"Kop in de wind" is a collection of stories reflecting the daily life of Dutch skippers at the turn of the 19th into the 2oth century.

The hard and, for most, financially poor life on board ships silmiliar to the Zwaddeis is described in fascinating detail.
All in all, 26 skippers tell of their experiences during this period. Most interesting is how ingenious these men mastered their trade and how they, even under the worst conditions, reached their destination ports - under sail and without motors.

The book is unfortunately available only in the Dutch language, but Skipper Gert will be glad to translate excerpts for you during your voyage on board the Zwadde.

...One Friday, my helper Jan and I were forced into port at Harlington by bad weather. But sooner or later, one wants to go home so we lost patience and put to sea in spite of the weather. We hoisted only the storm' sel aft
of the main mast and raced towards Ameland. We were not halfway there when we noticed a motor ship in distress. We naturally sailed to them but, as we came alongside, we saw absolutely no life aboard the ship.
Later, I heard that a rescue boat had already taken them off ship. As we continued on our course, a huge wave hit us from aft with such force that the small boat we kept hanging off the stern was through up onto the deck with such force that it skittered the entire length of the ship and, at the bow, fell off into the water. The boat
was never seen again. My wife had worried many night and waited, awake, for my return - and when I appeared, everything was Ok again. But I knew how much she hated low water, high winds and poor visibility.

Once, when Jan had broken his leg and could not sail with me, I told my wife she would have to help me aboard ship. Things went along quite well as long as the weather was reasonable. One day, the sea was pretty rough but we could still sail but I just didn't trust the wind at Harlingen. Together with Skipper Bruin out of Hollum, we sailed together on to Ballumer bay. There we went different ways.
By this time, a coal-black night had fallen. I steered the ship to the starboard but we took such a wave over the gunnels that the ship cracked loudly and everything thing on deck shifted. "Hold the rudder," I called to Riek,
"I have to go forward." As I was busy trying make everything fast again, we were surprised by a mighty wave so that I thought the ship was sunk.

I managed to hold fast to the ship and, as I noticed that we had not gone under, I crawed aft as quickly as possible. And then I experienced the most frightening moment of my life: Riek was nowhere to be seen.
"Are you still there?" I called. "Yes," was theanswer, "I am still here. Her voice was as calm as though nothing had happened. She had held firmly on the helm.

As you can see, we both survived...