Pirate Brigantine

This is probably a replica, but, nevertheless, not really new. Most probably, it's only allowed out of the shed for events like Sail de Ruyter. An eye-catcher, that's for sure!

Sail de Ruyter is named after the most famous Dutch admiral to 'sail the seven seas', Michiel de Ruyter, who became famous for his role in the 17th-century Anglo-Dutch wars. I've looked for his biography to help you out, but all the Wiki articles on him are in Dutch. There is one small YouTube film, though, where you can actually hear how the name 'de Ruyter' sounds! The film is in Dutch, too, though. (Of course easy for Dutch blippers). Guess where he was born? Right ... Vlissingen.

I was on time today ... the ships were 'not'. At least, they were supposed to leave between 16.00 and 17.00 but no sign of it yet at almost 18.00, and I knew I couldn't wait all night. Fortunately, though, some of them returned from a local cruise (imagine cruising on a pirate ship!) and sailed right by the crowds when they returned to harbour. This was one of them.

My original blip was a barrel organ player in a boat. Was not completely satisfied with how it turned out, though, so it's gone now. There will be many many more Sail de Ruyter-type events to come, so hopefully more tall ships then, with their sails unfurled.