Vinke en aanverwanten...
-
Patru (R.I.P)
Re: Vinke en aanverwanten...
Bij mijn plaatsing van het schilderij staat toch echt Fred Boom.
Misschien is het goed om bij de toelichting van Roy op pagina 1 nog even de uitingen te plaatsen van de rederijen die onder beheer waren bij Vinke.
- SM Oostzee.jpg (20.22 KiB) 1607 keer bekeken
- NV Houtvaart.jpg (21.86 KiB) 1607 keer bekeken
- SM Hillegersberg.jpg (12.14 KiB) 1607 keer bekeken
- NV Walvisvaart.jpg (14.2 KiB) 1607 keer bekeken
Re: Vinke en aanverwanten...
Hoi Patru,
Je hebt volkomen gelijk, het moet Fred Boom zijn, als ik na de corona hem
weer ontmoet bij Zeemanshoop in Amsterdam zal ik hiervoor mijn excuus aanbieden.
Later is de Zaan omgedoopt tot Wilpo eigenaar was William Pont.
Groeten Jaap
Je hebt volkomen gelijk, het moet Fred Boom zijn, als ik na de corona hem
weer ontmoet bij Zeemanshoop in Amsterdam zal ik hiervoor mijn excuus aanbieden.
Later is de Zaan omgedoopt tot Wilpo eigenaar was William Pont.
Groeten Jaap
Re: Vinke en aanverwanten...
De Zaan (1921) werd in 1955 de Gretke Oldendorff.(w.dld).
De Wilpo (1922) was tot 1948 de Leka.(Nor.)
Hank.
De Wilpo (1922) was tot 1948 de Leka.(Nor.)
Hank.
-
Puntenel
- Berichten: 223
- Lid geworden op: 02 jul 2008 03:52
- Locatie: Telopea Sydney Australia
- Contacteer:
Re: Vinke en aanverwanten...
L.S.
Ik heb nog een verhaal over het s.s. "Rijn". Jammer genoeg is het in het Engels en vertalen is de moeite niet waard, maat het past mooi in de rubriek. Dus daar gaat ie!
SAILING THROUGH THE KRIKKEMIKKE
Ik weet niet hoe ik de foto van de "Rijn" en de kaart van de Golf van Botnia (Mantyluoto) hier op krijg. Hulp a.u.b.
S.S. “Rijn”
When I finished my first trip at sea in 1951 as Second Radio Operator on the “Willemstad”, a new passenger ship belonging to the KNSM that made regular voyages between Amsterdam, Southampton, Madeira and the Caribbean, I had dreams of going solo on a beautiful white ship with all the mods and comfs sailing into a warm, sunny climate.
After a few days at home I received a message to report to the “Radio Holland” Inspection Office at the Levant Kade in Amsterdam to take over a ship. No further details were given and my hopes of signing on a white yacht were still very much alive.
One of the Inspectors took me on board a small motorboat and we made our way through the harbour. When I questioned the Inspector where we were going and what sort of ship it was the only answer I got was “You’ll see”!
I saw all right, the further and deeper the boat went through the port and the canals the greyer my white yacht became.
Finally we arrived at the end of the world and there she was – the s.s. “Rijn” of the NV Houtvaart – bunkering coal, covered in dust, rusty, old and looking very, very uninviting!
Now that the white yacht dream had been shattered I realised that the only choice I had was trying to make the most of it.
But even that thought got a knocking when we had to climb over the bunker coal on deck to get to the radio room and accommodation.
By the time we had found the First Mate and got the keys to the radio room we were covered in coal dust.
Before I got to the radio room I felt like tossing the whole thing in, but when we opened the door I got a pleasant surprise! Fancy that, brand new radio equipment on this old rust bucket.
Not surprising though, after the Germans invaded Holland in May 1940 they took the ship as a prize in the port of Rotterdam. All through the war she sailed under Dutch flag and German management in the German orbit. After completion of repairs in September 1944 at the yard of Crichton Vulkan, Helsinki, her crew scuttled her near Abo by destroying pumps.
She was salvaged in 1946 and back in service in 1948, Vinke & Zonen appointed as managers.
She was built and completed by A. Vuijk & Zonen, Capelle (No. 447), as RIJN for NV Houtvaart, Rotterdam in September 1916 with Vinke & Co. appointed as managers.
Classified as cargo steamship - 1965 GRT / 3312 tdw, 158,190 cubic feet grain, 85.95 m registered length, 12.28 m breadth, 6.5 m depth, triple-expansion engine, 1200 HP, made by Arnhemsche Stoom Mij. Arnhem, speed 9 knots.
