Seafaring in the blood

One more time, the statesyacht 'de Utrecht'. Who knows you will be jumping on board one day?

On my question in my previous post the society that runs 'de Utrecht' has very kindly explained to me how 'de Utrecht' is being steered. They have shared some wonderful pictures and information with me which I am allowed to publish on here.

The yacht is being steered by a helm, which you can see just opposite the top cabin. There is something special though, the rudder is extra big to be able to manoeuvre it in inward waterways, holding cables so that the rudder does not move out too far. But my oh my, there is this all modern equipped panel hidden in the woodpanel. Very smart! And a smart captain, too. Some guys end up on these once in a lifetime jobs, I envy him. Would not you fancy to steer such a wonderful yacht? Maybe I should queue up and wait in line to success him?! Ha ha, that is a joke, I am not that courageous.

On this picture you can see by the red line how the pushing of the helm to the left and right is transported to the rudder, just going underneath the top cabin.
Do have a look at the link to the book that appeared in English, The Statenyacht de Utrecht. When you scroll down it shows some very nice pictures of how it all started. You see for instance how that funny, cute and yet frightening lion at the front started.
Of course the book was originally in Dutch, click here to see it.

And here she is in full sail, really magnificent.

Seafaring is in my blood. You cannot deny what is in the genes. It explains my jumping up and down on the bridge when I saw 'de Utrecht' appear on the horizon. On my mother's side there were a lot of seafarers. As far as we can look back my great great grandfather owned his own trading ship. My grandmother surrounded herself with pieces of art representing the environment where she grew up (West Brabant). A few of those were handed down to me. Anything nautical is so inspiring to artists.

Here they are.
A large Villeroy and Boch ceramic plate (more than a 100 years old), a drawing of flat bottoms and a wood carving.

When you look closely at this picture you will be just amazed as I am on the steady hand that carved this.

A wonderful sunshiny day ahead, I will be sailing. But no more 'de Utrecht' surprising me in these waters. She is off to Hellevoetsluis and will be on show in the harbour as part of the festivities going on there. She will be sailing on the Haringvliet. Maybe you could jump on board and experience it all? Don't forget to have a look here - http://www.statenjacht.nl