Mooi Maisga
Mooi Maisga is a Skûtsje Tjalk, a type of Dutch sailing barge from the northern province of Friesland. Built in the city of IJlst in 1898 by Jelle Jelles Croles, she spent most of her working life on the canals of Friesland, transporting cargo under the power of her traditional sailing rig. It was not until her cargo hold was converted to living accommodation in 1975-7 that an engine was added and she became the floating home that she is today.

She was moved to England at some point in the late 70s or early 80s, and was most recently moored near Woodbridge, Suffolk, where she was home to a family of 4 (and a dog). The photo above shows her leaving the mouth of the river Deben in August 2010 en route to her new home by Tower Bridge.

Mooi Maisga has recently been re-painted in dry dock in Brentford. The photo below shows her leaving the Thames at Brentford with her mast lowered, before work commenced (photo courtesy of Brentford Dock Residents).

In October 2011, her owner Martin combined his research into the history of Mooi Maisga with his performing work as an organist, travelling to Mooi Maisga’s home city of IJlst in Friesland. IJlst was granted city status in medieval times, and the city emblem (a golden ship with three masts but no rudder) can be seen on a board at the foot of Mooi Maisga’s mast case. As well as tracking down the site of the original shipyard where she was built, Martin also gave a recital in the local church, at the end of which he was presented with a traditional wooden block (part of a ship’s rigging) instead of the more usual bunch of flowers/bottle of wine!