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. VallyP says:

    Yay, Alex! You looked so cool there up the mast and at the helm! What a good sport you are! I’m really glad you didn’t become shark food…that would have been a sad ending to your tail…oops, I mean tale….

  2. Alison says:

    That was a close call! Safety first, Alex! Anyway, you look good in orange.

  3. Wendy says:

    Alison and VallyP…. It’s only a rather tatty old doll! It’s not REAL. Stu has fooled you again. Tut!

    Stu…. You should know better at your age; playing with dolls.

  4. Alex de Leeuw says:

    VallyP – Thank you VallyP. I am very happy I did not fall in either. It would have been very cold as well.

    Alison – Thank you Alison. I have learned my lesion now. I will always be careful now so I don’t get eaten by sharks.

    Wendy – Why would you say such a mean thing?

  5. Invader Stu says:

    I think you hurt Alex’s feelings Wendy

  6. Wendy says:

    “Why would you say such a mean thing? – Alex.

    Because when I was a child my father forbid me to play with “silly stuffed toys”, so he gave me a “Junior Hangmans Kit” instead.

    By the way I saw 4 Alex’s in a charity shop in in Winchester High Street today. Relations of yours?

    Tut! Listen to me, talking to a rag doll lion!

  7. Ryan says:

    Be careful when climbing up that mast, it would take hours for your fur to dry out.

  8. Alex de Leeuw says:

    Wendy – They could have been. I have a big family.

    Ryan – It’s ok. I’ve been in the dryer before. It’s kind of fun. But I will be careful. I still don’t really want to fall in the water.

  9. Keith says:

    Alex: Take no notice of Wendy’s remarks, she’s just trying to wind you up. She’s not a bad girl really, she looks after me and she’s got a heart of gold (she tells me!).

    She loves soft cuddly toys, boats and fast cars, and she’s gonna kill me when she reads this!

  10. Melissa says:

    My 2 yr old thoroughly enjoyed this post :-) And what a fabulous boat!

  11. Alex de Leeuw says:

    Keith – I hope she does not

    Melissa – I’m glade he liked it :)

  12. Dragonlady says:

    Its great to see you again Alex, I think I would have to wear a life jacket as well, I don’t mind the sharks but I can’t swim.

  13. Alex de Leeuw says:

    I think I will wear a life jacket from now on as well… maybe even on dry land

  14. French Bean says:

    How adorable! ^.^

    -French Bean

  15. Jill @ Teenage Bride says:

    hahahaha genious, simply genious.

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