Alex Goes Sailing

Today our young guest writer Alex de Leeuw shares with us the fun he had sailing this weekend. A few months ago Alex helped us fixed the boat and we finally got to test it out on the water. Since Alex is Dutch I have translated his story into English for him.

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Alex Goes Sailing
“Zijn wij er bijna?”
Vandaag was ik heel vrolijk, want we reden naar de haven…


“Are we there yet?”
Today I was very excited because we drove to the harbour…

Alex Goes Sailing Drive
… zodat wij konden gaan varen met de boot.

… so that we could go sailing with the boat. Yay!

Alex Goes Sailing Boat
Wij gingen het water op en ik was de eerste matroos.

We went out on the water and I was the first mate.

Alex Goes Sailing First Mate
“Dat is heel veel water. Zou er ook vis in zitten?”

“That is a lot of water. I wonder if there are any fish.”

Alex Goes Sailing Fish
“Dag vissen. Zijn jullie daar? Nee?”
Ik heb geen vissen gezien, maar ik weet zeker dat ze er waren.


“Hello fishes. Are you there? No?”
I did not see any fishes but I’m sure they were there.

Alex Goes Sailing Hello
Daarna ben ik in de mast geklommen, zodat ik het hele meer kon zien…

Next I climbed the mast so I could see the whole lake…

Alex Goes Sailing Mast
… en toen heb ik gekeken of ik ook piraten boten kon vinden. Ik denk dat ze zich verstopt hebben.

… and check for pirate ships but I didn’t see any. They must have been hiding too.

Alex Goes Sailing Pirate Ship
Toen gebeurde er iets heel engs. Ik viel bijna in het water.
“Aahh! Laat me niet in het water vallen! Misschien zitten er wel haaien!”


Then something really scary happened. I almost fell in the water.
“Aahh! Don’t let me fall in the water! There might be sharks!”

Alex Goes Sailing Fall
De rest van de reis moest ik dus een reddingsvest aan.

So I had to wear a life jacket for the rest of the trip…

Alex Goes Sailing Life Jacket
… maar ik mocht wel aan het roer.

…but I got to steer the boat.

Alex Goes Sailing Steer
Aan het einde van de dag wees ik de weg naar de haven.
“Deze kant op.”


At the end of the day I guided us back to the harbor.
“It’s this way.”

Alex Goes Sailing Harbor
… en hielp ik met het opruimen van de boot.
“Ik denk dat ik hulp kan gebruiken.”


…and helped tidy up the boat before going home.
“I might need some help.”

Stuart

Stuart is an accident prone Englishman who has been living in the Netherlands since 2001. Even his move to the country was an unintentional accident, the result of replying to a cryptic job advertisement he found one day in a local British magazine. Since then he has learned to love the Dutch (so much so that he married one of them) and now calls the country home. He started the blog Invading Holland in 2006 as a place to share his strange stories of language misunderstandings, cultural confusions and his own accident prone nature.

21 Responses

  1. Jake says:

    Picture 3 is a bit x-rated – although letting your hairy gonads hang out in the cool sea breeze can be quite refreshing, so I don’t blame Alex.

  2. Invader Stu says:

    Jake – Thanks. Now I’ve got Alex asking what the word gonads means every 5 mins while I try to avoid asking. Luckily it is just his tail (no not that one) but I see what you mean.

  3. Jake says:

    Sorry to lower the tone…

  4. Just a Plane Ride Away says:

    Alex is look quite dashing in #5. Love the windswept mane!

  5. Invader Stu says:

    Jake – It’s ok. I was only joking.

    Just a Plane Ride Away – He looks like he belongs at sea doesn’t he :)

  6. A Touch of Dutch blog says:

    These posts are the best! I love him in the car, buckled in, and scared on the boat. Adorable!

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