My new friend, Gjalt Wijmenga had given me good directions. The book presentation was given at the Militair Mobiel Depot in Oud Loosdrecht. The busdriver had never heard of it. I got out at the Anker Marina and asked the same question, but again they had not heard of it. It turned out to be right next to the marina, acrioss the road. A private collection of Jan Stuivenberg of all sorts of military vehicles, mostly of the 2nd WW but also a recent U.S. Army Hummer.  A MIG hangs from the ceiling. http://www.militair-mobiel-depot.nl/

Jack Kooistra, 82, has been a journalist and court reporter for “Het Friesch Dagblad” and is one of the expert historians on the 2nd WW. He has written several books on the subject. Gjalt Wijmenga, is a friend of Jack and the publisher, Uitgeverij Penn, of the book “Represailles” (Reprisals). http://www.uitgeverijpenn.nl/Winkel/represailles-in-nederland.html

The acquaintance with Gjalt was made through Bart Boosman. Bart came to look at an antique sports car Gjalt has for sale. So, this is an encore to the unusual way Bart and I met on the short wave radio in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean in July 2009. And it was through this encounter that I was given access to the memoirs of Bart’s grandmother, Tiny Boosman, who was a concentration camp companion of my mother. Gjalt and Jack ordered their copy of “De Mastmakersdochters” and Jack had already read part of it and said very kind words about my efforts. One of Jack Kooistra’s longtime friends, another Frisian, addressed the audience, retired Lieutenant General Ted Meines (92). An amazing personality, he did not need a microphone; and he gave a wonderful testimony of his Faith. He reminded me of my Frisian grandfather.

Well, it looks like the removal of the Teak deck is going to be a much bigger job than I had hoped for. I had hoped that I could bust the teak from the rubber like Detco bedding/glue on top of the 3/8″ marine plywood. But the top and often the second veneer layer come up with the glue. This means that I will most likely have to replace all or the majority of the plywood. And then I discovered that the plywood has been nailed with bronze ring shank nails. And they are practically impossible to pull like a common smooth shank nail and because it is bronze it will then break and makes it even more time consuming to try and extract the remains. I was expecting to be able to pull the teak strips in long lengths but it is very brittle and breaks in tiny fragments and that takes for ever to remove. I hope my luck will turn on the 22nd.