The "Jantje" came into service on 17 April 1930 as a fishing cutter.

It was the first steel ship of a Texel fisherman, who moved to Den Helder with his family in 1917. In 1929 - 1930 he had the ship built at a yard in Monnickendam. She was named “De Twee Gebroeders” after the two sons of the skipper. It had approximately the same dimensions as the Jantje before the extension in 2019 (16.45m by 5.90m). Even though it was a motor vessel at the time, the had masts and small sails, although they were much lower than the current ones. With the otter trawl, father, son and a servant fished for plaice, sole and cod. At that time, people did not have much confidence in the diesel engine, and sailing was still possible with the cutter. After eight years of fishing, the 90hp ABC engine was replaced by a 120hp Industry Diesel engine (4 stroke 3 cylinder), and the sailing gear was removed.

In February 1940, “De Twee Gebroeders” ends up in a 1.5 meter thick ice dam, as a result of which the propeller breaks near Callantsoog and the ship is drifting away towards a minefield. The skipper manages to contact a tug just in time and the ship is towed back to Den Helder.

During the British bombing of Den Helder in June 1940, “De Twee Gebroeders” is brought to safety on the backwaters of Wieringen. About one year after, on February 13, 1941, the German Wehrmacht confiscated the ship. In the war years thereafter, the ship probably belonged to the “Rheinflotille” and was used to protect the Zeeland coast from Domburg to Ostend.



As soon as the war is over, the eldest son goes on foot to Germany via the Afsluitdijk in search of his ship. According to the surviving stories, he finds the ship in Emden, with holes in the hull and a machine gun on deck. On November 10th 1945, renovation begins on a shipyard in Haarlem. The holes in the hull are riveted, and the ship is assigned two masts from a German logger by the Rijkswerf in Den Helder. On May 18th 1946, the ship is ready for fishing again and is renamed “Ennie en Appie”.

Until 1952, the cutter was part of the Helderse fishing fleet. In winter it fishes for herring, with a net between two cutters, the so-called span fishing. After that it had different owners, from Urk, Katwijk and IJmuiden. The IJM17 makes headlines when it crashes on the coast near Zandvoort on March 21, 1971, after the engine breaks down in an attempt to pull off another stranded ship.

In 1976 Harry and Marian Müter buy the ship. They've been contemplating for years and want to convert it into a sailing ship. After years of diligent labour, the sailing schooner brig Jantje makes her first day trips in 1986 and sails to the Channel Islands for the first time a year after.