De Vries Lentsch: Amsterdam

As the date on this original bell indicates, the Pious Puffin II was built in Amsterdam in 1947. The bell was one of the items in an auction in Oxford in 2009, handed down in the Cunningham-Reid family.

De Vries Lentsch began in 1878 as a builder and designer of wooden rowing boats, specializing in life boats, particularly after the disaster of the Titanic. Following WWII, they began constructing high class sailing and motor yachts, including the Pious Puffin.

In 1960 the design department split off to form De Vries Lentsch Yacht Designers and Naval Architects, continuing the traditions today in Amsterdam.

In 2009 Jon and Mary Carol ended their cross-Europe bicycle tour in Amsterdam and in their final miles road past the former site of the shipyard at 40-62 Grasweg, on the left side in this photo.