1951 – 1960

In the post-war years, the yard slowly re-established itself and the workforce grew to eight or ten men by 1960. Around 1954 the last two wooden Vollenhovense Bollen were delivered, the “Njord” and the “Zween.” When Wolter Huisman came back from military service he was determined to build in steel. First, he built a press to bend frames to reduce costs. He then started a course in electric welding in Meppel.

The first steel yacht was a little motorboat designed by Henk Tingen and built speculatively; it was eventually sold to a cigar merchant from Kampen who named it Guido II. A few years ago it was renovated completely and, once again, it sails like new. Several more steel yachts followed including the “Najade”, three steel “Beulakkermeer” cruisers for the Marine Yacht Club, a motoryacht “Tempora te Tempori”, and a number of yachts from designers such as Van de Stadt, Robert Clark, Baron van der Heuvel and Buchanen.

1941 – 1950

During the war few ships were built or delivered. The “Goedzee” was finished and delivered and the preparation of previously-ordered Beulakkermeer cruisers continued as far as possible. In addition, several punters and other working craft were built and repaired. Due to the war, demand for pleasure cruisers collapsed and, with it, the size of the workforce which fell from fifteen to twenty men to as few as three. It is unknown exactly how many craft, and of what types, were built during this period.

1931 – 1940

With an increasing contribution from brothers Jan and Jacob, the yard constructed four Dekenpunters, twenty-three Giethoornse punters, one Jagerspunter, four Kaarpunters, seventeen Bootjes, three 8-spanterpunters, one Paling Ligger, ten Motorboats, two Staverse Jollen, one Schouw, two small ferries, three small yachts, two Grundel yachts, thirteen BM yachts, one Sailing yacht, three Pampers, two Scarpies, two Libel yachts, two Vogeljachtjes, two Cruisers type Pal, thirty Beulakkermeer cruisers, thirty Beulakkermeer type 2 cruisers, one Lark and one Junior Jol: a total of 141 craft.

The trend that began in the 1920s accelerated into the 1930s with the construction of fifty-five fishing and work boats compared with eighty-six pleasure cruising yachts. In this period several Bakdeckcruiser motor yachts were built and a growing number of sailing boats. The most well-known is the “Beulakkermeer” cruiser.

1921 – 1930

Expansion increased with the production of two Dekenpunters, seventy-eight Giethoornse punters, two punters “Dorts Model”, eight Jagerspunters, fifteen Kaarpunters, forty-seven Bootjes, one Drogepunter, four Vlotten, twenty-nine 8-spanterpunters, one Paling Ligger, four Scheepjes / Vollenhovense Bollen, six Motorboats and one Staverse Jol: a total of 198 craft

At the end of the 1920s orders for fishing boats increasingly gave way to those for pleasure cruisers. In 1927 the first Vollenhovense Bol was built completely as a pleasure cruising boat for Mr. van de Berg from Bussum. He owned her for only a couple of years before circumstances necessitated her sale. She is still in commission and in very good order…

1911 – 1920

The yard constructed five Dekenpunters, sixty-three Giethoornse punters, three Jagerspunters, twenty-seven Kaarpunters, twenty-nine Bootjes, one Vlot, nineteen 8-spanterpunters, three Paling Liggers, one “little houseboat” seven Scheepjes / Vollenhovense Bollen, one Botter, one Motorboat and one Schouw: a total of 161 craft.

In 1914 the first “Vollenhovense Bol” was delivered as a fishing boat for a fisherman from Kuinre – all seven of those delivered in this period were built for fishing. In 1919 the first boat for pleasure cruising was built: a sailing punter for a doctor in Scheveningen. It was 18 ft in length by 37 inches in beam. The yard’s old ledgers reveal that this boat was delivered including rudder, two boards, mast and a sprit. Unlike the working examples, it had to be neatly planed and finished, resulting in almost double the price of the commercial version.

1901 – 1910

Huisman built the following: fourteen Dekenpunters, twenty-seven Giethoornse punters, twenty-one Kaarpunters, eight Bootjes, two Vlotten, four Visserssloepen, twenty-six 8-spanterpunters and one Melkpunter: a total of 103 craft.

Production increased rapidly during this period, but payment did not always follow suit. Many punters were paid for in two, three or even four stage payments, so the yard might have to wait from two to four years for full payment. The craft mainly operated in the direct neighbourhood, but some orders came from further away: one to Urk, fifteen to Vollenhove, fourteen to Zwartsluis, one to Wolvega, one to Kalenberg, three to Zwolle, one to Hindeloopen, fourteen to Grafhorst, thirty-six to Belt-Schultsloot, three to Wilsum, three stayed on the “Ronduite,” one to Oldemarkt, three to Kampen, one to Wanneperveen, two to Kuinre, one to Dalfsen, three to Genemuiden, one to Giethoorn.

1896 – 1900

The yard is known to have built three Dekenpunters, one Giethoornse punter, five Bokken, three Kaarpunters, three Bootjes, two Drogepunters, three 8-spanterpunters: a total of twenty craft.

Jan Jans Huisman started working for himself on the “Ronduite” in 1884. During the first years he did not register everything he built – or, at least, no documents survive that cover the whole period. After his son Wolter joined the business in 1896, things became more organised: all craft were registered, a new shed of 12 meters by 6 meters was constructed and a ramp was planned and built. In the early years many large repairs and refits were also undertaken for peat ships (Tjalken, Bokken, etc.) Because of their large size, these ships were limited in navigability, but the Huisman yard at the “Ronduite” was easy for them to access.

1884 – 1896

No precise records exist for this period; the yard appears to have started registration of its ships in 1896.