THE “JOL”.
At Stavoren, there still exists the Stavorensche Jol (Stavoren Yawl), a small, short, bluff boat with a keel; it is exceedingly steady on the water. It is also met with now at Enkhuizen and at Medenblik. It is a clinker built boat (sometimes carvel built at the present time) which is often compared to a “sabot” on account of its rounded forms. It carries a fish tank and, as it has a keel, the lee boards are lacking. It is spritsail rigged, and its tonnage is from 4 to 6 tons.
At the Helder, at Enkhuizen and at Medenblik a great deal of use is made of flats, of which the length may be as much as 10 metres. The stern has a sternframe; the quite long bow, on the contrary, rises high with a slight rake. The vessel is clinker built and carries two bilge keels and a bit of a false keel at the after end of the main keel. It gauges generally from 2 to 5 tons.
As a rule, the tonnage of the “Botters” and “Schokkers” varies from 20 to 30 tons. The smaller types met with at Huizen run from 16 to 20 tons, and at Harderwijck and Elburg, from 13 to 18 tons.
The variations between the fundamental groups may be attributed to the different ideas of builders, just as there are differences in the costumes of various countries.
But the difference between the types of a same group is, on the contrary, the result of the use made of the boat and hence of the fishing apparatus employed on board.
In order to make this more easily understood, it will be well to give a short description of the fishing apparatus used on the Zuiderzee, this description being taken from the report published by the Zuiderzeevereeniging (1905, pp. 35 et seq), as well from the annual reports on deep sea fishing.
The fishing outfit can be divided into movable apparatus and fixed apparatus, the latter being the less important for our study.
Belonging to the former, there are:
a) The Wonderkuil (anglicé: miraculous pocket) which, like the Kwakkuil and the Dwarskuil, is composed of a net, in the shape of a pocket which has its mouth kept open by a square frame (made of four pieces of wood called “juffers-oorstokken”). The net is moved ahead while holding the frame vertical, all the apparatus touching the bottom. The fish enters at the mouth and is captured in a convergent bag. The movement through the water distends the net. The “Wonderkuil” is hung between two “Botters”, which go ahead at the greatest possible speed so as to entrap the quick swimming fish, such as the herring. The large “Botters”, being good sailers, are very well suited to this work.
The “Wonderkuil” scarcely touches the bottom on account of the great speed, but every fish which comes in front of the opening is taken, necessarily. The narrowing of the meshes, caused by the great speed, prevents any from escaping.
b) The Kwakkuil, used at Vollendam, is a small “Wonderkuil” drawn by one boat which is generally a “Vollendammer Kwak”. The pocket is then attached to two beams fastened together crosswise at the stern of the boat. As the speed is less than that attained with the “Wonderkuil”, the net drags along the bottom which enables eels, plaice and sole to be taken.
c) The Dwarskuil (transverse pocket), smaller than the “Kwakkuil” but of the same shape, is fastened to the side of the boat by lines which lead to the bow and stern. In order to work it, the boat must move crossways and, naturally, its change of position is slow. The boat should not be flat bottomed, and while fishing is going on the lee boards should be raised.
The “Wonderkuil” is used in deep water and on hard sandy bottoms; in shoaler water and on soft bottoms the “Kwakkuil” is brought into play, and in the shallow waters of Utrecht and Gelderland it is the “Dwarskuilen” which is employed.
The many complaints about the destruction of fish by the “Wonderkuil” were not born of yesterday; for already, in 1559, an ordinance fixed the size of the meshes of the “Aetkens of Steerten” (of the tails of the nets).
There should certainly be mentioned as part of the movable outfit, the drag nets used for catching herring, anchovy, sole and smelt. They are used in all the large fishing ports of the Zuiderzee. These nets are dragged between any two boats whatever.
Along the Frisian coast, fishing is carried on mainly with fixed apparatus; this is particularly the case to the North of Makkum. This way of fishing requires only small boats (24 to 30 traps per boat). Eel and herring traps are used for this purpose. It is probable also that the old Kubboot owes its name to a fishing instrument called “Kub”, a wicker basket shaped like a funnel, nearly closed at the lower end where, however, a small opening is left. Following this opening is a small silk net in which an opening allows the eels to pass which are piled up in the basket.
Fishing in the Zuiderzee is of a special sort because a large number of Zuiderzee fishermen frequent the North Sea while others devote themselves to fishing in the rivers; those who spend the entire year on the Zuiderzee itself, are the fewest in number. The first use large “Blazers”, “Schokkers” and “Botters”; the second take the “Gondels”, “Lemmeraken”, “Punters”, etc., and the last use “Kwakken”, “Kubbooten” and “Haringschuiten”.
Besides those just mentioned, there are a whole series of chance fishermen using all sorts of boats. Hence it is very difficult to give the exact number of boats in use for fishing and the figures in the above tables are only round totals in so far, at least, as they relate to the Zuiderzee.