De Botter 'Johanna' in Engeland
Onder registratienummer 9031 staat een Botter 'Johanna' in het Stamboek geregistreerd
Jayne Tracey uit Engeland schrijft het volgende aan Alexander de Vos:
I mentioned that we used to own the 1911 Hardewijk Botter "Johanna" which was converted for an English judge by Kok of Huizen from a fishing botter into a cruising botter by the addition of a mizzen mast and central cockpit and steering wheel for him as he was slightly disabled. He and his family had adventurously sailed up to Sweden and across the Gotha Canal to Stockholm and had many happy years with her in the Baltic. When his 3 sons grew up and left home, we bought her from him and when our 3 children grew up, we sold her in the 1990's.
We used to keep her at our club on the Norfolk Broads whilst our children were very young and learning to sail and then took her to Aldeburgh on the Suffolk coast where there is a 15 mile estuary. She also went to Cowes Regatta each year to mark one of the finishing lines as she was such a distinctive boat amongst the thousands of yachts down there.
She had the usual short hooked Botter gaff as did the mizzen and looked lovely under sail and we used to fly our 10 metre long orange pennant on the Dutch Queen's birthday!
We have had no news of her since we sold her and would love to discover where she is now? We can't now remember who bought her from us but we really hope that she has found her way back to Holland. Who can discover where Botter Johanna is now?
Jayne Tracey and family
Aanvulling Stamboekbeheer
Onder registratienummer 9031 (schip heeft dus nooit een plaquette gehad) staat een Botter 'Johanna' geregistreerd. Zij is eerst jaren in eigendom geweest van Kok in Huizen en later van Dhr. Verwelius uit Harderwijk. Tenminste zo staat het in ons archief. Bouwjaar en lengte komen overeen met het verhaal hierboven.
Reactie van Frank Deurvorst (19-04-2021)
Toevallig kwam ik op deze website en herkende het schip direct.
Ik heb in de periode 1954-1958 met mijn vader een aantal tochten met de Johanna op het IJsselmeer gemaakt. De botter was toen inderdaad eigendom van de werf Jan Kok in Huizen. Mijn vader huurde het schip van hem. Het zag er toen anders uit dan op de foto. Op het voordek boven het vooronder was een koekoek aangebracht voor meer licht binnen, aan bakboord was een overdekte WC geplaatst, de bun was verwijderd. De zeilen waren wit. De motor was een A-Ford die het altijd deed. De foto van de Scheveningse botter lijkt mij niet de Johanna waar het hier over gaat. De Johanna was ongeschikt voor de Noordzee, terwijl de getoonde foto een Noordzeebotter lijkt te zijn.
Ik ben vrijwel zeker dat het om “onze” Johanna gaat, temeer dat Jan Kok mij enige jaren later vertelde dat dit schip naar Engeland verkocht was.
Bijgaand enkele foto's van de botter 'Johanna'. Op een foto zijn twee personen te zien bij het roer, dat zijn visserman Piet Vlaanderen uit Huizen en ondergetekende. De laatste foto is bij de visafslag in Monnikendam naast de sleepboot Clama.
Reactie van Jan M. Jansen op 26-08-2017
U heeft het op uw site over de botter 'Johanna' in Engeland. Ik vind het leuk dat u wat informatie over deze botter heeft, want mijn vader en opa hebben met deze botter de HK52 tijdens de 2eWO gevist op het IJsselmeer. De laatste keer dat ik deze botter gezien heb, was in 1973 op de werf van Kok in Huizen. Als het goed is zijn er nog originele foto's in het bezit bij familie van mij. Op deze foto's met de initialen RD Ransdorp.
Ik vermoed dat het wel om hetzelfde schip gaat, omdat de botter welke wij op de werf bij Kok en Huizen hebben gezien in 1973/1974 ook de naam 'Johanna' droeg en als thuishaven King’s Lynn in Engeland had.
Oproep in de Spiegel der Zeilvaart 1990 nummer 3
"Johanna" was built in 1914 by Jansen of Hardewijk, and joined the fishing fleet of the Zuider Zee as the original HK52. In 1937 she was converted to a day boat and was then owned by Kok of Huizen. In 1962 she was bought by His Hon. Judge Adrian Head and was converted into a cruising vessel in Holland. The main cabin, aft cabin and mizzen mast were added to produce a very se aworthy and easily handled craft. She was purchased by the present owner in 1976 and has been professionally maintained on the East Coast. In 1984-'85 she had a major overhaul lasting more than one year. More than f 12,000 was spent in bringing her up to first class condition. Ouring 1985 she was used as the finishing line commitee vessel for white group at Cowes Regatta where everybody enjoyed her space and stability.
English website: Dutch botter: floating cottage on the Norfolk Broads
Wie weet er meer over de botter "Johanna"? (2016)
Onderstaande informatie kregen we van de huidige eigenaar Stephen Dargavel uit Londen. Momenteel wordt er wederom hard gewerkt aan een restauratie. In mei a.s. zal de botter wederom te water worden gelaten. Het is de bedoeling om naar ons land te zeilen om hier deel te nemen aan verschillende botteractiviteiten. De heer Dargavel wil echter graag in contact komen met mensen die aan het schip hebben gewerkt. Wellicht zijn er onder de lezers mensen die zich het schip nog goed kunnen herinneren.
