Although the ship has been adapted and modernized, it is a celebration of recognition for De Harder. “Look, it all stayed the same,” he says as he walks around on board. “The engine room was underneath this.” Details move him: “Here was the special steering construction that allowed me to look over the high peat load. I had so much fun with that. I could loosen the steering wheel, reattach it at the top and then look out over the entire load,” he explained. “It was piled meters high.”
Unloading peat was often done with baskets, directly to the customers. The ship moored in front of the farms. “If I could throw it, I would throw it straight from the ship onto the shore. But it was usually done with baskets and baskets. We came to Westerbork, Zweeloo, Zwiggelte, Beilen, Havelte, Uffelte, Meppel, Staphorst, De Wijk, Zuidwolde. And to Noordscheschut and Tiendeveen. That was quite a large area. The ship could load about 85 to 90 tons.”
When the Netherlands switched to burning gas, peat shipping was over, peat extraction stopped, says De Harder: “It was over. They literally put a dam behind my ship.”