Crew

Margriet van Rij

Sailing is in my veins. As a child I started sailing and enjoying watersports. As a very young girl I sailed together with my father in a Gieterse Punter, a small wooden typical Dutch flatbodemed boat. When I turned 12 I joined the waterscouts, Vita Nova in Schagen. With the waterscouts we sailed in very sturdy steel Lelievletten. Just about the same period my parents bought a small 1 person sailing dinghy, a Sunfish.  It was supposed to be a dinghy for the entire family, but I was the one that made most use of it. The Sunfish was the first boat that I thought needed some modifications. I wanted more options with the sail, and convinced my father to make the adjustments. As a teenager I was a sailing instructor. I preferred to teach 7 and 8 year old children in a Optimist (very small sailing dinghy for children). In 1995 I started sailing larger boats. I was in between studies and my mother had seen an add for a course to become a deckhand on a tradional Dutch sailing barge. This course changed my life. Learinig about traditional sailing barges, and then go sailing during the summer months. Super! The first season I was a deckhand on the Pallieter, a tjalk that sailed from Enkhuizen. After that exciting summer I went to Medical School in Leiden. But sailing is in my veins, so I decided to take a leave from University twice. Once to become a Skipper on traditional Dutch barges, including the theoretical scholing at the Enkhuizer Zeevaart School. And of course to have an other exciting summer season as a deckhand on board the Hoop Geleid Ons.  The second time I took a leave from University was to sail to the Azores with my previous boot, the Red Dragon. This was a solo sailtrip. The Red Dragon is a 28 foot aluminium Alumaat build in 1966. It is a van der Stadt design, and it was build at yachtwarf Huisman and Sun in Beltschutsloot. After finishing University I joined the Royal Netherlands Navy. Unfortunately I did not have as much time left to enjoy sailing. I was fortunate enough to make a very lovely sailing tour with the HNLMS Urania, a midshipman training ship. During the winter months I managed to finish my education at the Enkhuizer Zeevaart School and received my diploma for proffesional sailing on squarerigged sailing ships. Since 2009 I own a "new" boat. A steel Breewijd 31 Ketch, Aad de Lange design, build at shipwarf Kuiper in Schoorldam in 1980. After a year and a half of refitting the boat, it is now time to start my adventure.
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