Like the many metal-hulled yachts he has hand built, Harry Westerdyk is still going strong as he celebrated his 100th birthday on Friday.
The retired Central Coast boatbuilder remarkably still lives independently on his Wamberal acreage accompanied by his dog Mater. An unfinished Dutch canal boat in yard, a retirement project, is a reminder of his miracle powers with metal.
Harry’s yachts were serious business, competing over the years in the Sydney to Hobart, Brisbane to Gladstone, Melbourne to Devonport and other ocean races. His first yacht sold in the 1960s, now known as the Cadenza, is still at sea.
These days Harry’s mind is still sharp and he’s an avid reader, but he has mobility challenges and is restricted to a walker.
HammondCare At Home (HCAH) has provided him with care for nearly five years. HCAH provides a multi-disciplinary team of specialist care workers, nurses and allied health staff (pictured below) to support him six days a week under a Level 4 Home Care Package. One day a week is for personal care needs.
Harry jokes that he wants to keep to himself his secret for long life, but he hints two soft boiled eggs for breakfast, cooked for exactly three minutes, could be part of the formula.
“I don’t want them peeled. I want to cut the egg myself and spoon it all out. That’s how I like it,” Harry said.
Son Robbert Westerdyk, of Terrigal, paid tribute to his father as a devoted family man who could fix anything, especially if it involved metal. Harry’s offspring includes three children, nine grandchildren and 20 great grandchildren with one more on the way.
Robbert said an ongoing family joke is to rib his dad about his longevity. “Come on dad! – you’re making us all wait a bit too long for our inheritance.”
He said the family all feel blessed to see him reach the milestone. “A few years back, we thought we had lost him after a fall in the house,” Robbert said.
Video cameras are now in different rooms so family members can check on him remotely. A duress alarm hangs around his neck.
For the birthday, there were plenty of family including daughter Maryke from Perth. There was a piano singalong of old favourites led by HCAH Specialist Care Worker Darryl Fry, letters of congratulations from King and Queen, Prime Minister and Governor General and, of course, a cake.
Born in Leeuwarden, The Netherlands, in 1924, Harry was jailed by the Nazis during World War II. At one point, the Gestapo subjected him to water torture. In 1953 he left war torn Holland for Burnie, Tasmania with his new bride Wietske, or Vicky and little more than his panel beater skills.
There were three children – Robbert, Maryke, now of Perth, and Harry junior, now of Forrester’s Beach. For a hobby, Harry began building boats and selling them.
In the 1960s, Gosford-based builder Peter Rysdyk, a fellow Dutchman who became one of Australia’s best-known yachtsmen, heard of Harry’s shipbuilding prowess and purchased one.
The red-hulled sloop designed by Frons Maas, named Onya of Gosford, became an entrant in the 1971 Sydney-to-Hobart Race. Today the ship is known as Akoona. The deal changed Harry and his family’s life.
Peter invited Harry to relocate his shipbuilding to a West Gosford site he owned, now a Dan Murphys. It meant his hobby could be a full-time job. Later, the shipbuilding moved to a new site at Johnson St, Tuggerah.
All fabrication was done in the open. He rolled and stretched sheet metal around ribbing to create hulls that were then welded together. Interiors were done separately.
By the time Harry retired in the 1980s, he had fabricated about 30 hulls. Vicky died, aged 79, in 2002. Robbert noted his dad still struggles with her loss.
HCAH Acting General Manager Marcela Carrasco said HCAH has 29 clients aged more than 100 at home. “It’s a wonderful privilege to work with Harry’s family to support Harry’s choice to live in his own home as long as possible,” Ms Carrasco said.