The Flying Dutchman’s History

Not to be mistaken for the legendary ghost ship The Flying Dutchman that can never make port, doomed to sail the oceans forever within nautical folklore; The Flying Dutchman today is a renamed tall-ship schooner built in 1903 with the original name of “KW33”.

Built originally as a herring drifter in Amsterdam, the ship carried out many years of voyages. In the early 1900s, the harbours of the Netherlands bustled with the activity of herring drifters—sturdy sailing vessels designed for the once-thriving Dutch herring industry. These traditional wooden boats, known as bomschuiten or logger drifters, would set out to sea under canvas sails, deploying long drift nets at dusk to catch vast shoals of herring. The Netherlands’ coastal towns, particularly around Scheveningen and Vlaardingen, became hubs of maritime trade.

The Flying Dutchman was carefully and sensitively restored in 2003, featuring a full restoration with comfortable cabins and spacious saloon areas, perfect for sailing across the Scottish Hebrides in comfort.