To go to sea with your friends on your own ship, making music and living with the wind –
could life be more beautiful? Arnoud Brinkman did what many people would want to do but
wouldn’t dare: risk everything for the dream of freedom. Arnoud, Tirza, Peter, and their young
group of friends set out to see the northern lights, but their ramshackle pilot boat never makes
it to Norway.
Hans Steketee, NRC journalist and sailor, became captivated by the Warnow and its
crew when he read a short message about a missing ship in the North Sea in 2013. In the wake
of the Warnow he travelled from Schiedam to Scotland and tried to unravel what happened
during that crossing. Who was Arnoud? What motivated him?
Can you overload a small boat with dreams? And how, in these modern times, with Big
Brother watching around every corner, is it possible to disappear without a trace?