Jachthaven Achterbos: A Decade-Long Success Story
Nestled in Vinkeveen, Jachthaven Achterbos is a marina with a rich history and a clear mission. In 2013, I was asked to
creating the website that would serve as the digital face of Jachthaven Achterbos. The goal was simple yet impactful: to
showcase boats for sale, provide information about maintenance services, and highlight the availability of boat parking options
for both summer and winter seasons.
The Challenge
From the start, it was clear that the website needed to be more than just a static online presence. It had to be dynamic,
user-friendly, and informative enough to attract potential buyers, maintenance clients, and seasonal parkers. The challenge was
twofold: first, to adapt an existing WordPress theme into a Drupal framework while maintaining its aesthetic appeal; second, to
ensure the website could effectively serve its intended purpose without compromising on functionality or performance.
Theming Adaptation & Drupal Migration
The theming for the website was initially created in WordPress, but I took on the challenge of adapting it seamlessly into a
Drupal framework. This involved:
- Design Preservation: Ensuring that the visual style and layout from the original design were preserved while optimizing
for performance.
- Custom Module Development: Building custom modules to handle boat availability for sale, maintenance scheduling, and
seasonal parking options.
- Responsive Design: Making sure the website was fully responsive and mobile-friendly, providing a smooth experience across
all devices.
Server Setup & Automation
To ensure reliability and scalability, I also set up the server infrastructure from scratch. A key aspect of this setup was
implementing an OTAP (Over-The-Air Provisioning) strategy for automatic deployments. This involved:
- Continuous Integration: Setting up a CI/CD pipeline to automate testing and deployment processes.
- Deployment Pipeline: Creating a streamlined workflow that ensured code changes were pushed to production with minimal
downtime.
- Rollback Mechanisms: Implementing safeguards to quickly revert changes if any issues arose, ensuring the website remained
stable at all times.
This OTAP strategy not only reduced manual intervention but also minimised
errors and increased efficiency, allowing Jachthaven
Achterbos to focus on their core business while the website ran smoothly in the background. Over time, the website has proven
its effectiveness, becoming a cornerstone of the marina’s digital presence.
As seen in the screenshot below the uptime of the website is 100% in the last 30 days and has fast response times.
In fact the last downtime was somewhere in January which is 3 months ago and that was scheduled maintance.
Longevity as an Outcome
While ensuring longevity wasn’t the primary goal at the outset, it has been a remarkable outcome. Over the past decade, I’ve
been involved in regular updates, security patches, and feature enhancements to keep the website running smoothly. Drupal’s
robust architecture has played a key role in ensuring the site remains stable, secure, and up-to-date with modern web standards.
Reflections on the Project
Looking back, this project was a great learning experience and a testament to the power ofDrupal’s flexibility and scalability.
Jachthaven Achterbos continues to rely on the website as its primary digital presence, and it’s rewarding to see that my work
has had such a lasting impact.
This project also taught me the importance of thorough planning, adaptability, and maintaining strong relationships with
clients—key lessons I continue to apply in all my freelance projects.