drawn up over a slicked ramp. This pulling is done with the help of a capstan, using manpower on lighter ships, or using horsepower for heavier vessels. The current slipway is built consistent with old information.

2. (SIMPLIFIED) CRADLE (SLIP)WAY

This ramp is still in use. It functions with flat wagons which go over rails. A steel wire goes underwater to the other side. It is used to draw the wagon into the water. Once the wagons are under water the ship can be fastened unto two poles which are just sticking out of the water. The wagons with the ship on it can then be drawn up. By way of a cable the distance between the two wagons can be varied, to adjust them to the length of the ship about to be slipped. The pulling power is nowadays provided by an electric winch in the green shed.

Panel #27

VIEW ONTO THE YARD IN 1923

The VLI28 has been fitted with new rigging. A reason to party! The Middelburg photographer Helder has been asked to do his job. On the release of a newly built Hoogaars a ceremonial picture was often taken from the other side of the water.

Note: At that moment the VLI was not newly built as it is said in various publications. The ship was built earlier. See: Van Beylen

Panel #28

TH 51 “DE BRAVE HENDRIK” (GOOD KING HENRY)

2024 is the year in which we start with the restoration of the TH 51, “De Brave Hendrik”. Its fishing licence was issued in 1902. The owners at the time were Lambertus and Johannes Vercouteren, living at 19 Kruittoren in Tholen. The ship is a “Lemmerjacht” or “Mosseljager”. The terms “jacht” and “jager” in this context (lit. hunt and hunter) mean that the ship had to be fast, to deliver the clams to the buyers as freshly as possible. “The first on the Antwerp market will fetch the highest price”. And it is said that this ship was indeed a fast one! It was sold to Belgium in 1948 after it had been converted to a pleasure yacht at the Meerman yard. Later, she was converted back to the original fishing boat. A group of volunteers will mainly have the upper part of the hull as its object, under supervision of our ship’s restorer. A beautiful and honourable project!

Panel #29

THE HEAT BENDING SHACK

1. IN THE PAST

In the heat bending shack the boards for the shell, the shell strake, are being curved. This is how it works: the sawn to size/measure strakes are put on the iron trestle. A fire that is carefully kept under control is burning underneath.  You don’t want it to come out in a blaze! The end of the strake is made heavier. By heating the strake on the bottom side (and by keeping it wet at the same time with the brush in a pail of water) the curving of the biggest bend will be achieved slowly. This seems like a simple job, but you need to take care that the right curve is realised in the right spot. What complicates matters is that most strakes need two curves. Transversal (crossways) and longitudinal (lengthwise). That needs a real craftsman! When the yard master is satisfied with the right curvature he calls loudly: “BIEZETTEN!” (Add on!). All hands will come and pick up the strake (with gloves, because of the heat) to fit it onto the ship. That heath bending is an unhealthy job will be evident!

2. NOWADAYS

The heat bending method is still in use, there is no better alternative for oak of that thickness. The open fire however has been replaced by a gas burner. That way, you have better control. In the past, the shack regularly burnt down.

Panel #30

KROMHOUT HOT BULB ENGINE

Type M1, 20/22 HP, 2-stroke engine
Weight: 1950 kg
Fuel consumption: 265 gr per hour HP, crude oil
Year of construction: before 1924

1. TYPE

In a hot bulb engine, a glowing point needs to be red hot before the engine can even be started. The youngest mate will leave a bit earlier to go from Arnemuiden to Veere or Vlissingen (Flushing) to preheat and start the engine.

2. VOLUNTEERS WORK

In September 2019 Willem came across this engine here, totally rusted and filthy. Together with his friend Cor he decides to try and get it going again. Undaunted, they get to work, disconnect all the parts, cleanse them in a mixture of oil and petrol solution.  A little movement in the crankshaft, because the piston is still stuck. Part after part is being treated in this way, always waiting in between to let the oil mixture do its bit. The gas mechanism over the throttle for instance needs several months in the oil mixture before it even begins to move a little. That goes for most of the parts. But in 2024 Willem and Cor may well be able to let us enjoy the distinctive chugging sound on the yard. What a massive job!

Panel #31

1. FROM SAIL TO ENGINE

This engine has been donated to us by mister P. Padmos from Bruinisse. Through many years of storage, the engine has fallen in disuse. To the Meerman yard this engine is an important symbol of the period in which the sailing fishing fleet was motorised. Because the fish trade insists more and more on a consistent supply for selling fish is becomes clear to the fishermen that motorising is necessary. In Arnemuiden this change starts around 1925. Next to the Meerman yard the Knolle company is established, which installs Kromhout engines. In close cooperation the two companies fit out the whole fleet with engines.

2. THE INSTALLATION

The installation of the engine is not an easy job. The whole ship needs to be adjusted. The weight of an engine (without fuel and tank) was about 2000 kg. The Hoogaars sinks lower into the water, which results in the need to raise the sides. The hind part of the ship under the water line needs adjusting, as well as the rudder. The engine is placed in the “kot” (cabin) forcing the “shelter” to be moved to the bow. After fishery stagnated during World War I the ensuing years showed little improvement. Most fishermen had to borrow money to pay for the conversion.

3. THE RESULT

The combination of this type of ship, the Hoogaars, the advanced age of the fleet, together with the heavy engine that produces hefty vibrations is not altogether successful. It causes a lot of problems. The Hoogaars yards introduce an adjusted model of the Hoogaars, that is better suited for the engine. But the high price does not win many fishermen over. The road is sooner opened to steel ships, or the purchase of heavier built wooden boats, like a “botter” (cp smack).

Picture
Four Hoogaarzen which have been fitted with raised sides at the yard are now awaiting the installation of their Kromhout engines at the neighbouring Knolle company.

Panel #32

ZEALANDIC FISHING BOATS

Major types of Zealandic fishing boats.  Ranked in the order of the numbers built.

Type 1
Hoogaars: YE 36, Andries Jacob, owner SBH*
Built: 1900, at Van Duivendijk’s yard, Tholen

Type 2
Hengst: TH 49, De Drie Gebroeders, owner SBH
Built: 1908, at Verras’ yard, Paal

Type 3
Zeeuwse Schouw, PI 67, owner: Stichting Nieuwe Zorg
Built: unkown, at Verras’ yard, Paal

Type 4
Pleasure yacht, Alcyon, fitted with a cabin, owner SBH
Built: 1928, at Meerman’s yard, Arnemuiden

* SBH = Stichting Behoud Hoogaars (Foundation for the Preservation of the Hoogaars)

Panel #33

GORNAET

The name of this Hoogaars is Gornaet: shrimp in the Arnemuiden dialect. She was built here in 1962 as a pleasure yacht. She is clearly in a bad way. The result of the accumulation of unfortunate circumstances. Restoration would cost more than building her from scratch. Now she shows us an interesting picture of her construction.