Crossing Lauwersoog – Ameland (Willem Jacob) Friday, May 2, 2025 8:00 PM Dry-out trip

Crossing

From half an hour before departure you can board the ship. We do not have a permanent mooring in the port, but you can recognize our ships by the large Eilandhopper flag. You can put your luggage on board, if you have a bicycle we will find a place for it on deck. Afterwards there is a free cup of coffee, tea, water or lemonade. In the meantime you will also meet your fellow travellers.

Dry-out trip

Flat-bottomed ships such as the Willem Jacob and the Minerva are made to run aground. When running aground, the ship sails above a sandbank at high tide. Because the water level drops, the ship ends up on the sandy bottom of the Wadden Sea. You can then disembark and walk across the seabed.

Make sure you are back on board when the tide rises. The ship comes loose again because of the tide and we sail on. After a few hours, we continue our sailing trip. How long it takes to run aground depends on where we are on the sandbank.

Sailing with the Willem Jacob

The Willem Jacob, build in 1889 is completely turned upside down during the last five years. By now the ship has a new bottom, the interior is all new, and there is a new and quiet engine. The outside is restored as good as possible. There is an ongoing wooden hatch from bow to aft, the sides of the accommodation are covered with wood en in 2011 the new mast trunk was sounded.

Sailing from Lauwersoog

De Willem Jacob ligt in de Vissershaven, tegenover restaurant Schierzicht.

Arrival at Ameland

Our ships are moored east of the new ferry pier, we are moored at the old ferry pier.