Just for the record, I did the last two trips on her before she was sold to Egon Oldendorff, Lübeck. She was renamed Erna Oldendorff on 14.1.1952 and sailed under German flag until 1962 when she was sent to Italy to be scrapped.
After re-floating the ship the damage was repaired and she could sail again; fortunately the old radio gear could no longer be used and was taken off. Brand new equipment was put on board albeit in the same old, crummy accommodation.
The new radio equipment was the latest UK Marconi MIMC equipment - an Ocean Span MF/HF transmitter, Receivers, Echo sounder, Spark Emergency transmitter - and last, but not least, a Marconi Lodestone Direction Finder.
The Lodestone would play a role in what lay ahead.
After the inspection I wanted to go back on the boat to Amsterdam with the Inspector. Before we left I had a chance to talk to the First Mate to find out what was going on and was told that we would be leaving empty the next day for Finland.
As you know now she was neither built for speed nor comfort but despite all the inconveniences on board she had character. When I say character I mean she represented to me what an old steamer should be like.
Her mess room was finished in beautiful mahogany wood panelling, light fittings in that officers’ lounge were still the original lamps but converted from oil to electricity.
All brass and copper was polished and everything was spic and span.
On deck all winches were steam driven and very quiet in operation.
The engine and engine room were an eye opener to me, a beautiful old triple expansion machine and other ancillary machines of a past era.
I had never seen anything like that before and to this day I can still smell the steam and see in my mind how the oilers kept in rhythm with the movement of the “arms and legs” whilst squirting oil out of a can.
I had good reasons to make regular visits to the engine room! There was no laundry service on board and you had to do your own washing. If you were lucky you could sometimes get hot water in the showers or washbasin in your cabin. The only other way was to grab a bucket and ask the engineer on duty if you could fill your bucket with boiler water and drag it all the way to you cabin up top to do the washing.
Everything on board was steam driven, including heating in the cabins. Heating in the radio room was through a couple of huge coils (serpentines) underneath the operator’s desk. When the heating was on your feet would be boiling whilst the rest of your body was cold and the temperature inside the cabin was still like a freezer compartment.
Same in the cabins, heat distribution was not good at all! The worst part of it all was that in port power was turned off after 10 pm until 7 am the next morning; they also shut the boiler down and turned steam heating off. Company regulations!!!!!
Perhaps this measure is OK in a moderate climate but not in Finland at the beginning of winter. With only an oil lamp for light in a freezing cabin during the night condensation would form, run down the wall and freeze up. Result was that you woke up the next morning with your hair stuck to the wall, fair dinkum!
Perhaps that was a reason for the company to issue a bottle of jenever a fortnight free of charge! Just to placate us and compensate for the inconveniences.
Other story tellers have mentioned free issues of jenever on some of the trampers they sailed on, well, I can tell you we needed our bottle of Blankenheim & Nolet to keep warm, not to bribe the bosun or loosen the tongue of others!
Before we sailed the next morning on my first solo trip I went on the bridge to introduce myself to the Captain and the second and third mate. The captain walked around with a wind jacket without epaulettes and had a battered old sailing cap on his head. He seemed a very quiet sort of a person, one of the old school who had gone through the war and survived.
He eyed me up and down and said “Welcome on board son, first ship on your own is it?”
I told him that it was and that I was a bit nervous, he grinned and said: “They all do, you’ll be fine Marc”. How little did I realise that a week later he would appreciate my presence on board.
The ship looked presentable after the bunkers were taken down and the decks were cleared and washed.
The bosun had put the aerials up and I was ready to go as soon as we got outside the locks in IJmuiden. Scheveningen Radio – PCH, the Dutch coast radio station is located right next to the locks in IJmuiden. In order not to blast the poor station operator’s headset off in such close proximity you had to transmit on reduced power. On the “Ocean Span” MF transmitter you could make a choice between full power, half power and quarter power transmission, and of course I used quarter power. All went well and we were on open sea.
Up comes the First Mate with a telegram for the agent in Kiel, no problem,
start the Ocean Span and call Norddeich Radio on full power.
Nothing happened, no transmission, no meter readings.
What the good inspector had not told me that there was a problem with Ocean Span equipment cutting out at the slightest overload. Apparently antenna length and tuning are very critical and if not spot on caused the transmitter to drop out.
When I called Scheveningen Radio earlier on quarter power this problem did not occur, anyway, I got the hang of it and later managed to operate the transmitter on MF to work the local coastal stations and sometimes in the Gulf of Bothnia on HF to work Scheveningen Radio.
