Zandvoort has many stories of stranded boats along the coast. The shrimp trawler IJM22 is the most recent. It will most likely come loose today at high tide. “But that’s what they thought yesterday too,” said Arie Koper of the Oud-Zandvoort Society.
The society investigated the many previous strandings near the village. Sometimes several ships even ‘washed up’ at the same time during heavy, usually nocturnal, storms. Below is an overview of some ‘famous’ examples.
The Heinrich Podeus
The German steamship Heinrich Podeus was caught in a heavy storm on Saturday afternoon, November 25, 1928. The anchors did not hold out for long, causing the high waves to take over the ship. After a lot of sloshing, the ship eventually got stuck on the south side of Zandvoort. A Zandvoort rescue boat took the more than twenty people on board off board.
The cook fell into the water during the rescue operation, but was soon able to climb back on board. A Russian dog also returned to the coast with the Zandvoort rescue boat. Later, a notice appeared in the local newspaper seeking a new owner for the dog.
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The ship could only return to sea after eight (!) months. Journalists were not welcome on board. Just like with the fishing cutter, the stranded vessel attracted a lot of public to Zandvoort.
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The Alba
One of the largest ships that ever beached at Zandvoort was the English steamship Alba, in January 1905. With a rather sulky captain and a lot of corn on board. The stubborn captain turned down the help of rescue boats from IJmuiden, because he first wanted to try to get away himself at high tide. That failed. The ship, which was moored south of Zandvoort, then got caught in a storm. The crew then became a bit short of breath and used the flags as a distress signal.
Then the lifeboats, from Noordwijk and Zandvoort, came that way again. Dozens of passengers were rescued from board. The broken mast has been given a place in the Reformed Church of Zandvoort, as a memento of the heroic actions of the Zandvoort rescuers.
Saint Nicholas
No, it was not the Goed Heiligeman that ran aground with his steamboat, but the ship was called the Sint Nicolaas. This happened on January 1, 1880, at post 70, where Tijn Akersloot restaurant is now located. So that is more or less the same location as where the stranded shrimp cutter is now located.
The Sint Nicolaas had 7,000 barrels of petroleum on board and was therefore nicknamed ‘The Oilman’. A day after the ship beached, it caught fire. What followed was a huge blaze. All shipwrecked people disembarked safely with the help of the North and South Holland Rescue Company. The remains of St Nicholas can still be seen when the tide is out.
Painting in Zandvoorts Museum
Coincidentally, there is now a painting of the exploded ship in the Zandvoorts Museum. The exhibition can be visited until the beginning of January.
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‘Sometimes the tide is with you, sometimes the tide is against you’
Between 1825 and 1928, 37 ships beached at Zandvoort and 288 people were rescued, including a single kitten or dog. In all those years, a lot of people always came to the beach. Zandvoort resident Arie Koper is therefore not very impressed by the stuck cutter IJM22. “It is rife here with stranded boats.”
“My brother and I took pictures of a stuck cutter in the 1960s. This is now a bit of a special case. I find it especially annoying for the skipper, because some of his equipment was also stolen. So it is not always possible to get a boat back to sea immediately. Sometimes the tide is in favor, sometimes the tide is against you.” Perhaps the tide will finally turn for the IJM22 this afternoon.