Wilt u ofwel met de redactie, ofwel direct met de eigenaar contact opnemen? Zijn adres is: 26 St. Leonards Road, East Sheen, London SW147LX, Engeland.
Brief van Jayne Tracey in januari 2016
The information about Botter Johanna contained in the article is exactly as I know it.
Our family would love to know where Botter Johanna is today? We hope she is back in Holland and in good hands. It was very pleasing for me to see at Sneek in 2014 Boeier Catherina/Agnesje declared Dutch Ship of the Year as after the war she had been saved by Brigadier Forestier Walker from the Greek/Turkish fruit carrying trade and after a couple of years in the Med brought back to England - via the French canals - where Winston Churchill came aboard her at Dover and she became the HQ for the Finchley Sea Cadets.
She had been found as a wreck on the Essex coast where luckily she was saved by a Dutchman and restored to the fine finish she has today in Sneek where she carries passengers between restaurants. I raced Flying 15's at Aldeburgh against the Brigadier's nephew who was a great friend of mine - also ex British Army - and I realised when Boeier Catherine/Agnesje was declared Dutch Ship of the Year 2014, that I should tell his Regiment - the HAC (Honourable Artillery Company) - for their newsletter as around the same time the Norfolk Trading Wherry Albion here was declared Runner up UK Ship of the Year to a Dunkirk Little Ship.
Het Marine museum in Den Helder heeft een foto in bezit van de "De bemanning van de botter Johanna (SCH 1) in mei 1940" (dezelfde botter?). Omschrijving: ..... De drie bemanningsleden van de Johanna, waarschijnlijk in Duinkerken, nadat het schip op 14 mei 1940 gerequireerd was om de Marinestaf, alsmede enkele officieren van de Franse Militaire Missie, van Scheveningen naar Duinkerken te evacueren....
Jayne Tracey schrijft verder:
We also had previously owned a Dunkirk Little Ship and been entitled to fly the Defaced White Ensign. She was the Itchen Quay Punt Pearl - and in 2014 I had tried to find her too so that she could rendezvous at Aldeburgh with the wooden Lifeboat Lucy Lavers now restored by the Norfolk Wooden Boats Trust and calling at Aldeburgh en route to the Little Ships reunion at Dunkirk. Sadly I discovered that Pearl had been broken up in the l980's but she is still recorded in the Ministry of Transport lists in the book produced by the Dunkirk Little Ship Society.
I had been born onto my Father's Norfolk cruising wherry Bramble which was home to my mother and myself during the way and Norfolk Trading Wherry Albion had been saved in 1949 by my father who also belonged to the same regiment as Brigadier Forestier Walker - a success story for 2 of the Regiment's officers!
The HAC printed my letter telling them of these successes in their newsletter. When I was in Sneek in 2014 with Friends of the Norfolk Hunter Heritage Fleet Willy Hoedeman introduced me to the Curator of the Sneek Maritime Museum and she kindly showed me all the books they have there where Botter Johanna is mentioned.
We understood her to have been a 1911 Hardewijk fishing Botter and she was converted to cruising by Judge Adrian Head - the conversion done in Holland. He had had polio during the war so could not move about the deck easily so added a very large central cockpit with a tiny stern cabin on which was rigged amizzen mast with a replica of the mainsail. This produced a more balanced rig for him. (Our small kids loved this aft cabin which was just a bunk with a wide mattress on it and a real hideaway for them!) This gave Botter Johanna very distinctive appearance as she couldn't be confused with the traditional Botters. Wherever we went the cameras flashed to capture her varnished wooden hull and tan sails especially if we were flying our 40 foot long orange pennant for the Dutch Queen's birthday.
The Judge's wife and 3 sons were his crew and they took Botter Johanna up to the Baltic for several seasons where they crossed the Gotha Canal to Stockholm. The Judge was a friend of my father in law's and after his sons grew up and left home the Judge sold Botter Johanna to us as we had a keen young sailing family growing up.
She became the weekend home for our family for many years. At first we kept her on the Norfolk Broads as a floating weekend cottage so that our 2, 3 and 4 year olds could master sailing their Optimists in non tidal waters and once they were ready we moved her back to the estuary at Aldeburgh and the kids moved on to Lasers, Squibs, Dragons and windsurfers! Botter Johanna did indeed act as the regular Finishing Line for Cowes Week White Group Racing as she was an unmistakable marker in the Solent amongst the huge fleets of yachts.
I can't remember exactly which year we sold her in the 1990's, but I seem to remember that she was sold via one of the Classic Yacht Auctions here. She was a wonderful family boat. She slept 10 in pull out bunks so the kids could have all their friends on board and birthday parties were usually mud wallows in the dykes with all the kids having to be hosed down before being returned to their parents! my daughter aged about 4 and demonstrating her ballet skills on the foredeck fell overboard off the Kent coast - lifejacket on of course! - and Botter Johanna could not be manoeuvred fast enough to get to her. As she floated away she was rescued by Vincent Geake tied to a long rope - now he is a world renowned navigator but was then a student at Cambridge and crewing for us!
Botter Johanna was a legend along the East Coast which were our home sailing waters and in summer along the Solent. We hope you will find that she is safely in good hands and home in Holland. She was a wonderful boat. I will scan you a good photo of her sailing.
Very best wishes
Jayne