Duyfken

Believe it or not, but that is a replica of the Dutch ship which discovered Australia in 1606. I can't begin to imagine how sailing in a ship of that size in the 1600's must have felt. Even a modern vessel tossing about like that would have me puking my guts out. To be out in the middle of the Indian Ocean, with no communications with the outside world, and not knowing quite where you were, must have been mind altering. Its little wonder old works of literature relate that sailors could never settle down to life on shore when they grew old.

The original Dufken was an eight gun, twenty metre long barque, with a displacement of one hundred and ten tons. She was a light warship, or Jacht belonging to the Nederlands. She saw battle against a blokading Portuguese fleet in 1601 under admiral Wolphert Harmensz at Bantam and helped end the Iberian dominance of the Spice Islands. She lived a short life, ending her days on the beach after a severe mauling by three Spanish galleys at Makian Island in 1608.

Official Duyfken homepage
A second video on You Tube