122 year-old Sailing Tjalk
Built in 1903 with a steel hull 18 metres long and her massive wooden leeboards, Eben Haezer is very impressive.
Jeanne and Luke from Hamberg met seven years ago, both looking forward a new chapter in their life since their older children had flown the nest to study. When browsing a local museum during the lockdown period, they came across a boat which then sparked their idea for their new chapter – to buy and live on a boat! They both had some sailing knowledge as Jeanne had been living on a houseboat in Hamburg with her daughter for several years.
They set about searching and planning when the found the 122 year-old Sailing Tjalk, Eben Haezer at a boating shop at Leimuiden. Built in 1903 with a steel hull, 18 metres long with massive wooden leeboards with all ornamental wood carvings and traditional paintings, her romantic pirate vibes and the idea of sailing altogether caught them and the boat was theirs in August 2020. Their wonderful Eben unfortunately came with a lot of issues, and due to it being in such bad shape Jeanne and Luke spent the next 3.5 years restoring their boat in every spare minute they had alongside working, learning the skills as they went along. They de-rusted, welded and painted the steel hull inside and out, restored and replaced rotten woodwork, repaired or replaced many technical installations, upgraded the interior, and tackled countless other tasks. In summer 2021 they motored Eben Haezer to Denmark, where they had a new solid wooden mast built and installed a completely new rigging. After a very intense four months of preparations, Jeanne and Luke set off from Hamburg in May 2024. Taking the canal route through Netherlands, Belgium and France and then down the Danube, crossing several countries, until they reached the Black Sea, and they are currently in the Aegean Sea, in Greece.
Jeanne and Luke were searching the internet for a reliable and beautiful small wood burning stove, suitable for boats, to replace an antique broken coal stove that was on board, that’s when they came across our little Salamander Stove! They have had our stove for several years now, and this is what they say: “The Salamander stove is a beautiful, solid and reliable small wood burning stove, perfectly suitable for a boat of medium size. It does a fantastic job in keeping our salon cosily warm on cold winter evenings, it’s lovely to watch the fire and adds incredibly much to the ambience of the salon. With its elegant retro design and brass fittings it matches really well to the traditional interior style of our historic Dutch Sailing Tjalk from 1903. It lights very easily, heats up quickly and burns great from the start, which is amazing for such a small stove. Warming food or plates on top of the stove is also practical. We compared many stoves on the market before we decided for the lovely Salamander Stove, and never regretted our choice.”
Follow Jeanne and Luke’s journey here!
