The old “Yacht” was one of the most beautiful boats in use. At first a small reproduction of the pinnace, it was afterwards built of larger dimensions while offering, by reason of its lack of depth, (“Vlotgaanswille”, as it used to be said), pretty full forms. The decoration of the cabin and of the stern was particularly carefully wrought out. The “Yachts” carried sprit sails and had no lee boards. It is to be regretted that sundry pictures showing yachts should not have been preserved; in the second half of the XIXth century some of them were destroyed as firewood. A few superb photographs of “Yachts”, taken from drawings in the collection of Mr. van Gijn, of Dordrecht, accompany the collection and it will be seen how suggestive they are.
THE “BAGGERAAK”.
The “Baggeraak” (dredging ake) forms a special group. As has been said already, they can be classified in three groups. To the first group, belongs the “Vlet” (flat) or “Baggeraak” which is met with in Southern Holland, the West of the Betuwe, the West of Northern Brabant (the Biesbosch and Donge) and also in Zeeland, in a word, on all our tidal rivers. The “Flette” or “Baggeraak” (called also “Sliedrechtsche aak”) was a small stout boat which, save for a small cuddy in the bow, was wholly open. Its rig was the “Spritsail”, it was provided with lee boards and movable wash boards so as to facilitate the casting of hand dredges. These wash boards were placed only when the boat was partially loaded, that is when it was appreciably down in the water. The mast was set at one-fifth to one-fourth of the length of the vessel from the bow. The ratio of beam to length was as 1:4. The planking was continuous to the nose against which a false stem was fitted.
In Zeeland, a great many “Hoogaarsen” are used for dredging, and “Boeieraakjes” are employed in Brabant and Holland, as at the Biesbosch and on the Amer and the Donge. They are also used a great deal on the Meuse, although there, as on other upper rivers, the “Bovenlandsche Baggeraakjes” were formerly employed.
There belong to the Bovenlandsche baggeraakjes those vessels of the Meuse which stand midway between the “Keen” and the “Whalemajol”. They have a little sprit sail rig and a “Klaphekken” (a special kind of rudder). The largest, known especially by the name of “Hedelsche Aken” and which carry lee-boards, are used for all sorts of purposes. These boats belong neither to the true Meuse type nor to the Rhenish type above Bonn (The Keen, etc.). They form an isolated group, descended probably from the two types in question.
The Vreeswijksche zandschuit (sand boat of Vreeswijck) alone remains of the Rhine boats. It has the bow of a “Dorstensche Aak” and the stern resembles that of the “Dortsche Zandschuit” (sand boat of Dordrecht). This “Dortsche Zandschuit” is alike at bow and stern and the hull is smooth. Although it is more pointed, this boat resembles the “Westerling” a little, the latter being known as a very old boat of the lepper Scheldt (see DEHEM, p. 505). The old “Dortsche Zandschuit” was especially used for dredging ballast intended for sea-going vessels.
A large number of “Bokken”, already mentioned among the “Westlanders”, are used for levelling down the dunes in the West and in the Rhine country.