Bremen Vegesack
7th - 9th May 2004
On behalf of Peter Willems follows here the oversight of our meeting at Bremen Vegesack of 7th, 8th and 9th May 2004.
Leaving home on Friday morning in a terrible rainstorm which lasted all day. After 5 hours drive, we arrived at our destination, a fine example of a sailing-vessel, THE DEUTSCHLAND, a training ship of 1320 tons, where we would stay aboard.
At 2 pm we went visiting the rope-factory of Gleitstein. very modern and making all the new sort of ropes used to-day and including the natural materials of days past, like hemp and manilla. The explanations were straight to the point and clear. We liked the splicing lesson with braided rope and eye fixing.
Loaded with information, we left to set up our exhibition in the shopping center opposite the training ship, all very shining and enormous. We had food in the restaurant on the quay-side with our international group of 11 members from 5 countries with their wives and kids. They were:
- Peter Willems (organiser).
- Family Luiten
- Fusi Tybor
- Family Boeving
- Fam Karl Bayreuther
- Fam Gerd Heinrich
- Fam Jurgen Schwalm
- Dick Hollander
- Fam Yon,
- Anna Ekdahl with their fascinating puzzles and a hammock-maker
- and me, Jan Hoefnagel
Next morning we had a good breakfast with plenty of coffee and then directly out aboard the galley after which we went to our places in the shopping center. All day we had plenty of visitors and, in the evening, some local color in the form of a birthday party on the training-ship with an active drummer, who gave samples of his ability of making ear shattering noise untill after midnight that made sleeping impossible, but we survived.
Sunday, at 16:00, we left after saying good-bye.
It was a delightful meeting and we were glad we went to Vegesack and thank Peter for his well cared organisation and will be present at his next one at Lubeck next year.
Jan Hoefnagel
IGKT Netherlands