Our destination was a port called Mäntyluoto, the largest timber port in the Nordic region on the Gulf of Bothnia near Pori in Finland, to load up with timber.
The “Rijn” was designed to carry timber logs or cut timber in the holds and on deck. She could also carry bulk cargo such as coal or iron ore but this trip we sailed to Finland in ballast. The weather was good for the time of the year, September – October and we arrived at the Kieler Canal without any incidents.
To get to Mäntyluoto the ship has to sail North East from Kiel into the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Finland and then steer north into the Gulf of Bothnia along the coast of Finland. To sail via the shortest route into the Gulf of Bothnia you have to pass through an archipelago. The passage is very tricky to navigate under normal conditions - extremely difficult to negotiate when visibility is limited.
Remember, we did not have radar on board!
Those who sail around the Baltic commonly referred to the archipelago as the “Krikkemikke”.
After we left Kiel I checked the Marconi Lodestone direction finder and took bearings to check the accuracy of the calibration chart. The third mate was very helpful and took visual bearings to compare the results with me. They were spot on and it gave me confidence, not only in my own ability but also in this new equipment.
Would you believe it! Two nights later, after I had finished my last watch I went to bed.
Just after midnight the third mate woke me to tell me that the old man wanted me on the bridge. They had run into poor visibility and the third mate called the captain on the bridge. They had a discussion and decided it was better to be sure to be sure and call the sparks.
On Dutch ships in those days the older men always called the sparks “Marc”, short for marconist.
The old man told me that he was not certain of the ship’s position and could I give him a fix with the Lodestone?
I had familiarised myself with the list of radio beacons along the Danish, Swedish and Finnish coast and I knew I could be of assistance. During that dogwatch I took regular bearings, which they plotted, and when visibility returned and visual bearings could be taken my positions showed to be spot on.
You know when you are wanted or needed, all through the night they plied me with cups of coffee and sandwiches and when it was all over the captain came up to me, put his hand on my shoulder and said: ” Thank you very much Marc, well done!”
To hear that compliment from an old sea dog with many years of experience was my proud moment. I felt then that I was part of the team and this spirit has been with me all the years that I sailed and later ashore when I worked with other people. As a wireless operator I have never felt the odd man out, I always knew that my work was just as important as the work of all the others on board. We had to rely on each other, regardless.
The rest of the journey was quite uneventful, we arrived at Luoto where we anchored in a lagoon and waited for the floating logs to arrive and for the “pojkas” to start loading.
It was a slow process and we were there for 4 days, there was nothing ashore and the nearest village was some kilometres away. Somehow we got word that a dance was to be held at the village hall and that we were most welcome to attend.
We walked through the forest and through the clearances we could see the night sky. Absolutely beautiful, the stars were brighter than I had ever seen before and although the night air was cold it felt so clean and fresh.
The dance itself was great! All the lovely local lasses turned up and we had a ball!
What surprised me was the amount of spirits that were consumed by all and sundry, in my sheltered life before I went to sea I had only ever seen the occasional drunk but at this turn out everybody had a skin full!
Is it the cold weather that turns the Scandinavians to drink?
It must be, I had already noticed that the “Pojkas” (wharfies) were drinking sprit, a sort of high alcohol content vodka, on the job and getting more drunk as the day progressed! How they did not have terrible accidents walking on those floating logs and getting the logs in slings to winch on board I still don’t know.
We returned to Zaandam in the first week of November 1951 and unloaded our cargo of logs. I went home on leave for a week before signing on for the second trip on the “Rijn”.
We left Zaandam on the 12th of November 1951 bound for Turku, Finland with an empty ship again.
I had settled in very well and life on board was good. The food was good, thanks to our Chief Cook who also doubled as Purser. Cabin service was “self-service”; at the mess the Captain’s steward served the meals.
The steward was a tall, aloof sort of a man. Dedicated to the captain only and looking at us the etat major as necessary evils. To be fair to him he was always correct and courteous, but never friendly.
I was given to eat a few more dishes that never appeared on Mother’s Menu!
Labscous is one that springs to mind. And there were other dishes that on Mother’s Menu came under the category of “prakje” – left overs or bubble and squeak. No food was ever wasted, not only because the company was a typical tight-fisted Dutch organisation but also the Chief Cook was trying to save a quid (for himself?).
When we signed on for the journey in Zaandam we were informed that the ship had been sold to Germany and that this was her last voyage under Dutch flag. Obviously the company was not going to spend money on an asset that was no longer on the books and we found out that repairs that had to be done were not carried out or items were not replaced.
