What is "tjotter"

A tjotter is the smallest of the open round Fries sailing ships with a length on the stern exceeding 5.4 m.

The ship has no roundwood and it has a wide helm. The head of the rudder is usually decorated with a sculpture, sometimes in the form of a bird.

Originally, the tjotter was used in Friesland for small-scale transport of goods and people at a time that there were only few roads. A tjotter with the size 4.8 m x 2.4 m in Friesland is called a "fjouwer-yacht". At the wharf of Pier Piersma, fjouwer-yachts are still commonly built.

Zuiderzee museum tjotter- hou moed 1887.jpg|Hou Moed from the stern Zuiderzee museum tjotter hou moed 1887.jpg|Carved date 1887