Hello from a Dutch Guy Living in Canada

[Erik de Jong]

Hello All,

I only noticed this part of the forum now and that is probably proof that I did not do my homework properly

I started sailing with my parents since the day that I was 4 weeks old, in 1995 we sailed to the Lofoten, Norway for the first time and eventhough I was only 15 years old, I sold my soul the the Arctic. Almost 17 years later I havn't been able to get a refund so I'm still stuck in the Arctic. 5 years ago I met my wife, we shared an apartment after 3 days and were married in 10 months, how crazy can you get?

I studied naval architecture at the universities of Delft, Haarlem and Southampton and the yacht that we are currently sailing (see picture in my profile) is a design that I made while I was only 16 years old. After finishing university, I perfected the design with my new gained knowledge and decided to be brave and started building the d#mn thing. Now, 8 years later, "Bagheera" is finished and has already seen quite a lot of water. Her first atlantic crossing was shortly after launching with an interior that was litteraly bought at Ikea and was skrewd down to the floar boards. The three winters that followed were spent on building a real interior while the summers were spent cruising, always north

Since 1995, we spent every summer in the Arctic, sometimes only 3 weeks, sometimes 5 to 6 months. In the winters of 2003, 2005 and 2007, we made some trips to Iceland, Lofoten and Newfoundland as well and this inspired to become a nature / Arctic guide and even more, but if I write that here it will be considered spam so I try to hold myself.

I want to apologize for ruining your great language, I hope you for give me, in my defence, English is my 4th language and I'm still in the proces of learning it, please be patient with me.

I hope to learn al ot from you guys!

Erik de Jong

[rubyjean]

Nice boat, welcome aboard the Cruiser Forum. Michael..

[s/v Jedi]

Hoi Eric, welkom op het forum :-)

We need more Dutch sailors to talk sense into the crowd here, so a Dutch naval architect is very welcome haha!

I've also spent time in Delft but in the electronics department so that is where my roots are. I hate the cold so we live aboard our boat in the tropics, currently Panama, Central America.

ciao!
Nick.

[Erik de Jong]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

Hoi Eric, welkom op het forum :-)

We need more Dutch sailors to talk sense into the crowd here, so a Dutch naval architect is very welcome haha!

I'll see what I can do

[Celestialsailor]

Hi Eric...welcome. I was Canadian born but enjoy warmer weather now. Nice boat by the way.

[Nemo55]

Welcome Eric, dont worry about the language you do alright with four languages,,some of us are still trying to get a handle on the one...

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha and welcome aboard!
I think your English is very good.
kind regards,

[NoDogue]

Welcome Erik... the northern lights are my favourite part of the arctic Your english is excellent... no complaints here.

[deckofficer]

A Dutchman that doesn't speak, read, and write perfect English??? Must not have been into US TV.

Ik heb gewerkt op schepen met veel Nederlandse zeilers.

[beachgirl1952]

Hi Erik ... welcome to this CF ...
as you could see, there are more than a few Dutch ppl on this forum and I am one of them ...

@ Nick: where do we meet ... when you and José are in Curaçao or when I and my skipper are in Panama? ...

[Erik de Jong]

Originally Posted by deckofficer

A Dutchman that doesn't speak, read, and write perfect English??? Must not have been into US TV.

I grew up without TV and I have never owned one myself. Sometimes my wife (ukrainian) and I watch a TV show online, but that's pretty much it

Thank you all for the warm welcome!