The Early Days of SeaTrek
It was during the late nineteen-seventies that a young Dutchman by the name of Dick Bergsma, was on a sabbatical journey around the world, together with his newly wed wife. When they found themselves in the Sunda Kelapa harbor of Jakarta, they were intrigued by the hundreds of cargo carrying sailing vessels being loaded and unloaded there. During those years Indonesia still had an active fleet of some ten thousand wooden ships, mainly two masted 'phinisi's' and single masted lateen rigged "Lambo's" that were carrying cargo between the islands of the archipelago. As the young back packing couple was planning to go to Sumatra it occurred to them that it would be a great experience to try and catch a ride on one of these sailing ships rather than go on a ferry boat. So they made the rounds of the harbour and talked to the captains of all the ships but despite the fact that Dick offered to pay a handsome fare, they clearly found a general reluctance to be accepted as paying passengers. When Dick inquired at the office of the harbour master he learned that Buginese superstition cautioned against taking on newlywed couples because it was believed this could bring bad luck upon the ship. When Dick came back the next day and tried his luck again, introducing his wife as his sister, all objections evaporated and the 'siblings' were accepted instantly. For Dick and his wife it was the first of many memorable trips through Indonesia and the start of a long learning process about the Buginese, their ships and their traditions.
Bugis Boatbuilding
Evidently, a seed had been planted and once back in the Netherlands Dick found that the story of his sailing trip in Indonesia always found an appreciative audience. The rest is history...In 1985 Dick was the first person ever to organize a group cruise on a chartered Pinisi and subsequently he opened a small office in downtown Amsterdam, marketing the sailing adventures under the name Seatrek. During those first years the experience of sailing through Indonesia on a traditional boat was a far cry from what it is today and could not be classified as 'soft adventure'. A tarpaulin would be pitched between the masts with awnings on each side and the passengers would sleep on the deck. In the early nineties Dick found several ship owners willing to create some basic facilities below decks and around the same time he internationalized the marketing of the cruises beyond the Netherlands. After plying back and forth for nine years between Europe and Asia, in 1994 Dick decided to open an office in Indonesia and moved with his family to Bali.
When in early 1998 Dick paid a courtesy visit to some old Buginese friends who had moved to Batulicin in Kalimantan, he spotted a hull under construction on the riverbank that was much more slender than most of the others. Dick has an eye for beauty and was attracted to the elegant curve of her deck line, (what sailors call the 'sheer' of the hull). He found out that the person who had commissioned the construction of the vessel wanted to remain anonymous but was ready to negotiate, based on the Buginese principle that all boats are always for sale, even before they are launched. This story, how a beautiful virgin was rescued from a hard life of carrying cargo became the next chapter in the history of Seatrek Sailing Adventures....She was baptized 'Katharina' and a French naval architect in conjunction with Marc Bergeron, a French national with expertise in cruising, redesigned the superstructure and the interior of the hold.... In 1999 a permanent collaboration was established.
