Whatsit Wednesday: Types of ships

It is no surprise that The Netherlands and Belgium have quite a history wrapped up with boats, ships and waters of all kinds. Most The Netherlands is below sea level and its golden age was a time of sea exploration, world discovery and amazing sea battles with the English. Belgium was parts of various sea-going countries before it became its own country in the 19th century. So it, too, shared in these watery exploits. 

But there are some unique styles of boats designed or specifically used in these two countries. The Fluyt (or ‘fluit” which means “flute”) was a Dutch merchant sailing ship in the 16th and 17th century. It was especially useful because it could haul quite a bit of cargo while only requiring a skeleton crew to operate. 

On the Zuiderzee - which was quite shallow - special flat-bottomed boats were designed. They are recognizable by what look like wings on either side. These are used instead of a keel. These boats were fishing vessels as were so many other types of sailing boats in the time. Much of sailing has remained the same throughout the centuries. 

Both the Dutch and the Belgians used canals for transport across the country. Even today these canals are used for bulk transport. A canal runs behind our house between two major canals. The Albert canal brings goods to Antwerp, while the Zuid Willemsvaart brings goods to Rotterdam - two of the busiest harbors in Europe. The Briegden-Neerharen canal (which runs behind our house) connects the two. We regularly watch barges pass by with all sorts of bulk goods. 

Even in our modern day, the Dutch and Belgians remain two of the most important countries when it comes to shipping. Belgium has become one of the premier countries for dredging, with highly technical ships designed to do the job. What is dredging good for? Think of Abu Dhabi or Dubai in the UAE where they have created land from the sea. Or mega harbors in China. This is accomplished with dredging activity often involving Belgian boats. 

Another modern twist has been the need for LNG containers. Liquified Natural Gas is a way of transporting natural gas from where it is mined to where it needs to be used. The Netherlands has a good bit of its own natural gas, but they have decided not to use it. This means that they have to buy gas from places like the US. This gas is then shipped to places like Rotterdam where huge ships become gas terminals. 

And on a funner note, we still can jump on a ferry from Oostende to Dover and enjoy a quick visit to the United Kingdom. A few years back when the boys were still at home, we took a family day-trip to Canterbury using such a ferry. Of course one could also just drive through the ‘Chunnel’, but that’s another story for another time. 

Whatsit Wednesday - A lock

We use it everyday in so many ways. You lock or unlock the front door, placing the key in the lock and turning until the mechanism settles - sometimes with a click. On a locker you might have a combination lock where you turn back and forth until the right numbers have been displayed and the lock falls open. But that’s not what we’re talking about here. 

You might take a good bit of time every morning to make sure that your locks all fall beautifully into place and you are presentable to the world. Curls must be curled or straightened. Straight sections must be curled or combed into place. Some people even cut off their locks off to give to others. But that is not what we are talking about here. 

A few hundred years ago both the Dutch and Belgians went to war with flintlock weapons. A mechanism was released by the trigger which then caused a flash of powder to send a musket ball flying to its target. But that is not what we are talking about here. 

We live on a canal. Every day we can see boats pass by on “our” canal. Boats can come from or go to the harbor in Antwerp Belgium. They could also pass by our house on the way to or from the harbor in Rotterdam. Our canal connects several other canals. 

Just down the acces road along the canal we can visit our local lock. This is where the boats transfer from a higher section of canal to a lower section (or vice-versa). It is always exciting to see the doors open, the boat enter, the doors close and then the boat rise or fall before exiting the other side when the doors open. The lock opens up the life that passes by every day.

Wild Wonderful Wednesday

Today is a 5th Wednesday, a special Wednesday in our rotation. So we are going to take a quick trip along some wild and wonderful places near where we live. 

As we walk out our backyard and through the gate at the end of the yard, we come to the road running along the canal behind our house. Turning left we can enjoy the canal, watching the rowing club training: men’s and women’s, 2-man, 4-man and 8-man boats. A few hundred yards down the road we take a curvy left which then curves back right and passes by a WWII bunker where American and Belgian soldiers fought, very briefly. 

Past the bunker we cross the canal on a bridge leading us to the river, the Meuse. To the right is a nature park where we can see beavers, swine, deer, Scottish cows (put there to keep things maintained) and all sorts of waterfowl, including blue heron high up in the trees. But today we will turn right and head along the river. 

This past summer the river flooded to the levels from back in 1995 - even though the river has been broadened to make flooding less likely. Now the river is well returned to her banks and we pass a whole colony of swans. Down along the water we can see some Polish Konik horses grazing and drinking. 

As we turn back from the river we cross another bridge over the canal and watch a boat ply its way north to the Netherlands, maybe even going as far as Rotterdam harbor. Looking ahead from the bridge we see the towers of the castle in Rekem (previously called Rekheim). This castle first served as home to a baron. The barony, established in the 14th century, had its own coinage, toll rights, army and court of justice. In 1778 the family left the barony and castle and it became a house of “care” for beggars and those without work - a work house. 

After Belgium gained its independence (1830), the castle remained a beggars house until in 1920 it was turned into a psychiatric hospital. The local people for decennia would call it the crazy house. In 1970 the psychiatric hospital moved to a new location in the woods where it can be found today. 

The castle was sold in 2003 to a company which renovated it all and is making residential units. So if one desires, one can live in a castle in this “Most picturesque village in Flanders” (a prize the village won in 2008). 

If we were to take a longer walk, we could cross the major street and head towards Pietersheim, a castle ruin from the 12th century with moat and all. Next to the ruin is a hotel “castle” (more a big, fancy house). The park is a wonderful walk with the dog or children or just to take a run. But today we will just head on home for a good cup of coffee. 

If you would like to see more, check out some of the pictures of where we live.