On 8th October 2005 at 11.00hrs the inner harbour in Emden is a crowded place to be. The reason for the presence of some 2000 citizens old and young of Emden and beyond was the ceremony and launching of the Tjalk.

The boat has steadily been taking shape over the last 6 years on the harbour side, and is now ready to be finished and masted, a process that takes place on the water. There is no slipway, so another means of moving the vessel is needed, the solution is a huge crane!

There had been a miscalculation by Herr Natchos as to the weight of the vessel. His calculation was 47 tons, when the reality was 57… this had nearly led to a disaster when the crane attempted to move the Tjalk close to the water on Friday 7th prior to the big launch on the Saturday. The weight of the boat had nearly overturned the crane when a lift was attempted. The error was spotted and a further 10 tons was added to the counterweight on the back of the crane!

Saturday’s ceremony began with a Lutheran service of dedication for the Tjalk and a series of speeches, by the Mayor of Emden, Alfred Mahrens, the driving force behind the programme, the North SEAfaring Programme manager and a number of other contributors to the project.

Speeches completed, the giant yellow crane silently, gently lifted the huge oak vessel from its resting place, turned and passed it over the heads of the crowd then lowered it into the water to the rousing cheers of all who watched. The chief shipwright Mr Jörg Djuren raced below deck to check for leaks, and after a few minutes wait reappeared on deck arms rose in joy, the hull had held fast.

The party of celebration continued into the afternoon, with the general public being allowed to go on board and inspect the work.