I
wrote this song when I was on vacation with my son Dylan in Friesland
in The North of Holland in 1996. We had sailed across the IJsselmeer
(the former Zuiderzee) to a place called Koudum. It is situated along
an inland shipping route which allows sailing boats with masts to cut
through the province of Friesland right through to the Waddenzee at
Harlingen or Laauwersoog.
We had stumbled on a camping site
location which also had a Marina for passing yachts. There were some
good child-friendly facilities such as an indoor swimming pool and
other sports activities like surfing, sailing etc..
This
particular year we had met the Fennel family from Geleen in Limburg.
They were also moored with their large yacht which they had just
purchased in the Caribbean. I believe it had been damaged by a
hurricane hence they were able to pick it up for a good price. The
boat was in need of serious repair before it could be sailed back to
The Netherlands across the Atlantic. I can remember the Fennel father
telling meone evening that during the repair phase they had found a
rat on board. Rats and wooden boots are not the best combination as
they can eat through the ships wooden hull and cause it to sink. The
father told me how he had fumagated the boat in order to be sure the
rat would not survice. However they never found the rodent and as a
result he was a little worried about the Atlantic crossing.
Everything turned out fine and the boat reached The Netherlands in
one piece.
In the meantime Dylan had become friendly with the
two daughters of the Fenell's and so there was a lot of inter-ship
acitvity.
One evening we were both invited to come over to their
boat for a drink as they were celebrating Jamie's birthday, their
youngest daughter. We didn't have a birthday present for her or the
opportunity to buy one, so I wrote this song. and within about 20
minutes it was conceived and scribbled down out onto a piece of
paper. I took my guitar over and played it for her birthday. Later I
would record it for the second edition of our Singer / Songwriter CD
Lakeside Stories II.
I sent Jamie a copy of the CD when it
came out, however we never ever saw them again.