At one stage the gravy boat in the mess room got smashed and there was no spare gravy boat to be found. Fortunately only the foot of the gravy boat was badly smashed but the actual bowl was still intact. No problem to our engineers, they found a large oblong shaped sardine tin, filled it up with cement and sand and set the bowl in the tin. They then painted the base in company colours and put the company logo on either side of the base!
Great hilarity at the mess table when the gravy boat returned, I wonder if anyone souvenired it at the end of the trip?
Not only did we run out of small foodstuff during the voyage but also on the way back when we struck bad weather north of the Wadden Isles where we could not make headway and had the Isle of Texel on our port side for the best part of the day.
We nearly had to pinch timber from our cargo to keep to boilers going because we ran out of coal. We only just made it into Zaandam.
On the day before entering IJmuiden we actually ran out of potatoes and the cook had to supplement rice to prepare the last dinner.
As I said before the Cook was also responsible for the Stores. He was a likeable tall guy with piercing black eyes, a typical Rotterdammer with a broad accent. He always managed to come up with a good meal and now and then he would surprise us all with something one would only expect to see on the menu in a first class restaurant. I don’t know where he learned his trade but he was good at it.
One morning before arriving at the first port of call in Finland the captain asked me to go and wake the Cook because Customs and Immigration were due to come on board.
I went into his cabin; the cook was on his bunk with his face on one side lying on the pillow looking at me. I spoke to him and told him that the officials were on board and that he was wanted. He just looked at me and did not move or answer. I repeated what I said before – no answer. Then I got worried and thought that he had carked it, I touched him on the shoulder and he turned around on the pillow, opened the other eye and said: “What’s the matter Marc?”
I never knew that he had one glass eye.
Before we got to our destination ice had started to form on the Gulf of Bothnia, this was in the middle of December and we still had to load and return before the ice became too thick. There was some concern on board and the fact that the empty ship ploughing through the thin ice made a terrible noise did not help much.
Lucky for us it did not happen otherwise we would have been stuck there for the winter and miss out on our Christmas with the family.
Another minor problem developed and we had to call into Helsinki for repairs. I grabbed the opportunity and went ashore to have a look around. One of the mates had told me about saunas, how most people in Scandinavia had one at home or if they did not have one at home they’d go to a public sauna. He had been to a public sauna before and gave me the drum.
Here I was, standing in front of this big building where the saunas were. It looked like a normal office building, nothing like a swimming pool or bathhouse.
Once inside this huge blonde in a white coat intercepted me. She looked like an import from Russia, one of those Gulag commissars. She spoke German and I told her that this was my first time (in a sauna of course) and could she assist me. Well, she did more than assist me; she gave me the full treatment – hot bath, cold shower, birch branch whipping and a full body massage. She certainly knew her job, I felt like I could jump a tall building and for that I thanked her profusely.
The euphoria lasted until I got back on board. I suddenly felt tired and all I wanted was go to sleep, which I did. Never woke up until the next morning, feeling good again.
Apart from a couple of days in bad weather in the North Sea the return voyage from Helsinki was very quiet. I think everyone was feeling sad because the old girl was sold and we would miss her.
For me it was a great experience, my first ship, being my own boss, and a new responsibility of learning how to get on with other people.
I have never seen her again although she sailed in European waters under German flag for another 10 years.
I spend Christmas and New Year with my parents and family and sailed on the “Hercules” of the KNSM from Amsterdam to Hamburg and the Mediterranean on the 2nd of January 1952.
John Papenhuyzen
July 2005.
Ik heb nog een verhaal over het s.s. "Rijn". Jammer genoeg is het in het Engels en vertalen is de moeite niet waard, maat het past mooi in de rubriek. Dus daar gaat ie!
SAILING THROUGH THE KRIKKEMIKKE
Ik weet niet hoe ik de foto van de "Rijn" en de kaart van de Golf van Botnia (Mantyluoto) hier op krijg. Hulp a.u.b.
S.S. “Rijn”
When I finished my first trip at sea in 1951 as Second Radio Operator on the “Willemstad”, a new passenger ship belonging to the KNSM that made regular voyages between Amsterdam, Southampton, Madeira and the Caribbean, I had dreams of going solo on a beautiful white ship with all the mods and comfs sailing into a warm, sunny climate.
After a few days at home I received a message to report to the “Radio Holland” Inspection Office at the Levant Kade in Amsterdam to take over a ship. No further details were given and my hopes of signing on a white yacht were still very much alive.
One of the Inspectors took me on board a small motorboat and we made our way through the harbour. When I questioned the Inspector where we were going and what sort of ship it was the only answer I got was “You’ll see”!
I saw all right, the further and deeper the boat went through the port and the canals the greyer my white yacht became.
