M. S. Nynke

Blog

The Blog!

Buying the Nynke was quite the decision. A decision that involved a lot of thinking, fast decisions, a loooot of memories, choices, and adventures to process. I'm restarting a blog, mainly for myself, I forget a lot, but also because I'm terrible at telling the same story 20 times over. After a lot of thinking, and feeling the pressure to start vlogging, that's what everyone does these days, I decided to stay true to myself and pick my pen up again to write down the adventures I have with Nynke.

First I'll write about how I found her, and why I decided to buy a boat. But also the big and small jobs I'm doing to keep her in tip-top shape or adjust her to my liking.
Some things might seem logical, and unimportant to talk about, some will be funny and others will have you wonder if I'm sane, but keep in mind that, as you are reading along, you are reading my personal notes on how I'm dealing with life on a boat.

You might notice that, for now, it ends with this little teasing text, but I'm quietly working on a page behind this where you'll soon find the "Tales from a Liveaboard"-blog! Until then, have fun on my Facebook where some of those are already published.

Happy reading and welcome to our adventure!

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M. S. Nynke

Meet Nynke!

Where to start? Let's start at the beginning!
Nynke, previously named Toendra by her very first owner, was built in 1963 on the Apello Zwartsluis wharf in the Netherlands. According to the lore, only two of these ships were built. Ever. We have no idea where the sister ship of the Nynke is or if she's even still with us. Maybe, just like Nynke she a refit over the years. After having her first owner sell her off, she came into the hands of Tom.

And that's where Nynkes story really starts, in March of 1987! Tom bought her and changed her name from Toendra to Nynke and almost immediately had to do a full refit on the systems.

The heating didn't work as it should, but without that, you can live. Other things were more crucial. The steering left much to be desired. By September of the same year, Nynke was on a wharf for hydraulic steering and a bow thruster.

A year later Nynke had a new dashboard, and new electrical systems, the plastic hood was gone and the steering hut became the way she is now. New batteries were also added after some trouble. Tom really went for it, and even managed to get her to sail a little that summer!

It would be the start of multiple remarkable and memorable holidays for Tom, his family, and his friends. And Nynke, she happily tufted them all around Europe. Y'all getting an idea why I was attracted to this ship?

But, life doesn't always go as we plan it to go, or how we want it to go. So, after 35 years of adventures with her, Tom came to a point where he had to sell her. But, carrying the Nynke deeply into his heart, he didn't want to sell "his ship" to just anyone, so she stayed for sale for more than a year. Until I happened to come along in the summer of 2022.

I made a whole list and possible boats that would fit my goal. But in the end, my whole trip to the Netherlands was around that one meeting in Almelo, to see the Nynke. Was it the warmth of Tom and Suze, the summer feeling, the sun, the strangely comparable lives that we live or just Nynke. I still don't know, but a second visit was required. This time with my parents in tow.

And so it happened that, on a sunny day in August 2022, the Nynke once again changed owner.

The Team!

Meet Amy!

As the Nynke can't sail herself, yet! It will be me that you'll find behind the steering wheel. Ever since I started walking around on this blue, watery planet, I was fascinated by water and boats. After some time in a landlocked country, looking at you Paraguay!, I bought my first boat. A little Mirror Dinghy and I saw her as my first boat restoration project. Only to level up a few sizes a few years later by buying the Nynke!
The boating however didn't stop there. Some weird twists of adventure fate made me end up on the Draken Harald Hårfagre in 2023. And I very lovingly blame the inspirational stories of the crew to convince me to pursue an actual career in the maritime industry

Meet first mate Lodinn!

Of course, I'm not alone in this adventure as I'm being advised and supported by my most fluffy first mate: Lodinn the boneless, the many-named! He mostly advises on snacks and naptimes, but those are important too! Here you can see Lolo pictured right after the inspection of the hydraulics!
Lolo himself has a few tales in his fur too. He started his life pretty rough on the streets of Evergem, until we found him with the cat shelter and I decided to give him a forever home. As much as he likes watching the waterbirds and escaping from the Nynke. He also lives parttime at my parents (kudos to them!) because the living standards in a shipyard are just not up to the standards of this little fluff monger

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