The Flying Dutchman
Probaly the most famous old story from the Netherlands, is the one about ‘The Flying Dutchman’, the ghostship that sometimes appears in a heavy storm, sailing against the wind, bring bad luck to all who saw it…The Flying Dutchman even appeared, in a slightly mutated version, in Pirates of the Caribbean II and is used for almost anything Dutch that can fly or not fly (for example: one nickname for Dennis Bergkamp was the non-flying Dutchman because of his fear to fly). Also the name is used for some attractions in Dutch themeparks, some Dutch space-sonde ( I never knew we had…), a pigeons-foundation, and so on. But…where does this flying Dutchman come from?? For those of you who are interested such old stories like I do, I will write it in my blog, inspired by Meryn Roodbeen’s book ‘Most beautiful Dutch stories and myths’,added with some extra information I found on the net.
A heavy storm was blowing on the coast already for this, making it impossible for any ship to sail away from Terneuzen, an old city in the South-West of the Netherlands. This would annoy captain Willem van der Decken beyong imagination. The ambitous captain had the reputation of being very brave, but also to be extremely stubborn; he used to reach anything he wanted. Right now he wanted to start his travel to the Indies (now Indonesia), to get spices there to sell to the rich Dutch merchants of Amsterdam. He waited for several days already, but the storm would not seize. Finally Willem van der Decken cried in anger to his crew: We will sail tomorrow, storm or no storm!! Noone would dare to discuss this decisions with him…Did he not travel to Java in Indonesia in only 3 months, while any other captain would take at least 6 months for such a travel?? "I will sail tomorrow", the captain cried again against the first mate. Like he wanted to challenge him, but he was challenging the world and God…
" But sir, tomorrow is first Eastern day…the day of Christ!!" On this holy day, no ship ever would leave harbour. "I sail whenever I want", the captain cried in anger. According to some he even threw a bible in the see to show noone would stop him, neither human or Divine…
The next day, the storm even had increased, but the captain had made his decision. " We will sail!!", he cried, and once again: " We will sail!!". His men cried in joy, because they all were very proud of their captain. Their proudness conquered the voice inside them, telling them not to go…Than, the eastern clocks started ringing. Christ had raised…Some people on the shore asked him not to sail…not on this day…But the captian would not listen. "I will sail"!!!
The crew became silent…how to sail against this heavy storm?? Was it not impossible??"I will sail!!", their captain shouted again. The man felt proud with their captain, was a man he was…Than they heard him shout…"I will sail, even if God would make me sail until eternity!!". After he said that, the sails were released and the ship sailed away….against the wind!! The people ashore looked with their mouths wide open…
The ship would never return to the Netherlands, and never would arrive in Indonesia anymore. For many years, noone would hear anything about the ship anymore, and the people assumed it would have sunken. That happened frequently in those years, and taking into consideration the strange things when the ship sailed away…
But than, years later, a ship was sailing around Kaap de Goede Hoop, at the South of Africa. The place was famous for its terrible storm, and also now the weather was stormy…Suddenly, a ship passed by, an old model, not used anymore in these days…It was having sails as red as blood, a Dutch wooden lion at the front and, most bizar…was sailing against the wind…Bad luck came to the ship who encountered the Flying Dutchman; it sank 2 days later…
The Flying Dutchman was seen many more times, often bring bad luck to the ships it met. Some saw the captain standing behind his weel, long and skinny, with wait long hairs, and no eyes in his face, apparently ‘bitten by Death"…The ship sometimes would sail through other ships, without any clash…The most remarkable claim came from Prince George (the later King George the 5th), who saw the ship close to Australia.
Once in seven years, the ship and its captain would have some rest. The ship would arrive in some harbour, and bring letters for people already passed away for hundred years…Also, it has been told that every 100 years the captain is allowed to come ashore and take a wife with him.
Some say the Flying Dutchman still sails, but in Wagner’s famous romantic opera ‘ Der fliegende Hollander’ (German for the flying Dutchman), the captain is save by the love of a young girl. The curse of him sailing around the sea can only be broken when a lady will swear him eternal faith; A young girl called Senta wants to save him, also to escape from the social environment that is making her unhappy. She jumps in the sea and from the moment the Flying Dutchman dissapears in the waves forever too. Over death she liberates the captain of his doom; love triumphs. 
