A true story.

A merchant’s ship beaches in the early morning hours of June 01, 1773, near a 65-year-old man’s house and he and his horse find themselves fighting the vicious storm to rescue people before the ship disintegrates. 

SYNOPSIS:

Old corporal Wolraad Woltemade stationed in a lonely outpost in the Cape of Good Hope is being kept awake by a hurricane strength storm, so he writes a letter to his wife who lives in Lower Saxony. He complains about politics, shares his and his horse’s escapades, and tells her about the love ritual of his fellow game-ranger, the San man N!Xau.

At that very moment, and unbeknownst to him, a VOC ship anchored in the bay, the Jonge Thomas, is in grave danger. Captain De Lamaire realizes that they are going to beach and calls an emergency meeting with the officers. He has a desperate plan to save as many of the 203 souls, as well as minimize damage to the ship, and preserve the wages they were supposed to deliver to the personnel in Asia.

His desperate plan works. For a while. They beach where they intended to, but fate throws in a twist. The ship turns sideways, parallel to the shore, but too far from it, and the sea currents are too strong for anyone to swim out. They are as doomed as if they crashed on the rocks.

As the ship begins to fall apart, life winks out in the blink of an eye and no-one knows who is going to be next, and one of the 10-year-old orphans who work for wages for their orphanage, is worried about the chickens drowning. The chief navigator, Benjamin van der Spek, with the surviving crew assess the ship. The cannoneers continue to signal their co-ordinates in the hope of help arriving.

Wolraad is woken from fitful dreams of his disturbing war-time experiences by one of his soldiers who has heard the distress signal, and it sounds close to their outpost. Wolraad realizes that his son, a wagon driver for the Castle, will be dispatched to the wreck along with soldiers, so he decides to take food and wine to keep him warm.

Just as Wolraad arrives on his horse, Vonk, on the beach where the wreck is and gives the food and wine to Christiaan, two soldiers are washed off the ship. Wolraad realizes that the people on board cannot swim to land. And time is running out fast. He charges into the sea to rescue them.

Back on the beach, the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie soldiers are carrying their orders out diligently, which are to protect the cargo at all costs, including erecting a gibbet to hang those who trespass, and shoot desperate scavengers if they try to flee. In the process they stop a physician, Professor Thunberg (MD), from tending to those few who have washed out alive. He is outraged but helpless.

Unaware of the politics on the beach, Wolraad goes into the raging sea again.

Onboard, two cannoneers realize that he is not a ghost, and they jump overboard.

The third watch and cook, on their way to the sickbay, see them and realize what is happening.

They tell everyone in sickbay. Benjamin recalls a case where people on a wreck managed to get a rope to land and everyone on board got to safety by pulling themselves to shore. An old, drunk sailor points out that, that does not mean much for those in sickbay who are all injured, including Benjamin, but everyone agrees it is worth it to try. One of the cannoneers, Anthonij, offers to get the rope to the man on the horse, if he does come back. Warnings that the ship is about to break in two, is spread. Sailors and soldiers rush to the ends, and a lot of them are forced to go above deck to avoid getting trampled.

Anthonij finds a rope and when Wolraad gets close enough, he jumps, but he loses his hold on the rope. Another man sees Anthonij, and then Wolraad, and jumps in too. Both get hold Wolraad and Vonk and are pulled out. On the beach Anthonij tries to get Wolraad to take a rope to the ship, but the craftsman who was rescued with him, points out that no-one on board has any idea what he would be talking about. Wolraad must just keep doing what he is doing because he is their only hope. Wolraad and Vonk return to the sea but as they approach the ship, the windows of the captain’s cabin are smashed by the sea, and the ship breaks in two!

Wolraad turns Vonk around to get out of the way. People are swept past them, and he grabs whoever is alive and pull them out as quickly as possible, but the orphan boy and his friend are washed away.

Wolraad and Vonk are exhausted after 7 trips, and they stop for a breather.

On board the wreck, realization that they are out of time is a bitter pill to swallow.

On shore, Prof Thunberg is outraged that no-one else is helping, and helpless himself.

Another piece of the ship breaks off. Wolraad and Vonk, understanding the urgency, go in again. The survivors clinging to the last few vestiges of the wreck all jump at the same time and all grab hold of Wolraad and Vonk, dragging them under.

Thunberg and the others on shore strain to see where they come back up or come out on another part of the beach.

The wreck is eerily quiet. On the beach, the soldiers load the cargo in silence, Professor Thunberg and the other onlookers disperse. Only Christiaan remains. Watching the sea intently.

N!Xau brings a “karos” (a quilt made of animal hides) to keep Christiaan warm, and waits with him.

The storm blows over. The rest of Wolraad’s outpost’s people join Christiaan. N!Xau finds Wolraad and Vonk’s bodies.

It is done.

They are gone.

So are 138 other people, including Captain De Lamaire.

The captain receives a grand funeral,

Unlike Captain De Lamaire who is laid to rest in the cemetery for the most important people, Wolraad is buried in the common-people’s cemetery along with the other 137 lost souls. But his grave is surrounded by a magnitude of people from all walks of life, come to pay homage to their heroes.

And back in Lower Saxony, his wife receives his letter, his final one, and a letter from the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie with their condolences and announcement that a merchant ship will be named the “Held Woltemade”, to keep his memory alive, which is the least that they can do for a wife who will never see such a man, her husband, again.