A chat in the garden became a life-changer

Actually, Ed had already been hired at Fokker. But a chat 'over the hedge' with a foreman who turned out to work at the shipyard, made him change his mind quickly: "I chose Feadship."

At the time, Ed had just finished the LTS (predecessor technical VMBO). He wanted to continue his education at the Installatietechniek Streekschool Leiden and was looking for a work experience place. His first Feadship - in 1987! - became Confidante; now renamed Audacia. The chat in the yard turned out to be a life changer: Ed did his training, and felt totally at home at the yard. He stayed - for a while. After a 6-month trip around the world, Ed chose Royal Van Lent Shipyard and De Kaag in 2001. Here, he was given plenty of opportunities to grow.

"I have been in the production department WTB, first man and work planner," says Ed. "Now I work as Sr Engineer WTB. In my department," he explains, "everything starts with construction specifications, schematics and diagrams. When you merge those with the structural model, you can put the piping of all the systems into the 3D model. Trust me: that goes into quite a lot of detail. My job as senior engineer is to check drawings and models, participate in reviews, and come up with solutions. Some of these solutions I also develop myself. In addition, I manage standards and work out new ones."

Early in the morning, Ed crosses by ferry to Kaag Island. Ten minutes later he passes the coffee machine and seeks his desk. "I always check my mail first. Then I look at models and drawings. What makes our work so incredibly fun is that you get to invent things with the most beautiful materials. And that you work out systems that you later see back on board. The day flies by; before I know it, it's 4:30 and it's time to go home."

With a broad smile, he thinks back on his years in production: "I always found the jobs abroad a nice challenge. Sometimes you have to solve a job with little information; that really calls on your craftsmanship. And then when it works out, yeah: that's cool."

"A trial run of a completed yacht is also fantastic to experience, or the transport of a yacht from Kaag to Rotterdam. On the transport of project 808, for example, in 2015 I worked as a bridge crew leader. In three days we brought the yacht to Rotterdam. The yacht was long and wide; that was quite a challenge at the bridges. Yet we succeeded - right down to the last bridge."