A Dutch barge is a traditional flat-bottomed shoal-draught

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

, originally used to carry cargo in the shallow '' Zuyder Zee'' and the waterways of

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. There are very many types of Dutch barge, with characteristics determined by regional conditions and traditions. Originally, Dutch barges were sailing craft with wooden hulls. Today, while few wooden examples remain, there are many steel barges that are 100 years old or more. Although most Dutch barges have been converted to motor-propulsion, ''schuyt'' sailing contests are still held on the IJsselmeer and on the Wadden Sea (

Waddenzee The Wadden Sea ( nl, Waddenzee ; german: Wattenmeer; nds, Wattensee or ; da, Vadehavet; fy, Waadsee, longname=yes; frr, di Heef) is an intertidal zone in the southeastern part of the North Sea. It lies between the coast of northwestern conti ...

). Dutch barges have become popular live-aboard leisure craft, and brand-new "Dutch-style" examples continue to be built.

The Dutch barge

A typical traditional Dutch barge would have

gaff rig Gaff rig is a sailing rig (configuration of sails, mast and stays) in which the sail is four-cornered, fore-and-aft rigged, controlled at its peak and, usually, its entire head by a spar (pole) called the ''gaff''. Because of the size and shap ...

, a bluff bow and stern, a pair of

leeboard A leeboard is a form of pivoting keel used by a sailboat largely and very often in lieu of a fixed keel. Typically mounted in pairs on each side of a hull, leeboards function much like a centreboard, allowing shallow-draft craft to ply waters f ...

s and a large rudder. The leeboards and rudder would be raised by an arrangement of blocks and tackles. Schuyts engaged in

eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

fishing were said to have begun visiting London in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I and were granted the use of a berth there, which continued in use until the 20th century. Schuyts vary greatly in size from 15-40 metres (50-130 feet) in length, and are generally built lighter than an equivalent Humber barge since they were not designed to take the ground in the same way. Originally made of wood and powered by sail, Dutch barges today are almost exclusively made of steel and powered by diesel engines. Nowadays, the "duck tail" transom, prop and rudder arrangement is better suited to diesel propulsion than the sail-optimised hulls of older types. Many Dutch barges have now been converted for pleasure or residential use. Modern steel-hulled "Dutch barges" are built in other countries (such as the UK and Germany) as well as in the Netherlands. Dutch barges are often used as liveaboards in English cities, especially London and Bristol, where, provided they have a permanent mooring, they give affordable accommodation near the city centres. Provided they are less than 14 feet in beam, Dutch barges are able to use the UK's 14 foot locks, but cannot navigate the narrow canals of the English Midlands, where the 18th century locks which date from the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

are only 7 feet wide. File:Moral emblems, with aphorisms, adages, and proverbs, of all ages and nations (1860) (14723842416).jpg, A pair of schuyts aground, in a print dated 1860. File:Drawing, A Dutch Barge, August 20, 1887 (CH 18569893).jpg, 1887 watercolour of a Dutch Barge. File:IJsselmeerTraditionalBoat.JPG, Traditional boat on the IJsselmeer File:Dutch_barge.jpg, Dutch barge at Namur File:040731 Stella in Den Haag.JPG,

Luxe motor A Luxe motor is a type of Dutch barge A Dutch barge is a traditional flat-bottomed shoal-draught barge, originally used to carry cargo in the shallow ''Zuyder Zee'' and the waterways of Netherlands. There are very many types of Dutch barge, wi ...

barge with characteristic "duck tail". File:Dutch barge at Windsor.jpg, Piper barge at Windsor File:Dutch barge at Henley.jpg, Dutch barge at Henley

Dutch barge types

Jeffrey Casciani-Wood's "Glossary of Dutch Barge Terms" provides further details, as follows: *Aak ("oak"): a barge having a rounded bow without a forestem; * Beurtschip: A line ship for inland carriage of passengers and freight according to a regular schedule; * Botter: a blunt-nosed Dutch barge; *Dekschuit: any barge with an aft cabin below the aft deck; *Hagenaar: an ''aak'' built to operate around

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

, where waterways have dimensional restrictions; * Katwijker: a barge from

Katwijk Katwijk (), also spelled Katwyk, is a coastal municipality and town in the province of South Holland, which is situated in the mid-western part of the Netherlands. The Oude Rijn ("Old Rhine") river flows through the town and into the North Se ...

, a district located on the North Sea, northwest of Leiden and 16 km north of

; *

Klipper Klipper is a clipboard manager for the KDE interface. It allows users of Unix-like operating systems An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer ...

: an elegant barge with a

clipper bow The bow () is the forward part of the hull of a ship or boat, the point that is usually most forward when the vessel is underway. The aft end of the boat is the stern. Prow may be used as a synonym for bow or it may mean the forward-most part of ...

and a

counter stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Orig ...

; *Paviljoenschip: a barge whose standing-height aft cabin gives rise to a raised "pavilion" aft deck; * Luxemotor: a ''paviljoen''-type barge with a straight stem and a "duck tail' counter stern; * Pram: a shallow-draught punt-like barge, propelled manually using a barge pole; *

Skûtsje A skûtsje (pronounced 'skootshuh') is a Frisian sailing boat of the type tjalk or Dutch barge, originally an ordinary cargo boat, but today a prized ship and one of the icons of Frisia. Skûtsjes were built from the 18th century until about 193 ...

: a skûtsje (pronounced 'skootscher') is a Frisian sailing boat similar to a tjalk; *Schuyt: a Dutch barge; *Steilsteven: a barge with an upright stem; (''"steven"'' means "post"); *Tjalk: a "heavily-built" barge with an upright stem, originally tiller-steered; *Westlander: a barge with a "distinctive pointed prow" and maximum dimensions of 17m x 3.2m.

The EU's Recreational Craft Directive

Since 1998 all new leisure boats and barges built in Europe between 2.5m and 24m LOA must comply with the EU's Recreational Craft Directive (RCD). The Directive establishes four categories that lay down the maximum allowable wind and wave conditions for vessels in each class:"The Barge Buyer's Handbook" - DBA publications

References

Barges

Barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

Sailing ships of the Netherlands {{Sailing Vessels and Rigs

The Dutch barge

Dutch barge types

The EU's Recreational Craft Directive

See also

Further reading

References