THE WARNOW | THE LIGHTSEEKERS

The Warnow left Schiedam's Voorhaven on March 17, 2013 with eight musicians. Shortly after crossing to England, the ship got into trouble during a storm off the English coast near Whitby. Lifeboats towed the ship to Middlesbrough, an action in which one lifeboat suffered significant damage. The Warnow remained there for two weeks. The crew was able to catch their breath, renovate the ship and earn some extra money by making music in pubs. After a refurbishment, the ship leaves for Scotland two weeks later. Five crew members disembarked at Stonehaven. The three others set sail for Norway on April 15 to see the Northern Lights, navigating on an iPhone onto which a map of Norwegian waters was downloaded two days after departure. That is also the last traceable trace of the ship. The Warnow has not been heard from since April 17.

Daniel Blokker was personal friends with some of the passengers. He was touched by the fact that three of them found their sailor's grave at the bottom of the North Sea and, together with Jeroen Wessels, wrote THE LIGHTSEEKERS, a personal story that runs parallel to the creation of the book The Warnow.

THE LIGHTSEEKERS

(music: Wessels, lyrics: Blokker)

STORMS ARE RAGING

IN EARLY SPRING

THE BAND IS PLAYING

WHILE MY SISTER SINGS

WE LEFT THE SEASICK

ON THE ENGLISH SHORE

WE COULDN’T RESIST

WE WERE HUNGRY FOR MORE

BEYOND THE POINT OF NO RETURN

AND THE WIND IS BLOWING

WHILE THE SAXOPHONE PLAYS

AND THE WINE IS FLOWING

IN THE POURING RAIN

A RIPTIDE’S RAGING

AND IT’S A LONG LONG LONG WAY

THE OLD FIRM DISBANDED

AND THE DOGS HAVE GONE ASTRAY

NOTHING KEEPS US HERE

THERE’S NO ONE LEFT TO PLAY

NORTHERN LIGHTS KEEP CALLING

IT’S TIME TO SAIL AWAY

DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE HOWLING WIND

AND THE WIND IS BLOWING

WHILE THE SAXOPHONE PLAYS

AND THE WINE IS FLOWING

IN THE POURING RAIN

A RIPTIDE’S RAGING

BUT THERE AIN’T NO LIGHT AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA

Journalist and sailor Hans Steketee was working in the editorial office of the NRC when an ominous message arrived on April 29, 2013: 'Dutch sailing boat missing'. “I was a reporter on duty and my editor-in-chief asked me to check the message,” says Steketee. That message – on teletext – read in full: “Dutch sailing boat missing. The Aberdeen coast guard raises the alarm about a Dutch sailing boat with three Dutch people on board. The ship left Stonehaven in Scotland for Norway two weeks ago, but never arrived at its destination.” For Steketee, this is the beginning of a search for answers surrounding the mysterious disappearance of 'the Warnow', with skipper Arnoud Brinkman, his girlfriend Tirza Smit and the musician Peter van Liere from Middelburg on board. Six years later, that search led to the writing of the book De Warnow. Een schip, een man, een droom (The Warnow. A ship, a man, a dream).

Arnoud is an intelligent boy from a good family. But at school he is rebellious and addicted to drugs for years. Studying (chemistry, musicology) is not for him. He wants to make music and plays in bands as a street musician and saxophonist. The music brings him to the friends with whom he will make the journey on the 'Warnow'. In 2005, Arnoud fell in love with the Warnow, which was moored in a shipyard near Rotterdam. The 15-meter-long East German pilot boat, named after the river that runs through Rostock, is ready for demolition. Arnoud buys the boat and lives on it in the Schiedam harbor.

The Warnow is not built for sailing at sea, but for motoring in coastal waters and harbors. That is why Arnoud builds a wheelhouse and mast himself, consisting of a high crane with a large red-brown sail. The steel boat is far from stable. The round bottom has no keel. Moreover, the mast is so heavy that it is impossible to pull the boat upright if it capsizes.

Two years later, Arnoud met Tirza through an occasional connection from a mutual friend. The 'cheeky' Tirza seduces the 'shy' Arnoud. They start living together on the boat. Her twin sister Dana also lived there for a while. Despite the age difference, Arnoud and Tirza complement each other well. Tirza gives ballet lessons and works behind the bar, Arnoud is a welder on inland vessels in the port. Their dream: travel by boat and earn money with music along the way. Enjoying life to the fullest with minimal resources, traveling the world on a dime, was their motto.

Arnoud has another dream: in the pub he proposes to sail across the North Sea to the Northern Lights with the Warnow. He had read in a newspaper article that the Northern Lights were good for your soul. He wants to sail to Norway with his old pilot boat via Scotland to see the Northern Lights. Despite the doubts about safety and Arnoud's lack of skippering experience, no one is slamming on the brakes. Steketee: “Arnoud had charisma and was an enthusiastic storyteller. The others admired his bravado and careless way of life.”

In 2013, he and seven friends boarded to begin their adventure. After nearly shipwrecking off the coast of England, five crew members disembark. Arnoud decides to continue the journey together with Tirza and Peter and cross to Norway. They never arrived there.

Steketee: “I initially thought, given the location, that it was a large sailing yacht with crew members who could sail well. But that image turned out to be wrong. It was not a sailboat, but a converted tugboat from the former GDR.”

In the period after the disappearance of the Warnow, Steketee writes a number of articles for his newspaper, in which he tries to find all kinds of answers to questions that concern him, but also the family and friends of the crew. He gradually notices that he is becoming more and more involved and cannot let go of the story. “I wanted to know more about Arnoud and the group of friends. Where did the plan come from? Why did they want to make such a trip with such a boat, which was old and not seaworthy?"

At a certain point Steketee decides to write a book about the disappearance of the Warnow. “I especially wanted to tell the story about Arnoud, the crew and the journey that was never completed.” His research lasts six years. He speaks with relatives, passengers, friends and eyewitnesses and visits all ports where the Warnow has been.

Steketee even travels to Norway to see the Northern Lights for his book. “That was the purpose of the trip. Maybe just a dream goal, but it was a nice idea. I wanted to fulfill this idea instead of Arnoud, Tirza and Peter. And I have to say, it was, in a word, beautiful. I am glad I was there and was able to see this spectacle.”

Steketee sees the book as the conclusion of a chapter. According to him, the only reason to pick up the story is when something is found. “If the ship ever turns up, I think I will have to come back to this story. But as it is now, this has to be it.”

Sources:
Hans Steketee, Omroep Zeeland, De Stentor.

De Warnow: Reis naar het noorderlicht (The Warnow: Journey to the Northern Lights)

A film about the Warnow's journey was released in October 2023. What has remained out of the publicity until now is the fact that the passengers recorded quite a lot on video during the first part of the journey, with the aim of later making a documentary of this and generating some income from it. With these home videos and interviews with survivors and other witnesses, filmmaker Wim van der Aar reconstructs the journey that forever changed the lives of the five returnees and we follow their search for closure.