Author: Neil & Debbie

Last month, Drifter was issued with her Maritime and Coastguard certificate, which is a mandatory document for carrying passengers. This shows that the vessel meets or exceeds very strict safety requirements. We worked with a Dutch surveyor over many months, discussing the best ways to implement the requirements in a sympathetic manner and the result…

Some people look at Drifters spars, rigging and winches and express how complicated and hard it must be to manage under sail. These people are mostly those with modern yachts fitted with shining patent high tech equipment which rightly or wrongly, they believe to be an advancement with regard to ease of use and offering…

Durgerdam, near Amsterdam. It has been a few months since we purchased ‘Drifter’ in the pretty town of Hindeloopen, Friesland.  Our first few weeks were  spent in the ‘Skipshelling  Blom’ boatyard that built the barge in 1976. The Blom family are still running things today as they have for nearly 3 generations. They made us…

A sailing barge is perhaps an unusual sight in the South West of the UK, but is one of the most recognised and admired types of sailing boat in the Netherlands.

One of the key features of a sailing barge is the ability to lower the mast for routes with low bridges and there are various mechanisms for doing this. ‘Drifter’, our 1976 built Lemsteraak has a mast which swivels on a robust pin passing through the mast near its base. The mast pivots in a…