ARCHIVE MAY 2008

Stolen boat sunk II

“A list with numbers of mooring tax stickers of stolen boats on board of every patrol vessel of BBA would prevent

a lot of grief. That should not be too complicated”

I wrote that in Amsterdam Canal Journal of May 9^th 2008 in the article: “stolen boat sunk”

If something is not complicated, our bureaucratic institutions will make sure that it is made complicated. An e-mail I recently received made that clear to me.

Mr. Menno den Drijver, nautical researcher for Nautical advisory office Dextton wrote:

“The reason why such a list is not possible is because there is no exchange of data between BBA and the police department.  The reason for that is too complicated to explain in this e-mail.

I do know that BBA frequently visits our website www.stolenboats.nl and communicates with our company when they have found a stolen boat which is  registered on our website.

Everybody can report his or her stolen boat on the website free of charge, on the condition that it was reported stolen with the police and there are sufficient clues for identification.”

So it comes down to this: BBA makes an effort, the police department complicates matters and the victim has to depend on private initiative. That is not complicated at all.

A few years ago, I tried to report my stolen outboard motor to the police department. Sent from one station to the next and back again, I gave up after a few days and counted my loss. All my colleagues told me that it was senseless to report the theft, our police department is too busy with more important matters. I didn’t know the website www.stolenboats.nl at that time, but without a theft registration from the police, my outboard motor would not be allowed on that site anyway.

I still would like somebody to explain to me why there is no exchange of data between BBA and the police department.

(BBA is the Amsterdam Municipal Bureau of Waterways Management) 

Balcony on a hoisting hook

Sailing on the Amsterdam canals you see strange things sometimes.

All the old Amsterdam canal houses have hoisting beams that can be used to hoist goods up and down along the gable. Most of the original inhabitants of these houses were merchants who stored their merchandise safely on the top floors

of their houses.

Most of these hoisting installations are still in use, but they have a different function. Today they serve the movers when inhabitants are moving house. Many big pieces of furniture simply will not fit through the narrow staircases of old houses. With an old bicycle wheel and some strong rope you

also save on a lot of climbing up and down these narrow stairways.

One such hoisting installation is permanently in use, but not to hoist furniture. On Oude Zijds Voorburgwal 258, a whole balcony is hanging on

the beam. Without any doubt, the city will not

issue a building permit for a balcony on a house in the historic heart of Amsterdam. Justifiably, the look of the old city has to be protected.

The owner of this house found a creative and typically Amsterdam solution to this problem.

Most likely, you don’t need a permit to hang something on your hoisting beam.

Kees Hilgers

Balcony hanging on a hoisting beam

Stolen boat sunk.

The big fear of all sailing Amsterdammers who cannot afford a berth in an expensive marina:

Your boat gets stolen. That happened in the summer of 2006 to Canal Journal readers Sasja

and Dirk. In an e-mail to our editor, Sasja wrote: “Last summer every beautiful sailing day caused

us pain in the heart. For the first time we could

not sail for a whole season” They reported the

theft to the waterpolice, but no trache of their boat was found. Until a month ago, when they received

a letter from BBA, the municipal bureau that controls our local waterways. They wrote that

their boat was found in sunken state in a canal

in the suburbs.

“Good news of course, finally the beloved boat was found” was their first reaction. But their joy did not last, a careful inspection of the location that BBA had indicated did not yield their boat.

What happened then was extra sour.

Sasja wrote: “Even though the theft was reported, according to the wreckage laws, my friend still

has to pay for salvage of the stolen boat.”

Accoording to the local TV station AT5, more

boats were stolen in the Amsterdam canals than ever before. Our BBA seems to be the best institution to do something about that. Their patrolboat crews  control sharply if mooring taxes are paid. If a stolen boat doesn’t get found until it

is sunk, there is something dramatically wrong there. Especially if the victim still has to pay for salvage. A list with sticker numbers of stolen boats on board of every patrol vessel could save a lot of grief. That shouldn’t be too difficult to execute.

P.S.

Just received an e-mail from Sasja saying that they have agreed to salvage the boat without cost. Because of the theft, her friend Dirk will not be considered to be the legal owner. At this time it is still unknown if they have to pay anything for finalizing the matter. Anyway, thanks to BBA!

Stolen boat sunk...

Pay for salvage...

A real lighthouse on an Amsterdam canal

There is a real lighthouse on an Amsterdam canal, in a location where one would not expect it. The town of Sloten on the western side of the city used to be independent, but it was annexed by big brother Amsterdam early in the 20^th century. Between the two communities, at the end of a canal called ´Postjeskade´, the Amsterdam sculptor Hans van den Ban designed a symbolic border post between the two communities which he shaped like a lighthouse.

There used to be an electrified mechanical ´boat elevator´ on this spot, where barges with vegetables from the countryside were lifted over a dyke to the higher waterlevel of the canals in the city. Initially, this elevator stood in a different location on the ´Kostverlorenvaart´

From the boat elevator, the farmers sailed their boats laden with vegetables to the floating vegetable market downtown. Until 1932 this market was held along the ‘Lijnbaansgracht’. Today Europarking, one of the biggest parking facilities in Amsterdam marks the location of that market.

Van den Ban’s lighthouse-sculpture on Postjeskade is topped with shiny copper oranges. Reflecting the  light of the sun, they look like the revolving beam of light of a real lighthouse. At night, one of these orange-suns beam a ray of light on the water of the canal.

The artist used copper in the sculpture in order to reflect the copper church steeple in the background

Kees Hilgers

                                Hans van den Ban's lighthouse              

Home  -  Contact  -  Video Journaal  -  Canal Journal  -  Links

Copyright © Amsterdam Canal Journal 2008