I have not been quite complete in describing the purpose of the kaag. Indeed it was a freighter, but a very special one. As easily can be seen, comparing it with the smalschip I described earlier in this thread, the kaag’s loading capacity was much less than the smalschip’s. Therefore the vessel was especially used for the transport of people. Sailors who had signed for a trip on board of a large vessel, lying off the coast of Texel and Terschelling, were brought there (and after having survived taken back to Amsterdam) by kaags.
Etching by Jan Porcellis
Moreover there was a most effective public transport in Holland in the 17th century, which connected the cities by using water as a highway. Almost every two hours (even at night) kaags left from special quaysides to every city in the province, from where other ships took over to reach locations further on. Depending on the sort of water they sailed, the types differed from simple tow barges, which were towed by a horse, to sailing kaags for crossing lakes and even to narrow and wide ships for crossing the Zuiderzee, thus connecting Holland to Frisia and Groningen up north.
The ferry kaags were slightly adapted by using canvas as covers for the hold, in which people sheltered from the wind and the rain, and a slightly more raking stempost.
Etchings by Reinier Nooms
The model has progressed up to the point where the rigging starts. The steersman’s stand is lowered beneath deck height as a result of the small dimensions of the vessel. There is a tiny compartment for the crew just behind the covered hold and luggage could be stored beneath the hatch in the fore deck.
The rigging was a spritsail with a staysail in front, like the smalschip.
The model so far.
The kaag together with other vessels in the same scale. The smalschip is much bigger. The ship in the background is an 18th century 150 feet long East Indiaman. We can really compare sizes now and see the logic of working in the same scale