The 90’s and Me

The nineties were my Amsterdam finale and my French dawn. For seven years the shipyard ‘t Kromhout was my home. Our North Sea botter Stella often took us to Terschelling and Vlieland or during Christmas to Antwerp. I was captain of Amsterdam canal cruises and transported tourists from all over the world – the Spanish sang the loudest after a glass of wine. The Amsterdam humor made me grin.

After that I designed promotional gifts for gold and silver manufacturer Venrooy in Den Bosch, sometimes big assignments such as the 100th anniversary of Esso Nederland and luxury gifts for Feadship- Royal Dutch Shipyards. But my hands longed for building. At ‘t Kromhout I became a ship’s carpenter and metal welder for all types of boats. A highlight was building masts for the VOC replica ‘Amsterdam’. Also at Sail ’90, the Stella was present as a management vessel for the staff of Hoogovens-IJmuiden.

A phone call from Italiën surgeon Max Magi, whom I met in the Maldives, took me around the world to eventually buy the 20-meter schooner ‘Saiph’ in Florida. With Agnes and Martin we sailed with Saiph to the British Virgin Islands. In ’94 we exchanged Amsterdam for Brabant, I quickly converted an Opel Blitz bus into a camper until our rental home became available in Rosmalen.

Agnes and I got married soon after, sealing our love and our business plans. In the meantime we bought a Burgundian railway cottage in France. A year later an apartment in Den Bosch, where Agnes and my ex wife Martha ran a tile shop. With 2 friends I founded CBJ Projects BV, which built the 12 halls “Waterrijk” in Den Bosch. In ’99 we moved to Fertrève and went to live permanently in France, building a guest house attached to our building for rent was the first step. Photos tell that story.