Finally we arrived at the end of the world and there she was – the s.s. “Rijn” of the NV Houtvaart – bunkering coal, covered in dust, rusty, old and looking very, very uninviting!
Now that the white yacht dream had been shattered I realised that the only choice I had was trying to make the most of it.
But even that thought got a knocking when we had to climb over the bunker coal on deck to get to the radio room and accommodation.
By the time we had found the First Mate and got the keys to the radio room we were covered in coal dust.
Before I got to the radio room I felt like tossing the whole thing in, but when we opened the door I got a pleasant surprise! Fancy that, brand new radio equipment on this old rust bucket.
Not surprising though, after the Germans invaded Holland in May 1940 they took the ship as a prize in the port of Rotterdam. All through the war she sailed under Dutch flag and German management in the German orbit. After completion of repairs in September 1944 at the yard of Crichton Vulkan, Helsinki, her crew scuttled her near Abo by destroying pumps.
She was salvaged in 1946 and back in service in 1948, Vinke & Zonen appointed as managers.
She was built and completed by A. Vuijk & Zonen, Capelle (No. 447), as RIJN for NV Houtvaart, Rotterdam in September 1916 with Vinke & Co. appointed as managers.
Classified as cargo steamship - 1965 GRT / 3312 tdw, 158,190 cubic feet grain, 85.95 m registered length, 12.28 m breadth, 6.5 m depth, triple-expansion engine, 1200 HP, made by Arnhemsche Stoom Mij. Arnhem, speed 9 knots.
Just for the record, I did the last two trips on her before she was sold to Egon Oldendorff, Lübeck. She was renamed Erna Oldendorff on 14.1.1952 and sailed under German flag until 1962 when she was sent to Italy to be scrapped.
After re-floating the ship the damage was repaired and she could sail again; fortunately the old radio gear could no longer be used and was taken off. Brand new equipment was put on board albeit in the same old, crummy accommodation.
The new radio equipment was the latest UK Marconi MIMC equipment - an Ocean Span MF/HF transmitter, Receivers, Echo sounder, Spark Emergency transmitter - and last, but not least, a Marconi Lodestone Direction Finder.
The Lodestone would play a role in what lay ahead.
After the inspection I wanted to go back on the boat to Amsterdam with the Inspector. Before we left I had a chance to talk to the First Mate to find out what was going on and was told that we would be leaving empty the next day for Finland.
As you know now she was neither built for speed nor comfort but despite all the inconveniences on board she had character. When I say character I mean she represented to me what an old steamer should be like.
Her mess room was finished in beautiful mahogany wood panelling, light fittings in that officers’ lounge were still the original lamps but converted from oil to electricity.
All brass and copper was polished and everything was spic and span.
On deck all winches were steam driven and very quiet in operation.
The engine and engine room were an eye opener to me, a beautiful old triple expansion machine and other ancillary machines of a past era.
I had never seen anything like that before and to this day I can still smell the steam and see in my mind how the oilers kept in rhythm with the movement of the “arms and legs” whilst squirting oil out of a can.
I had good reasons to make regular visits to the engine room! There was no laundry service on board and you had to do your own washing. If you were lucky you could sometimes get hot water in the showers or washbasin in your cabin. The only other way was to grab a bucket and ask the engineer on duty if you could fill your bucket with boiler water and drag it all the way to you cabin up top to do the washing.
Everything on board was steam driven, including heating in the cabins. Heating in the radio room was through a couple of huge coils (serpentines) underneath the operator’s desk. When the heating was on your feet would be boiling whilst the rest of your body was cold and the temperature inside the cabin was still like a freezer compartment.
Same in the cabins, heat distribution was not good at all! The worst part of it all was that in port power was turned off after 10 pm until 7 am the next morning; they also shut the boiler down and turned steam heating off. Company regulations!!!!!
Perhaps this measure is OK in a moderate climate but not in Finland at the beginning of winter. With only an oil lamp for light in a freezing cabin during the night condensation would form, run down the wall and freeze up. Result was that you woke up the next morning with your hair stuck to the wall, fair dinkum!
Perhaps that was a reason for the company to issue a bottle of jenever a fortnight free of charge! Just to placate us and compensate for the inconveniences.
Other story tellers have mentioned free issues of jenever on some of the trampers they sailed on, well, I can tell you we needed our bottle of Blankenheim & Nolet to keep warm, not to bribe the bosun or loosen the tongue of others!
Before we sailed the next morning on my first solo trip I went on the bridge to introduce myself to the Captain and the second and third mate. The captain walked around with a wind jacket without epaulettes and had a battered old sailing cap on his head. He seemed a very quiet sort of a person, one of the old school who had gone through the war and survived.
