Canal trip, 1899

[Jim H]

There's something about this film:

Prinsengracht - 1899 - Europa Film Treasures

[mobilchuckje]

Mooi. Dank u well.

[badsanta]

Jim, Thanks for the link. Very nice

[JohnRPollard]

Yeah, that was neat. I liked the part when the guy in the little row-boat looked up to see the barge bearing down on him.

I was surprised a bit at the amount of crud floating in the water, too. It looked a bit as though they used the canal as their sewer and dump.

[Jim H]

Originally Posted by mobilchuckje

Mooi. Dank u well.

Graag gedaan.


There's something about the women with parasols crossing the bridge, the little girl in the white dress, and the man swinging his hat up and down. Also, the boy almost seems to be looking through the debris floating in the canal.

It was a sunny day, and the sails must have been out to dry.

[fordo]

My question is how did the boats get out of the canals to the sea? It did not appear that the bridges opened and if they took down the masts to get under the bridges why would they set them up again when they moored? Curious...

[mobilchuckje]

Two thoughts:

a. The bridges are less stationary than they appear, although there's nothing about that one it goes under that makes me think that. Those are classic iron railings in Mokum.

b. The mast and spar becomes useful as a derrick for loading goods on and off the boat, perhaps even into upper floors.

Jim, I spent a good hour on Google Street View trying to figure out where on the Prinsengracht it's filmed. I figure with the masts up it must be near the Amstel or the Ij, and perhaps the ships on the other side of the bridge came in from another direction.

You bastard, I see travel plans in my near future. I miss it so much.

Dag,
chuck.

[johnnyandjebus]

Jim

it's been already said

Mooi. Dank u well

My parents emigrated to Canada, from Holland, in the 50's as teenagers and never quite gave up on the "old country" My father is going to love this video.

Can anyone tell me how to to explain online video to a 73 year-old Dutch/Canadian? Because, despite my best efforts, he hasn't quite got his head wrapped around it. He can't get passed the idea that people would take the time to post stuff like this for free. Yes, he keeps his wallet close to his chest

Thanks,
John
(baptized Johannes)

[Jim H]

I might be mistaken, but I believe Thames sailing barges were developed from Dutch sailing barges. They had a massive windlass at the bow that would be used for the heavy lifting jobs on the boat, including the raising and lowering of the mast to pass under canal bridges.

Refurbished Dutch Barges now appear to have an electric windlass at the bow for the anchor and for raising/lowering the mast:

antigua boat sales - New and used boats & yachts for sale

In the film, the masts might be back up, as noted earlier, to aid in the loading and unloading of cargo. In fact, the cargo hatches might be hard to use with a mast laying across them. Also, having the masts up would help with drying the sails.

It looks like there are a lot of bridges, but it may have been that the mast was down until the barge got to its destination, and then put up again.

We see the Thames sailing barges all the time in London, and there's one at Portsmouth as well. The big metal leeboards are interesting, and the flat bottoms:



Source: Dutch Barge long distance cruisers - Page 5 - Boat Design Forums

[MorganPaul]

Thanks for posting that Jim. There is something very mellow and soothing about that old film.

Here is a modern day ride down the same canal.
Check it out.

YouTube - Amsterdam Canal Tour Prinsengracht from Leidsegracht to Rozengracht 7/25/2008


Paul