In 2005 after selling our house in Brisbane (Australia) we bought our new floating home in The Netherlands a 24x4.8 meter Tjalk. This ex-commercial sailing boat was born in 1916 in the province of Groningen and extensively converted in 2004 to a modern 2 bedroom apartment. Like all new boat owners we had to do some re-modelling to make the barge better suit our personal needs and our planned extensive cruising life style.
The first 2 winters we moored in Haarlem, just west of Amsterdam and had the good fortune to be introduced to a great marine electronic/electrical engineer Tim Tiekstra.
From day one we knew we were in capable hands with Tim; he is an excellent listener; a creative thinker and a very capable tradesman who does what he says and says what he does... and all this is in excellent English! He is not a time waster and even cleans up after a days work. Tim is an honest hardworking man plus a good businessman, he comes well prepared to the job with his white tailor made van stacked full of all sorts of electronic/electrical parts. If he does not stock it, ordering in parts is no problem and the after sales service is excellent. Quotes are reliable and bills very detailed, not cheap, but good value for money. He also leaves you enough instructions, both oral and written, so you can become familiar with your new systems/gadgets.
Jobs done on Eendracht:
Having had our steelwork of our barge Tokoloshe finished elsewhere, we were introduced to Tim Tiekstra and Stefan Van Hattum in March 2008. The interior was completely empty except for the original engine in good working order.
Stefan was responsible for all carpentry and insulating the entire boat. His innovative approach to the job in hand was extremely competent and has resulted in the superb finish achieved inside the boat.
Tim was responsible for entirely re-wiring the whole boat. He designed and fitted all the systems expected to be found in a vessel of this size and quality. No corners were cut and the result is the very smooth running of the boat.
Tim and Stefan finished their work on schedule in December 2008 and we are very happy with the joint effort.
We thoroughly recommend them to put together any plan to build or rebuild any boat or barge to the satisfaction and budget of the client.
Peter and Jane Gravelius