He eyed me up and down and said “Welcome on board son, first ship on your own is it?”
I told him that it was and that I was a bit nervous, he grinned and said: “They all do, you’ll be fine Marc”. How little did I realise that a week later he would appreciate my presence on board.
The ship looked presentable after the bunkers were taken down and the decks were cleared and washed.
The bosun had put the aerials up and I was ready to go as soon as we got outside the locks in IJmuiden. Scheveningen Radio – PCH, the Dutch coast radio station is located right next to the locks in IJmuiden. In order not to blast the poor station operator’s headset off in such close proximity you had to transmit on reduced power. On the “Ocean Span” MF transmitter you could make a choice between full power, half power and quarter power transmission, and of course I used quarter power. All went well and we were on open sea.
Up comes the First Mate with a telegram for the agent in Kiel, no problem,
start the Ocean Span and call Norddeich Radio on full power.
Nothing happened, no transmission, no meter readings.
What the good inspector had not told me that there was a problem with Ocean Span equipment cutting out at the slightest overload. Apparently antenna length and tuning are very critical and if not spot on caused the transmitter to drop out.
When I called Scheveningen Radio earlier on quarter power this problem did not occur, anyway, I got the hang of it and later managed to operate the transmitter on MF to work the local coastal stations and sometimes in the Gulf of Bothnia on HF to work Scheveningen Radio.
Our destination was a port called Mäntyluoto, the largest timber port in the Nordic region on the Gulf of Bothnia near Pori in Finland, to load up with timber.
The “Rijn” was designed to carry timber logs or cut timber in the holds and on deck. She could also carry bulk cargo such as coal or iron ore but this trip we sailed to Finland in ballast. The weather was good for the time of the year, September – October and we arrived at the Kieler Canal without any incidents.
To get to Mäntyluoto the ship has to sail North East from Kiel into the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Finland and then steer north into the Gulf of Bothnia along the coast of Finland. To sail via the shortest route into the Gulf of Bothnia you have to pass through an archipelago. The passage is very tricky to navigate under normal conditions - extremely difficult to negotiate when visibility is limited.
Remember, we did not have radar on board!
Those who sail around the Baltic commonly referred to the archipelago as the “Krikkemikke”.
After we left Kiel I checked the Marconi Lodestone direction finder and took bearings to check the accuracy of the calibration chart. The third mate was very helpful and took visual bearings to compare the results with me. They were spot on and it gave me confidence, not only in my own ability but also in this new equipment.
Would you believe it! Two nights later, after I had finished my last watch I went to bed.
Just after midnight the third mate woke me to tell me that the old man wanted me on the bridge. They had run into poor visibility and the third mate called the captain on the bridge. They had a discussion and decided it was better to be sure to be sure and call the sparks.
On Dutch ships in those days the older men always called the sparks “Marc”, short for marconist.
The old man told me that he was not certain of the ship’s position and could I give him a fix with the Lodestone?
I had familiarised myself with the list of radio beacons along the Danish, Swedish and Finnish coast and I knew I could be of assistance. During that dogwatch I took regular bearings, which they plotted, and when visibility returned and visual bearings could be taken my positions showed to be spot on.
You know when you are wanted or needed, all through the night they plied me with cups of coffee and sandwiches and when it was all over the captain came up to me, put his hand on my shoulder and said: ” Thank you very much Marc, well done!”
To hear that compliment from an old sea dog with many years of experience was my proud moment. I felt then that I was part of the team and this spirit has been with me all the years that I sailed and later ashore when I worked with other people. As a wireless operator I have never felt the odd man out, I always knew that my work was just as important as the work of all the others on board. We had to rely on each other, regardless.
The rest of the journey was quite uneventful, we arrived at Luoto where we anchored in a lagoon and waited for the floating logs to arrive and for the “pojkas” to start loading.
It was a slow process and we were there for 4 days, there was nothing ashore and the nearest village was some kilometres away. Somehow we got word that a dance was to be held at the village hall and that we were most welcome to attend.
We walked through the forest and through the clearances we could see the night sky. Absolutely beautiful, the stars were brighter than I had ever seen before and although the night air was cold it felt so clean and fresh.
The dance itself was great! All the lovely local lasses turned up and we had a ball!
What surprised me was the amount of spirits that were consumed by all and sundry, in my sheltered life before I went to sea I had only ever seen the occasional drunk but at this turn out everybody had a skin full!
Is it the cold weather that turns the Scandinavians to drink?
