Waterlelie

In May 1950, the BBC chartered the motor yacht Waterlelie—together with her sister ship Zonnebloem—for a series of radio broadcasts about life on the water in the Netherlands. During the week from Saturday 20 to Friday 27 May, Waterlelie, with skipper Jo van Laar, sailed from Leiden to Aalsmeer via De Kaag, Haarlem and Amsterdam, continuing on towards Hoorn.

On board were well-known BBC figures such as Georgie Henschel, Wynford Vaughan Thomas and director Livesey, who reported daily to British listeners. From Hilversum, five 15-minute episodes were broadcast each day, sharing insights into Dutch water culture.

For De Vries and the N.B.O.A., the broadcasts offered an excellent publicity opportunity, with the charter of Waterlelie generating two payments of ƒ 350.79—quite a notable sum at the time.