A small history of the Salonboot Avanti
The history goes back to the beginning of the 20th century. This private Launch boat ( or Saloon-boat as we refer to in in Holland) is over a 100 years old. In 2019 we’ll celebrate her 110 anniversary.
The boat was a retirement-gift to Mr. Van der Giessen sr. who started and owned the Van Der Giessen Schipyard in Rotterdam. The personal of the Schipyard worked over a year in their spare time to construct this fare-well present to their beloved director of the company.
In the early thirties, Shipyard Van Der Giessen as well as the van der Giessen family was affected by a worldwide financial crisis. With these events the story of the Avanti and family Van Der Giessen ended. In 1938, just before the second world war, the Avanti was sold, via Dordrecht to a family in Brugge in Belgium.
Port Service and Tug boat
So far not much information is available after this sale. According to a Belgian Tonnage certificate from the early nineteen forties, the boat was registered as the Avanti FH 56 and owned by the firm F. Hastens and sons from Brugge, Belgium. The boat was used as a tugboat for the portservices Brugge and Zeebrugge in Belgium.
With help of the Maritime Museum in Rotterdam and the Family van der Giessen, much of the history has been retrieved. Even the original ship drawings popped up in 2009 after a extensive search in the library of the museum.
Since 2000 in Amsterdam
In 2000 the Avanti was found in a desolate state in Sneek, a city in the district of Friesland. The decision was made to fully reconstruct the schip for a new purpose. The Avanti would become a passenger schip to cruise the Amsterdam canals. Her original ( narrow hull) design and classic shape made her perfectly suitable for this purpose. With a lot of effort, a new engine and a new interior, she rose like a phoenix from the flames and was in full function by 2001.
And from then onwards this Gentleman’s Launch boat, on of the last to make it into the 21st century, has been sailing the Amsterdam canals.