It must be, I had already noticed that the “Pojkas” (wharfies) were drinking sprit, a sort of high alcohol content vodka, on the job and getting more drunk as the day progressed! How they did not have terrible accidents walking on those floating logs and getting the logs in slings to winch on board I still don’t know.
We returned to Zaandam in the first week of November 1951 and unloaded our cargo of logs. I went home on leave for a week before signing on for the second trip on the “Rijn”.
We left Zaandam on the 12th of November 1951 bound for Turku, Finland with an empty ship again.
I had settled in very well and life on board was good. The food was good, thanks to our Chief Cook who also doubled as Purser. Cabin service was “self-service”; at the mess the Captain’s steward served the meals.
The steward was a tall, aloof sort of a man. Dedicated to the captain only and looking at us the etat major as necessary evils. To be fair to him he was always correct and courteous, but never friendly.
I was given to eat a few more dishes that never appeared on Mother’s Menu!
Labscous is one that springs to mind. And there were other dishes that on Mother’s Menu came under the category of “prakje” – left overs or bubble and squeak. No food was ever wasted, not only because the company was a typical tight-fisted Dutch organisation but also the Chief Cook was trying to save a quid (for himself?).
When we signed on for the journey in Zaandam we were informed that the ship had been sold to Germany and that this was her last voyage under Dutch flag. Obviously the company was not going to spend money on an asset that was no longer on the books and we found out that repairs that had to be done were not carried out or items were not replaced.
At one stage the gravy boat in the mess room got smashed and there was no spare gravy boat to be found. Fortunately only the foot of the gravy boat was badly smashed but the actual bowl was still intact. No problem to our engineers, they found a large oblong shaped sardine tin, filled it up with cement and sand and set the bowl in the tin. They then painted the base in company colours and put the company logo on either side of the base!
Great hilarity at the mess table when the gravy boat returned, I wonder if anyone souvenired it at the end of the trip?
Not only did we run out of small foodstuff during the voyage but also on the way back when we struck bad weather north of the Wadden Isles where we could not make headway and had the Isle of Texel on our port side for the best part of the day.
We nearly had to pinch timber from our cargo to keep to boilers going because we ran out of coal. We only just made it into Zaandam.
On the day before entering IJmuiden we actually ran out of potatoes and the cook had to supplement rice to prepare the last dinner.
As I said before the Cook was also responsible for the Stores. He was a likeable tall guy with piercing black eyes, a typical Rotterdammer with a broad accent. He always managed to come up with a good meal and now and then he would surprise us all with something one would only expect to see on the menu in a first class restaurant. I don’t know where he learned his trade but he was good at it.
One morning before arriving at the first port of call in Finland the captain asked me to go and wake the Cook because Customs and Immigration were due to come on board.
I went into his cabin; the cook was on his bunk with his face on one side lying on the pillow looking at me. I spoke to him and told him that the officials were on board and that he was wanted. He just looked at me and did not move or answer. I repeated what I said before – no answer. Then I got worried and thought that he had carked it, I touched him on the shoulder and he turned around on the pillow, opened the other eye and said: “What’s the matter Marc?”
I never knew that he had one glass eye.
Before we got to our destination ice had started to form on the Gulf of Bothnia, this was in the middle of December and we still had to load and return before the ice became too thick. There was some concern on board and the fact that the empty ship ploughing through the thin ice made a terrible noise did not help much.
Lucky for us it did not happen otherwise we would have been stuck there for the winter and miss out on our Christmas with the family.
Another minor problem developed and we had to call into Helsinki for repairs. I grabbed the opportunity and went ashore to have a look around. One of the mates had told me about saunas, how most people in Scandinavia had one at home or if they did not have one at home they’d go to a public sauna. He had been to a public sauna before and gave me the drum.
Here I was, standing in front of this big building where the saunas were. It looked like a normal office building, nothing like a swimming pool or bathhouse.
Once inside this huge blonde in a white coat intercepted me. She looked like an import from Russia, one of those Gulag commissars. She spoke German and I told her that this was my first time (in a sauna of course) and could she assist me. Well, she did more than assist me; she gave me the full treatment – hot bath, cold shower, birch branch whipping and a full body massage. She certainly knew her job, I felt like I could jump a tall building and for that I thanked her profusely.
The euphoria lasted until I got back on board. I suddenly felt tired and all I wanted was go to sleep, which I did. Never woke up until the next morning, feeling good again.
Apart from a couple of days in bad weather in the North Sea the return voyage from Helsinki was very quiet. I think everyone was feeling sad because the old girl was sold and we would miss her.
