Captain A. Christiaans

 

…A captain who could sail well, but also had bravura.

With this ‘old man’ I sailed a few times on the ‘Utrecht’.
Often you could see that he was on board.

‘Utrecht’.

 

He usually had the working boom on the rear mast set to 45 degrees.
That was more beautiful and it gave, according to him, a more powerful appearance.
He also liked to manoeuvre from the scaffold if the weather conditions allowed it, of course.

 

 

One time we sailed against the sea in ‘The Channel’.
There was a real storm.
I was busy updating my logbook of operations.
A big blow and I ran out of my cabin and looked at the stairs.
Over it, like a waterfall, the seawater flowed down.
A window had been smashed out by a wave.
All that water washed down now.

 

 

I went upstairs and look over for the damage.
On the bridge I found distraught people.
The radar was still smoking and the glass was everywhere.
Also the signal wiring on the front mast was torn loose and sparked.
Soon they turned around and made a makeshift repair.

Captain A. Christiaans.

 

Once back in the Mountsbay it was decided to mount blind plates for the windows.

 

The blind plates and A. Christiaans on the bridge wing.

 

Since that time the ‘Utrecht’ has been equipped with these blind plates with slots, just like a tank.
That was the ‘Utrecht’ also a bit.

 

Takeover of tow.

 

Indestructible, but with awe for the power of the sea.

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