Bee On 1 I saw two rescuers at the beginning of this week. Volunteers of the Royal Dutch Rescue Society. At the EO they followed the men and women of the KNRM for a year, and that has become a television series, Rescuers at sea. Tuesday night was the first episode. Well not something I would naturally immediately tune into and the pitch at Op1 didn’t go well either. The emphasis was on the voluntary nature of the rescuers. In addition to their full-time jobs, they can be called up day and night in the event of calamities at sea, and they receive no compensation for this, just like the KNRM does not receive any subsidy or government support, but relies on gifts and donations. Presenters Natasja Gibbs and Nadia Moussaid could stand upside down and ask again why these rescuers are risking their lives to save, much more than “it’s a calling” or “it’s an adventure” didn’t come up.
Rescuers should not be seated at the table in their clothes. Push them into a boat at wind force 12. What they say. Or, within ten minutes of their beeper going off, have them jump into the boat with six men for a “prio one.” Man in trouble. A man jumped after his dog at the pier in IJmuiden. Rescuer Donny ties on his lifeline, jumps into the water and is yelled after: “Male first, then dog.” Little dog bobs high and dry on a surfboard. Two surfers swum to keep his boss afloat. Man is brought on board and ‘laid on the flap’. “Sir is not going very well”, rescuer one determines. “Man doesn’t do it anymore,” confirms another. The third checks and roars into the man’s pale face: “Sir, are you doing it?” Mister didn’t do it again until eleven o’clock in the evening, in the hospital. The seawater he jumped into was not only very cold – his body temperature was only thirty degrees – there were also quite a few rocks below the surface.
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“This was a good one,” rescuer Donny says after the action. Man saved, animal saved. That’s what he does it for, just like his father, his grandfather and his brother Maikel. We also see the brothers in their man caves in the shed in the backyard. All sailor paraphernalia are provided. Barbecue. Gigantic screen. Deep fryer for frying a fish. Compass on the wall. Skipper’s barometer. ship bell. But don’t expect to be able to talk about the crew rescue of a cargo ship during Storm Corrie in January. Wind force 11, waves over ten meters. Of those waves they say: “You go up, down and up.” About whether they were afraid: “Nothing can happen, in principle.” Fortunately, we have the images. Two hours on a roller coaster with 140 kilometers to the ship. Arrival on site. Coastguard over the VHF radio: everything under control. They can return. Two hours bouncing back. “Quite a ride.”
The sea brings dangers and benefits, the king knows that too. He gave an old piece of rope back to the Swedish king during the state visit on Tuesday. The traveling reporter of the NOS News said that the rope belongs to a ship’s bell, which was surfaced from a Swedish ship that sank off the coast of Den Helder in 1781. Sweden got bell and rope back, but if I were the Swedish king, I’d want the boat by the bell. Sweden is fishing for a multi-billion dollar order from the Dutch navy. We seem to need new submarines and there is a Swedish-Dutch company that would like to make them. The NOS Journaal made time for a free pitch from the boss of Damen Shipyards. No, the submarines are not officially on the program, but on Wednesday the boat builder will be at the king’s table. Ah well, they are the ropes and the benefits, we the dangers and the rescuers.