On this page you will find some information about the two co-owners of the discussion list Yacht-L. This page is updated on 010716 and will be updated/improved as time goes by. The page is maintained by one of the owners of Yacht-L, Eppo R. Kooi, shown right. The other owner is Jim Bradley. You will find our email-addresses at the bottom of this page.



Jim and I are actively and frequently sailing.
Above left Jim is shown on his catboat, Chance Along.
He is also a surfer as the picture at the left shows!
My sailing experiences are described below.

Vaguely, but you have to believe me, you see my wife, Carla, and me on my boat, Gabbina.

Let me introduce myself, my wife, the boat and a bit about the sailing possibilities of the Netherlands to you and what we consider the pleasures of sailing, daysailing or cruising. Of course, each has it merits under different conditions, possibilities, age of the crew, etcetera.

My wife and I like day sailing or cruising during weekends, from Friday night till Sunday night. It means, sail a few hours and when the weather is nice and warm enough, anchor for a while, swim, drink, eat, read and/or look around and watch what is passing by or otherwise is in sight. I might even do some small repair work, cleaning or waxing of the boat. It all adds up to relaxing ourselves. At the end of the afternoon we might remain anchored, return to our marina or go to another marina or a harbor, returning Sunday night at our own marina.
When we arrive at the boat in its slip, it is as if a switch has been turned. We feel different and more relaxed just being there.

When being on the boat, it is practically always with my wife. Together we have the age of 137 years and have four grandchildren. Sometimes one (or two) of the grandchildren is (are) with us. We started sailing over ten years ago when we bought our boat. Before that, when I was 12 - 19 years old, I have been sailing regularly (mostly solo) on an open boat with 16 and later 22 sq meter (172/237 sq ft) sail surface. Much later, when the first surf boards for sailing became available I started surf board sailing, being one of the first. Both were valuable experiences for learning the interactions between wind, sails, destinations, sail curvature, mast positions, etcetera.
My wife had no earlier sailing experiences and cares more for the non-sailing parts of the pleasures of being on and around our boat. She likes the destinations more than long uninterrupted sailing. We therefor combine our preferences best by coast and island hopping and that is what we do during our summer vacations (and sometimes during weekends). The distances are, and have to be such, that we always can reach the next marina, harbor or anchoring place during daylight (the daylight period is pretty long in June/July at 52/53-North).

For the reasons given above, I do most of the sailing practically alone (I could call myself a semi-solo sailor). When sailing, she does assist when leaving or entering a marina, harbor or anchoring place, raising the main sail, be on watch when I am below, etcetera. She can handle the boat when motoring, the marifoon and the MOB on the DECCA and GPS.
The solo sailing means, that I will not sail for more than the daytime hours as a maximum. Furthermore, for reasons of safety, I will not go out on the sea very far from the coast, so that, in case of an emergency (e.g. when I would be incapacitated), the Dutch coast guard/rescue vessels can reach us in a reasonable time.
Since my wife is prone to seasickness in weather with 6 or 7 Bft and stronger, and I myself don't like sailing in more than 7 Bft; in undeep waters on a close reach even 6 Bft is very bumpy/rocky, we stay were we are when the forcast tells us to expect 6 Bft and certainly when it is more. Even so, we have been caught in heavy winds up to 9 Bft with gusts in the 10 and even 11 Bft range (the weather can be rather unpredictable in the Netherlands). Rain, and certainly cloudy weather is not an objection; although, when in addition to that it is cold, we will only go when we have to.

My wife and I both enjoy the walking or cycling around in small coastal places and islands. In the Netherlands there are enough small (and a few large) coastal harbors, cities and islands to make all this possible.

Our boat is at a marina at the south of the former Zuiderzee (Southern Sea), now called the IJsselmeer (IJssel lake) since a dike has shut of the former sea from the North Sea. It's shaped like a thick L and measures approx. 85 - 90 km (48 naut. miles) total length and 20 - 25 km (12 naut. miles) wide.
The IJsselmeer has along its coast several very old, small cities, such as Hoorn, Enkhuizen, Medenblik and Workum, and one large city, Amsterdam. The West coast of the Netherlands has harbors/cities, such as Den Helder, IJmuiden, Scheveningen, Hoek van Holland/Rotterdam, and Vlissingen.
North of the Netherlands there are six small islands of which five can be visited and have facilities for yachts, some of them simple. The area between the islands and the Dutch mainland is called the Waddenzee. It measures approx. 160 km (87 naut. miles) long and 30 km (16 naut. miles) wide, tapering off to a 10 km (5+ naut. miles) width. Its a favorite place for many sailors, because it offers so many different aspects. It has a lot of undeep places, large parts fall dry with the low tide. Sailing there means you have to navigate on the micro level when going from one island to the next, taking advantage of the tidal streams and the rising of the sea level with upcumming water. Many sailors let their boat (flat bottom or twin keel) fall dry. The Waddenzee is an international protected area for its unique fauna, especially birds and seals. Not all parts are accessable or only during part of the year.
Another favorite place for sailors is the inland of the Netherlands. It has lots of canals, small rivers and lakes with many interesting small places to visit.

The boat we have, has a long keel from bow to stern of which the rudder is a movable part. Its weight (when loaded) is 4000 kg (8000 pnd), of which 1400 kg (3100 pnd) is in the keel. It's length (LOA) is 8.5 m (28 ft) and over a large part of its length the beam is almost 3 m (10- ft). The draft is 1.25 m (4+ ft). The design is based on a Danish coastal fishing boat. We bought the boat for its sturdiness, its comfort and space (two separate double berth cabins, a cabin with u-shaped table and bench, a navigator table and a galley corner).
The type of the boat is a (modified) Midget (probably unknown outside the North-West part of Europe, although the last couple of years a few times ten of them have been exported to the USA and Japan). Its "Made in the Netherlands".
The name of the boat is Gabbina, which is Italian for Kooi (cage/cabin, a small one). It also means "small sail" and "small sleeping berth". We selected an Italian name, because till we bought the boat, we went on vacation to Italy during 14 years. Now it (partly) replaces the Italian vacations.