Jan Rotgans, now 61, has spent almost his entire life at sea. He started out as a fisherman at a very young age, but today he gives tours of the area where he used to cast the nets. During cruises, he tells passengers about the reinforcement work at the Afsluitdijk.
The Afsluitdijk in 32 stories
Over the next four years, the Afsluitdijk will undergo a major renovation. The dike will be strengthened and raised to protect the Netherlands against seawater in the future as well. In 32 reports, equal to the number of kilometers covered by the Afsluitdijk, NH Media and Omrop Fryslân, in collaboration with Rijkswaterstaat and De Nieuwe Afsluitdijk, tell the story of this iconic building. Through the eyes of the people who deal with the dike every day.
Look at here all stories.
Jan used to fish for eels and eels, but he hasn’t been doing that for a long time. Today he organizes boat trips, including on behalf of Levvel. That is the name of the group of companies that jointly carry out the work of strengthening the Afsluitdijk.
chip
On the Wadden Sea, with the Afsluitdijk in the background, Jan pulls out a demonstration model of the large concrete reinforcement blocks. He explains to those present on deck how it works. “There is a chip in each block, so that you can see exactly whether the Levvel blocks are not too high or too low.”
The ship of Rotgans, the Wieringen 130, which sails under the name Johanna II, has Den Oever as its home port. Jan’s father was also a fisherman. As a boy of about ten, Jan no longer had to go to school. His father said, “You won’t learn anything there. An eel doesn’t speak English. Come with me to the sea.” And so did Jan. He went to sea.
They used to have a small boat. There wasn’t even a lamp or stove on board. Jan: “All very primitive, but it didn’t cost anything either.” Jan wanted something bigger and when he was 16 years old, his father bought another cutter. Jan had to take over the fishing industry, because his father was ill.
A lot has changed in all those years, says Jan. They used to have a wide variety of fish and also “green” in the fish traps, as he calls it. That is much less these days, but things are also coming back. “Nature will also recover and that is nice to see.”
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