A short story

Short stories aren't quite my thing, but some time ago I had a request for one. The Andijk marina, where I keep my boat, asked for a short story to put into their 2024 magazine. Since they sell quite a number of my books in their yachting shop, I could hardly refuse. Several of their people play a role in the (fictitious) tale. The story was translated into German as well, by someone who does the translation every year.

The IJsselmeer is the huge inland sea created by the sea barrier between the provinces of North Holland and Friesland. It is about 20 miles across and looks deceptively like a large lake, but in a wind, a short vicious four foot sea is whipped up in no time. Anything can happen in such conditions. It should be added that Jan and Bas, who work at the marina, are volunteers on the Andijk lifeboat, which isn't there for nothing.

***

 

A LEE SHORE

The man who walked his dog along the windsurfing beach on the western IJsselmeer shore, near the nature reserve between Andijk and Medemblik early on Saturday morning, saw a white and red object lying on the beach. It turned out to be a lifebuoy, an old-fashioned white and red one, a length of faded and frayed line attached, marked with the words Driftwood - Hindeloopen. Probably blown off a boat, he thought. He whistled to call his dog and didn’t pay further attention to it, until after returning home he turned on the news and heard that a small sailboat was missing with the name Driftwood, with Hindeloopen as its home port. He decided to retrieve the buoy and take to the nearby marina of Andijk. They might know what to do with it.

The harbour shop was open and Corine, who was busy unpacking the boxes with spares delivered the day before, took the buoy. ‘At the windsurfing beach? Funny there should be a buoy out there. It must have washed up last night, it has blown quite a bit. But thanks for the effort, I will ask our boys if they can shed any light upon it.’

Over coffee that morning she showed the buoy to Jan and Bas, the marina attendants. ‘A passer-by brought this in. He said he found it at the windsurfing beach.’

the picturesque little town of Hindeloopen, Friesland

 

They were yawning a bit, bleary-eyed after the lifeboat call the previous night. They had been out until well after midnight following a sailboat being reported missing, together with the Hindeloopen and Enkhuizen lifeboats. ‘Driftwood? I think it must be off that boat we searched for,’ Jan said. ‘They sent a helicopter this morning to take another look, but because of the rain they can't see much now.’ 

The missing boat had set off the previous afternoon in good weather, an old red daysailer about six or seven metres in length. By evening the northeast wind had increased to a force six, followed by rain showers from the south. The owner of the boat had not come home. He did not answer his phone and being worried, his wife had called the harbourmaster in Hindeloopen. The harbourmaster finally called in the Coast Guard, who alarmed the lifeboat service. The lifeboats had been searching in the rain all evening, and finally after dark had continued using radar and searchlights, but to no avail.

The rain drew away during the day. A weak sun came out and the search was continued with the helicopter, but still without any luck. The boat was and remained missing. On VHF channel 1, all pleasure craft were asked to look for red wreckage, or perhaps a mast protruding from the water. 

rough conditions on the IJsselmeer

 

That afternoon, children walked to the watch tower over the muddy forest path skirting the nature reserve next to the windsurfing beach. Half hidden between the trees across the shallow creek next to the path something red was visible. Something was pointing up from the bushes that looked like a mast with white tatters attached.

Shortly afterwards, the harbour office was called by the police asking if they were missing a boat. A red wreck had been spotted in the bird reserve next to the windsurfing beach, but they could not reach it.

‘A red wreck?’ asked Carola, the manager, who took the call from the police. ‘Last night a red boat went missing from Hindeloopen, but that is faraway across the water, twenty miles from here. I will ask our people to take a look.’ She called Bas, who was busy with the crane, launching a boat. ‘Bas, the police called saying that a red boat was sighted in the nature reserve next to the windsurfing beach. Is there a red boat missing from the harbour?’

‘I think everyone is accounted for. A red boat, you said? Maybe it's that boat we searched for yesterday.’

‘Isn't that miles away in Friesland? But you can never know, and the boat seems to have quite a bit of damage. The police can't get there. Can you take a look, because it doesn't belong there anyway.’

‘Is there nobody on board?’

‘They didn't think so.’ 

The windsurfing beach and approximate position of the wreck in the nature reserve. The marina is about a mile away to the southeast. Photo edited from a source on the marina website.

 

Bas and Jan took the harbour launch and motored past the windsurfing beach to the nature reserve. With some difficulty they crossed the shallows partly blocking the entrance, and after some cruising back and forth among the loudly protesting geese, they found a red boat with torn sails entangled in the branches of the willows standing halfway in the water there. On the stern was the name Driftwood. The cabin entrance was open and inside they saw a man lying on his stomach, on the cabin floor.

They looked at each other hollow-eyed. ‘That doesn't look good.’

‘I will bring the boat alongside so you can step on board.’

Jan stepped into the gangway of the damaged boat and dived inside. He checked the man and felt a weak pulse. He was unconscious and icy cold to the touch, apparently hypothermic. He put his head out the companionway. ‘Bas, he is still alive. Will you call 112 for an ambulance at the windsurfing beach? Then we will see if we can get him out.’

After the phone call, Bas tied up the boat alongside and got on board. Apart from a bad head wound, the man seemed to have no other injuries, so joining forces they turned him on his back and moved him outside to the cockpit floor. They had quite a job to lift him from there into the launch, but in the end they succeeded and took the patient to the windsurfing beach, where the police and an ambulance were waiting. 

the 'Vooroever' nature reserve seen from the IJsselmeer

 

Two weeks later a tall lean man with a bandage around his head appeared in the harbour shop, with a bunch of flowers and a large cream cake. He was the owner of the boat that had been found in the nature reserve, and now had been salvaged and put on shore behind the harbour office.

Over coffee, he told that he had been caught by the strong wind and received a blow from the boom while reefing the mainsail. He could not explain how he had ended up in the nature reserve on the lee shore, right across a twenty mile stretch of open water. Apparently the boat had found its own way in the darkness. The centreboard must have been pushed up, allowing the boat to be set over the shallows and finish up between the trees lining the creek.

Remarkable things can happen on the IJsselmeer.

Ted Polet 2023