One of the accidents occurred in the Frisian area of the Fluessen. A 52-year-old German drowned when he fell into the water from a flat-bottomed boat for the second time.
The man initially ended up in the water, but was quickly picked up by a passing boat and brought back to his ship. A short time later, he went overboard again for unknown reasons, prompting a search operation by the police and fire brigade. However, the body was only discovered a day later, drifting just outside the fairway.
Off the coast of Hoorn, a charter guest paid with his life when he tried to avoid a gaff that had got out of control. The crew saw the man waving and threw him a life buoy, but were unable to spot him after a turning manoeuvre.
Five Germans escaped without a scratch when their rented yacht collided with the Tjalk "Tijdloos" off Medemblik and sank. According to the German skipper, they only noticed the large flat bottom when it was too late to react.
Two sailors were also extremely lucky when their boat collided with a 265-metre ocean liner on the approach to Ijmuiden. The yacht skipper had taken down the sails, but then had problems starting the engine. Before the sails could be raised again, there was a collision, but only the sports boat's bathing ladder was lost.
Andreas Fritsch
Editor Travel
