Botters in English hands

Fritz van der Mark shares the first part of his research into the demise of a Dutch botter, which ended her days on the River Deben, close to where a Saxon king was buried in his boat at Sutton Hoo, Suffolk, England. At the end of the 1950s many botters lay unemployed ashore. For little money they were sold to people who dared to adventure with a botter. There was also interest from England. The purchase of a botter from Elburg even reached the newspaper there. Inspired by this, an English couple bought the HK23 from the Harderwijk fisherman Bart Jansen. This article, published here in two parts, is primarily a reconstruction of the English period of this botter, the family who lived on board for more than 12 years and the sad fate that the ship finally had waiting for her. 

Demise of a Dutch botter continues the story of sailing and living aboard, her steady deterioration and final demise on the River Deben, Suffolk.

At the end of the 1950’s many botters lay unemployed ashore. For little money they were sold to people who dared the adventure with a botter. There was also interest from England. The purchase of a botter from Elburg even reached the newspaper there. Inspired by this, an English couple bought the HK 23 from the Harderwijk fisherman Bart Jansen. His life story and the fishing history of his botter are described elsewhere in this issue. This article is primarily a reconstruction of the English period of this botter, the family who lived on board for more than 12 years and the sad fate that the ship finally had to wait for.

The story of the English interest in the Dutch botter begins in the autumn of 1958 at the famous Ferry Boat Inn in Fambridge on the River Crouch. Mike Peyton, who later became known as a cartonist, listened to a conversation, as he describes in his autobiography Celebrating 50 Years of Sailing. The speaker had just returned from the Netherlands and said that because of the embankments, there were rows of sailing fishing boats in the ports of the IJsselmeer for sale. Peyton did not have a lot of money, but the pound was still a hard currency. Already a few weeks later he owned the EB 49. He had paid the ‘wooden-cloged fisherman’ 400 pounds for the botter who was still in a completely original condition.

A travel report in the Guardian
The Guardian newspaper had a column in the ’50s on Monday under the title’ About Boats’. This was written by varying authors. At the beginning of 1959 there was an episode of the late Mike Peyton with the title ‘Buying a botter’. Above the piece was a drawing of a botter with the name of Peyton underneath. Indeed, later on, he became famous for his nautical cartoons that he drew for magazines such as ‘Yachting Monthly’ and ‘The Practical Boat Owner’. In the column he writes about the crossing to England that he made in early November 1958. The preparations for this turned out to be inadequate afterwards. With a friend who had little sailing experience, he crossed the IJsselmeer and sailed to IJmuiden. On Friday afternoon they steamed outside with the wind on the head. It was clear at the time that they would appear late at work on Monday. That became even clearer when the engine stopped. On sail they tried to reach Hoek van Holland, but even that did not work.

On Saturday afternoon they entered IJmuiden again. Fourteen days later the crossing was prepared better. The Kromhout 13 hp was well checked and there were three more or less experienced crew members on board. The departure was on Saturday afternoon, late Sunday evening they approached the Thames estuary. They had to sail high on the wind and became acquainted with a characteristic sailing property of the botter: the gluing. Eventually the wind cleared and they were able to add the jib. During the night they unexpectedly saw the light of the Kentish Knock lightship. They suspected that they did not have the right time on board, so the data from the tidal current deviated and the dead Reckoning was not correct. So they decided to sail right past the lightship to ask what time it was, there appeared to be a difference of 2 hours.

A crew member of the lightship asked for the name of the ship. They were raided by this question because no name had yet been invented. “We do not know,” was therefore the answer. Peyton writes: ‘I suspect that this nightly encounter on the lightship crew has made a very strange impression’. After this, the ports of call had to be adjusted a few times. Harwich was no longer to be sailed, so they tried to sail the Thames. Eventually they arrived in Herne Bay on Monday at midnight, all south of the Thames estuary. In England, the botter was named ‘Clementine’. It proved to be ideal for the East coast with its shallow draft and the possibility of falling dry. The rigging was simple and resistant to a bump, but it was heavy. Peyton found the botter on the whole to be labour-intensive. After a few years he sold the ‘Clementine’ and switched to a smaller yacht that he could only sail with his wife and two children. No further information is available about the further fate of the botter.

Follow-up
In the same period, Roy and Rosalind Elwood from Colchester were looking for a ship, with which they could sail and live on. The many quests were frustrating, ships visited were in too bad a state or too expensive. On a visit to a friend they read Mike Peyton’s column ‘Bying a Botter’ in the Guardian. They got excited and already the next weekend they took the night boat to Hook of Holland to find a suitable botter. They picked it up thoroughly, took a week to search and visited almost all IJsselmeer ports.

Eventually they looked at a promising botter in Harderwijk for the second time. It was the ‘HK 23’ of Bart Jansen. He was a small, agile man who went to great lengths to promote his botter. He kicked the bones with his clogs to emphasize the soundness of the ship. The botter had a Ford car engine that stood for maintenance at the garage, the foresail was with the sailmaker. In the small house of the fisherman they looked at the sails that were stored together with nets and fishing accessories on the loft. There seemed to be quite a few children living at home, beds were in every corner of the room. New defects were not found and negotiations for the purchase started. The Scottish wife of the local grocer acted as an interpreter in which the ship terms and the dialect of the skipper were an obstacle. Jansen did his utmost to sell the botter as well as possible. He wore his Sunday suit and really enjoyed it. Proposals and counter-proposals were made and in the end they agreed a price to everyone’s satisfaction. A bottle of wine was opened and people toasted on the transaction. Jansen promised that he would prepare the botter and Roy and Rosalind would pick up the botter 14 days later.

The crossing
The Elwoods thoroughly prepared the crossing. An insurance company was approached, but the botter was not judged proper enough to make the crossing. In the unlikely event that the ship would reach the English coast they would be willing to inspect the ship and issue a bid. The 10 percent import tax was settled at a customs office and Dutch money was arranged to pay the botter. Furthermore, things like cards, pilots and tide tables from a friend were borrowed. Even a Dutch guest flag was not forgotten. Just before Easter they stepped on the night boat to Hook of Holland. Rosalind writes about the departure from Harderwijk:
‘Everyone wanted to see us go. Bart Jansen, the fisherman gave another demonstration of hauling up the mainsail involving a flying leap off the fore deck into the well of the boat and a well-aimed spit into the fish tank. The engine started with a horrifying din. Suddenly we were off chugging down the harbour through a curtain of rain. Outside the rain turned into sleet but we enjoyed our first hours aboard, getting the feel of the boat under sail, examining the gear and finding how things worked’.

The first day they sailed to the Buiten-IJ and spent the night at anchor. Via Amsterdam, Gouda, Rotterdam and Dordrecht they arrived at Zierikzee as the last Dutch port. Under favourable conditions they sailed to Ostend at night. Eventually they crossed from Dunkirk to Ramsgate. The botter stayed there for a week because the free days were gone. During the following weekend they sailed the last part, the engine stops but they reached West Mersea in good order.

Words and images contributed by Fritz van der Mark
with thanks to Peter Dorleijn (Zwaag) and Roy Elwood (Newcastle, UK)

Demise of a Dutch botter continues the story of sailing and living aboard, her steady deterioration and final demise on the River Deben, Suffolk.