Clipper Hoge Wier

On this clipper I sail.
It is built in 1899 and the hull is made of iron (not steel, that wasn't available back then!) and weighs about 62 tons. The costs for building back then were Fl. 4995,- . That is almost ? 2250,- . It is still in very good shape after a thorough renovation. It used to be a sailing cargo vessel for transporting goods, animals and people from the Wadden isles over the former Zuiderzee to Amsterdam (in Dutch this is called a beurtveer).
It is also the very last ship that sailed from Texel to Amsterdam, before they closed the Afsluitdijk.
During World War II it transported torpedo's for the Dutch navy. But in 1944 the German occupiers wanted to confiscate the ship. They needed the iron for making bombs, etc. The owner didn't want to turn over his ship, which was his livelihood, to the Germans. So he did sink his ship in one of the Frisian Lakes. Only the roef (the small 'cabin' on deck, where the skipper lived) stayed above the water. During the rest of the war the skipper stayed on board to hide for the Germans. After the war he and his family pumped up the ship in just 1 day (with hand pumps) and they started sailing again.
We sail also races and were 3 x defending Dutch champions for the last 4 years. It is the fastest small Dutch clipper.
This is taken in front of the harbor office of Volendam, a traditional dutch fishing village, where we docked with our guests.