The Steigerschuit (literally: landing boat) was often met with in the XVIIth century. The boats of this category were small Schuiten, Poonen or Kaag, used in ports and along rivers to carry passengers and freight back and forth between the landings on shore and the large vessels. The name shows the use and the type of boat.
THE YACHT.
If boats with a narrow deck were built in South Holland and Zeeland, narrow bottoms were preferred, on the contrary, in North Holland. This boat was then called “Yacht” a Noord Hollandsche Yacht.
It is generally about the size of a small hoy. In order to classify the preceding vessels in accordance with their bottom width, it would be necessary to begin with the “Yacht”, then to take the hoy and, finally, the “Poon”.
Its more narrow bottom and its more converging sides make the Yacht look more slender and more swift than the “Poon”.
The bends of the Yacht show a great deal of sheer with a straight element at the middle. The Yacht has a “draai-over-boord” with a slightly raised deck at the stern.
THE BOEIERSCHUIT.
The Boeierschuit belongs to the family of the “Boeiers” or “Kromstevens” above mentioned, but it is smaller and also somewhat like the ordinary “Schuiten”, whence comes probably the name of “Boeierschuiten” given to these vessels. The stern carries a “draai-over-boord”, often with a poop deck. The Boeierschuiten have one characteristic and that is a sort of cockpit where the helmsman stands in order to handle easily the tiller. This cockpit is often met with among the Boeieraken. The “Boeierschuiten” are found in South Holland, Zeeland and Flanders.