Sea History 45 (1987): 40–43.
Two days of storms in the North Sea held us in Amsterdam. Gusts of wind as high as fifty knots blew plumes of spray off the IJ across de Ruijterkade, the road that runs along the river. Low puffy clouds raced across the sky and the sporadic hard-driving drizzle leaked through every chink in our foul weather gear as we walked in the city. The closest comfort was the Café de Zeilvaart (“seafaring café”) directly across the road from where we lay. On the street outside the café an old leeboard sloop undergoing restoration was lying on its beam ends and inside piles of pamphlets describing this and other projects were stacked neatly on the window sills.More