Rhine River Boat Captain Henk Jan Plaatje Loves Being At The Helm

Rhine River Boat Captain Henk Jan Plaatje

by Heidi Sarna.

A young man in a white uniform appeared with a welcoming smile to help us with our suitcases the moment our taxi arrived at the pier. What excellent service we thought and such a great start to our week-long River Empress Rhine River cruise last July.

A few hours later when I saw him at the reception desk, I asked if he was the hotel manager, this time noticing several stripes on his shoulders. He said no, “I’m the captain.”

Well!

Uniworld Captain Henk Jan Plaatje * Photo: Heidi Sarna

At 32 years old, Rhine River Boat Captain Henk Jan Plaatje manages to come off as both youthfully exuberant and exceedingly mature, no doubt the result of the impressive experience he’s racked up at such a young age.

He’s spent 14 years working on rivers — since 2011 with Uniworld Boutique River Cruises (the last three as captain), three years before that working on the Dutch Red Cross’s J. Henry Dunant providing special river cruises for sick and disabled people, and his first six years on river-bound cargo boats.

Plaatje’s river captain license allows him to sail on all inland waterways in Europe, though he mostly sticks to the Rhine, Danube and Dutch waterways.

Why River Boats?

“What I like about river cruises from a nautical standpoint, is that we don’t need tug boats and we don’t need pilots,” he says, adding “It’s the most amazing feeling to steer the ship through a narrow river using only a joystick.”

With the help of its 360-degree-turning azipod-like propellers and bow thrusters, River Empress can maneuver side-to-side easily, making docking relatively simple, whether tying up to a pier or against another boat, quite common in busy European ports in the summer.

The River Empress. * Photo: Heidi Sarna

“It’s more hands-on and more dynamic than steering large oceangoing cruise ships. If there’s an issue there are just six of us to solve it — two captains, one engineer and three sailors,” Plaatje says.

Navigation requires a combination of monitoring the instruments and of course looking outside at the water, the currents and the weather.

“We also have to feel what the ship is doing — vibration in the wheelhouse, for instance, can indicate that there is a sandbar under the ship,” he says.

One of the 10 locks many Rhine River cruise boats pass through. * Photo: Heidi Sarna

Embracing the Challenges

To Plaatje, the most challenging sections of the Rhine River are the 10 locks that boats must pass through on the Upper Rhine. Another, is the stretch of river between Iffezheim and Mannhein, downstream of the locks.

This part is tricky because boats usually sail through the area at night while tying to keep an eye out for the many “wing dams,” low wall-like barriers built under the water to direct the river’s current towards the center and to minimize erosion of the riverbanks.

Relishing the Pleasures

Technical aspects of Plaatje’s job aside, he loves that he gets to work in such close proximity to the outdoors and the elements.

Like most of the passengers, Plaatje’s favorite section of the river is the scenic Middle Rhine. * Photo: Heidi Sarna

“The view from the wheelhouse is amazing 24-7. It’s wonderful to see how the seasons are changing, from snowy mountains and the first green leaves of spring, to the summer when people are out on the river enjoying their holidays. Of course, the most spectacular is fall when the trees along the river turn into the most beautiful mosaic of reds and browns. Even the storms in the winter are interesting, when it is freezing cold and ice builds up in the smaller canals. A day on the river is never the same as the last; each day has its charm,” Plaatje muses.

A snowy winter day on the Rhine River. * Photo: Henk Jan Plaatje

A River Boat Captain Wears Many Hats

A captain isn’t always “in” the wheelhouse steering the boat though. When there are low bridges, many vessels, including River Empress, have retractable wheelhouses that can be lowered about six feet in just 30 seconds at the touch of a button, making the top of the boat flat so it can pass beneath.

In the temporary absence of a wheelhouse, the captain navigates by sticking his head out of a hatch or by steering from the boat’s wing controls.

The whole riverboat operation is very streamlined compared to a large cruise ship. To make it all run smoothly, crew members wear many hats, whether it’s the captain helping to load passengers’ luggage or a cruise director painting children’s faces on one of the special family cruises each year.

Uniworld will offer 22 such cruises in 2017 for families with children as young as four years old. My family and I sampled one in July and my husband and I loved it; our 13-year-old twin sons wound up really enjoying themselves as well, much to their initial consternation.

Captain Plaatje and some crew holding a knot-tying class on a family cruise. * Photo: Heidi Sarna

“I feel more responsibility with family cruises. I have to be looking everywhere,” Plaatje says.

Being hyper vigilant is part of a captain’s job. So is being sociable. Plaatje loves the intimacy of riverboats and how easy it is to get to know the small contingent of passengers over the course of a week. It’s the same with the crew, a mix of mostly Eastern European men and women.

“We have a crew of 40 and I know them all — their stories and their families,” he says.

Of course there are times the job is difficult, for instance loading and unloading cargo in the rain or navigating during rough storms.

“We have to pay a lot of attention when there are strong winds, as the ship can easily get blown around on the water like a balloon or like an airplane with a strong crosswind,” says Plaatje.

Life is good

Challenges aside, Plaatje knows he has a good thing going.

“I feel very blessed to have my job, and I can truly say that I have never worked an hour in my life,” he says, although in truth, he works four weeks on and four weeks off. It’s an appealing schedule especially compared to captains on big cruise ships who tend to work for much longer stretches.

“All and all, my job feels like a hobby.”

How many people can say that?