A Zuider Zee Boat
Wings Home to
Spakenburg
Successive invasions by the
sea, from the 9th to the 13th
century, carved the Zuider
Zee into the heart of the
Netherlands. In 1932 the
nation shut off the North Sea
with a 20-mile dike; Zuider
Zee became a lake, IJscl
Meer, ringed with inland
ports such as Spakenburg.
Hundreds of smacks like
this fat sailboat caught her
ring in the salty Zuider Zee.
Today's fresh water yields
mainly flounders and eels.
More than one former
fisherman, working a farm
reclaimed from the waters,
plows where once he cast his
nets.
These women wear
Spakcnburg's starched shoul
der boards, which suggest a
milkmaid's wooden yoke.
The boat, sailing with a fair
breeze, has partly lowered
her sail to slow down and
will shortly drop it and coast
in to the moorings.
Holland Calls Soccer
Its National Game
Captains of boys' school
teams at Scheveningen decide
which goal they will defend
by walking toward each
other heel-to-toe. Last man
who can put a whole foot on
the ground gets his choice.
National Geographic Society
384
