Date Added: 11 May 2018
From the Artist, Frans Dekker: On a day in August 2015 I went out sailing with a replica of an eel aak. This kind of ships sailed out of a harbour in Friesland to buy eel fish from the fisherman that were on the see. The sailed to the northern part of Holland, Germany, Denmark, and Norway to buy the eel. When the hull was full of eel, about 20.000 kilo, the aak was sailing to London to sell the eel. They had their own mooring in the river Thame. The right for their own mooring was given them by the King of England in the year 1666 as thanks for their assistance with de great fire of the city of London that same year. The only condition that the King asked was that at the mooring always was situated an eel aak. In about the year 1900 there came an end to this right because of the steam ships that take over the eel selling from the sailing aak. I took a lot of pictures of this ship so I good make a S.I.B. First I found a bottle that looks perfect. I made the hull of the aak in 2 parts. A portside and a starboard side. Separately a made the deck of self-made triplex. This deck suited in a groove on both in- sides of the hull. I opened a deck hatch so you good see a little part of the inside. I had a bottle with a bottleneck of 28 mm. But a had to use that bottle for another SIB. So I found a beautiful bottle with a bottleneck of 45 mm so I was able to put the eel aak complete in this bottle. I put all the details as possible on the deck. I made a chair to put the ship on. At the bottom of the bottle I put some resin on it so I had a flat floor to put the chair on. It was not so difficult to put the SIB in the bottle because the hull was complete. The bottle neck is 45 mm and the model is 157 mm long by 39 mm wide and 134 mm high.
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