For me it was a great experience, my first ship, being my own boss, and a new responsibility of learning how to get on with other people.
I have never seen her again although she sailed in European waters under German flag for another 10 years.
I spend Christmas and New Year with my parents and family and sailed on the “Hercules” of the KNSM from Amsterdam to Hamburg and the Mediterranean on the 2nd of January 1952.
John Papenhuyzen
July 2005.
Re: Vinke en aanverwanten...
Prachtig stukje !!
John, je bent zowat een 2e Theo !
Je hebt een prachtige zinsopbouw en een geweldige verhaaltrant.
Ik heb genoten van je stukkie !
Ik durf het bijna niet te vragen, maar-eh: hejje méér van dattum ??
John, je bent zowat een 2e Theo !
Je hebt een prachtige zinsopbouw en een geweldige verhaaltrant.
Ik heb genoten van je stukkie !
Ik durf het bijna niet te vragen, maar-eh: hejje méér van dattum ??
Oost, west...ook best
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Patru (R.I.P)
Re: Vinke en aanverwanten...
Hallo John,
Ik sluit me aan bij Jan. Een prachtige bijdrage aan dit topic.
Kijk voor het plaatsen van foto's en afbeeldingen even bij de het sub-forum Helpdesk.
viewforum.php?f=3
Mocht het toch niet lukken dan help ik je wel.
Hier nog een foto van de "Rijn" als "Erna Oldendorff".
Groet, Paul G.
Ik sluit me aan bij Jan. Een prachtige bijdrage aan dit topic.
Kijk voor het plaatsen van foto's en afbeeldingen even bij de het sub-forum Helpdesk.
viewforum.php?f=3
Mocht het toch niet lukken dan help ik je wel.
Hier nog een foto van de "Rijn" als "Erna Oldendorff".
- Erna Oldendorff.jpg (88 KiB) 1331 keer bekeken
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Drentenier
- Berichten: 2201
- Lid geworden op: 12 mei 2010 14:13
- Locatie: Gasselte
Re: Vinke en aanverwanten...
En hier in Zaandam.
- Rijn.png (715.41 KiB) 1321 keer bekeken
Groet,
Hans
Hans
Re: Vinke en aanverwanten...
- Johannes Frans 1956 luchtfoto op volle zee b.jpg (180.05 KiB) 1230 keer bekeken
Vriendelijke groet Douwe.
De tijd gaat snel, gebruik hem wel,
het is altijd later dan u denkt.
De tijd gaat snel, gebruik hem wel,
het is altijd later dan u denkt.
-
Patru (R.I.P)
Re: Vinke en aanverwanten...
Ja Douwe, dat klopt. Er werd zelfs een topic over ingeschoren bij het sub-forum "Opsporing verzocht".De firma Vinke- Rotterdam regelde ook nog veel personeelszaken voor o.a. NETM en Gulf etc.
Zie hier. Wel helaas veel foto's verdwenen.
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=5460
De Jacob Verolme wordt daar ook genoemd, maar in een verhaal in de Sleeptros wordt ook gemeld dat er zaken door de KHL beheerd werden.
Helaas werkt de gegeven link niet (even kopiëren en plakken).
http://www.sleeptros.com/ingezonden_verhalen/html/__inleiding_ondergang_jacob_ve.html
Hier de Jacob Verolme, die zo droevig aan z'n einde kwam.
- Jacob Verolme 1957.jpg (93.39 KiB) 1154 keer bekeken
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Puntenel
- Berichten: 223
- Lid geworden op: 02 jul 2008 03:52
- Locatie: Telopea Sydney Australia
- Contacteer:
Re: Vinke en aanverwanten...
Patru & jdbvos. Bedankt voor jullie compliment!
Ik heb getracht om de drie pictures te plaatsen maar het is een onmogelijke taak voor mij dus ik vraag nu on hulp van jullie.
Als ik de drie pictures naar jullie e-mail adres stuur kan een van jullie ze in het verhaal plaatsen? Of genoeg gegevens in je e-mail antwoord voor mij om het te doen?
Mijn e-mail adres is johnpapenhuyzen@optusnet.com.au .
Bij voorbaat mijn dank.
John P
Ik heb getracht om de drie pictures te plaatsen maar het is een onmogelijke taak voor mij dus ik vraag nu on hulp van jullie.
Als ik de drie pictures naar jullie e-mail adres stuur kan een van jullie ze in het verhaal plaatsen? Of genoeg gegevens in je e-mail antwoord voor mij om het te doen?
Mijn e-mail adres is johnpapenhuyzen@optusnet.com.au .
Bij voorbaat mijn dank.
John P