This stamp shows a "Waterschip", a very characteristic fishing boat from the Zuyderzee. She was used from the 14th to the 19th century.
This vessel was built of oak, had a length of nearlyy 20m, and was 6.5m wide. She had a well midships because at first she was used to transport living fish. In this well-she could carry 10 tons of fish and water at the least.
Later on she was a fishing-craft herself and a tug. In the 17th and 18th centuries they towed the camels, in which the East Indiamen were placed, to Amsterdam. (These camels were a kind of dry docks, which lifted the heavily loaded merchantmen, so that they could pass a sandbank, called Pampus). ,
She had one mast with a spritsail and a staysail.
The stamp is a reproduction of a part of an etching by Reinier Nooms , who lived in the first half of the 17th century.
Piet Snijers Log Book Nov 1982
Netherlands SG1170