Originally Excelsior was a sailing barge of the type Aak with a straight stem (steilsteven), the picture above was taken in 1930 shortly after she was built. She had a full sailing rig with lee boards and bowsprit and the owner Mr Klein can be seen on the then open aft deck by the owners cabin.

Her accomodation then comprised of the owners cabin at the stern with a two bunk cabin under the aft deck, the large hold and a crew cabin with two bunks at the bow. When we bought her we found the two foresails and the teak blocks still stowed neatly in the forward crew cabin along with her original paraffin navigation lights, canvas hold covers and much more. It seems that the Kleins never threw anything away.

Her conversion to a motor ship was completed in the late 1940's when the collapsible wheel house was built over the open rear deck and the owners cabin extended to include an engine room. Her cargoes were mainly agricultural produce as can be seen in the layout of her hold which has tightly fitting planks and concrete slips along the sides to stop debris falling into the bilge. Stickers found on the hull sides indicated that her range was the waterways of Northern Holland and into Germany. She was owned and lived on by the Klein family from when she was constructed up until the late 1990's. Her existing name board has her registered in Appingdam and reads 'J Klein Excelsior 109 tons Appingdam'.