Canal Cruisers in the Running

Netherlands has such an active water culture, different than anything in most of North America. Nearly every town in Holland had a shipyard or marina to either build, repair or store boats. Ken and I looked at dozens of canal cruisers together before purchasing. Ken looked at many boats for the month before I arrived in the Netherlands. Here is just a glimpse into some of the boats we saw that were even close to being a boat we might purchase. We are foggy on the details but these were in the running.

One of the boats we affectionately named Ma and Pa Cruiser. Keep in mind the true name was likely very Dutch so we had trouble pronouncing it let alone remembering it. We sat up an appointment with the sellers. We met at their home. That was impressive to me, being a guest in a Dutch home was a unique experience with tea and sweet treats. Their adult daughter met us at their home as she was more comfortable with English. We drove to a neighbouring town to see the boat which was housed in a locked up marina (some are not very secure). This boat was well cared for mechanically and as was the interior. It had nice upholstery, woodwork and flooring. I do remember that the bathroom was especially nice with a shower and more space than most. The bedroom, however, was disappointing. We looked at this boat twice. Next time the Yacht Broker met us at the boat.

Another boat was nick-named Tobacco Cruiser. The owner smoked on the boat - hence the name. Another negative was there were many ornaments glued down on flat, wooden surface areas. Definitely not to our taste. This boat had a new engine and the interior had been updated. That interior would need to be thoroughly cleaned because of the smoke and maybe the upholstery would have needed to be replaced. I loved the galley, more spacious than most. This boat’s entranceway was off the back deck which was unique. Most canal cruisers have an entranceway on each side with sliding doors. This Boat had lots of pluses and a fully tarped in area for the rear steering  station was one of them. We did not take the following pictures. They were off the Yacht Broker’s website.

The next boat in the running was the Van Der Werff Cruiser. It had been build in the Van Der Werff Shipyard which is still a working boatyard. This boat was built in 1966. The layout of this boat was unique and really grabbed my attention. It had two distinct sleeping areas that were enclosed, creating privacy for sleeping like a bedroom. One of the sleeping areas had a sink in it. The galley and salon were in-between the sleeping quarters. I liked how there was a safe railing around the outside of the outside deck - a plus for the crew (which would be me). The biggest drawback of this boat was the windows needed replacing. That would be approximately a ten thousand Europe job, ugh!

That special layout with the two bedrooms intrigued us until we found our boat.