For those who love boats, "Holland" is a dream country and Rotterdam a nice way to approach it. As soon as you disembark from the Thalys, the change of scenery is guaranteed. Following the boulevards dedicated to bicycles, you will soon reach the historic port of Leuvehaven. The docks are only separated from the Meuse by a lift bridge, and end up facing the monumental Erasmus Bridge.
Living traditions
The old warehouses have been rehabilitated into housing and each dock houses flowery and colorful boats. Laundry dries on board one, while the blue flame of a flashlight cuts the metal sheet of another, or sailors track down the rust under sprays of sparks. It is this lively and good-natured mix that makes all the salt of this place where private boats are next to those of the museum, and where traditions are visibly part of everyday life.
A perfume of the workshop
The docks are bristling with port cranes and handling equipment, while one wanders freely among the "volunteers" who work on the maintenance of boats and machines. Seeing the tugboat move the boats and the sailors play with the mooring lines, one perceives that the museum is at least as much a conservatory of techniques and know-how as a place to visit. This is even more noticeable in the workshops, where one hesitates at first to enter. Here, we renovate and maintain with hammer blows that make the metal resonate! The scent of incandescent metal mingles with that of Norwegian tar. Heritage does not have here the muffled atmosphere that it has elsewhere!
In all languages
The volunteers are technical and they take the time to talk. Panel: Welkom aan boord indicates if the boat is open for visits. Everywhere you go, you feel welcome and not a tourist or an outsider and that is a very nice surprise! Of course, the language can be an obstacle, but the Dutch are largely polyglot. In English, German and even French, all those we met were eager to share their passion and it was easy to communicate if you had the taste.
Open house
On the opposite bank, private boats are moored, most of them inhabited. On each gangway, a sign indicates the history and characteristics of the boat. It is easy for the visitor to engage in conversation if he sees someone, or even to be invited to cross the gangway. This is how we met Wim and Anneke Robbertsen, among others, who welcomed us on board the Robbedoes, a former merchant ship that they have converted into a superb 160 m² home. On board, they offer guest cabins, but above all they sail, far and wide!
Immersive exhibitions
The museum houses the collections that Prince Henry of Orange-Nassau assembled on the premises of the Royal Netherlands Yacht Club in 1875. There are also touching exhibits such as the one that evokes life on board the transatlantic liners. Cabins and personal belongings offer the opportunity to put oneself in the shoes of an emigrant leaving for a new life. The only thing missing is the roll, which we will experience in an animation recounting the work on offshore platforms. An immersion that begins after receiving safety and survival training. Noise, marine environment, industrial atmosphere, the change of scenery is total and we feel a certain homesickness when we come out of this so particular universe.
But the day advances and the volunteers mix with the last visitors and continue the conversation started earlier. The noria of the cab boats calms down a bit. Some inhabitants of the water come to moor their cargo bike to the bridge of the boats. The portholes light up against a backdrop of buildings and the conversation lasts a little longer before going for a drink on board Vessel 11, a former lightship. Here, to go beyond the condition of a simple visitor, you just have to smile, be interested and agree to gibber a few words in a mixture of languages that in the end become one, that of boat enthusiasts.
Maritime Museum Rotterdam
Leuvehaven
3011 EA Rotterdam
