With only two more nights of sleep until Sinterklaas hopes to set foot in Hellevoetsluis, the panic has completely struck. The steamer was so leaky that it sank, and all the Piets are still in Spain. Is this the first year that Sinterklaas will not arrive in the Netherlands on time?
The recipe for the Sinterklaas news is the same every year: whatever happens, it always works out. But many viewers will have their reservations about that after tonight. Because, when Dieuwertje Blok thanks everyone for watching at the end of the broadcast and we see the parcel boat sinking to the bottom in the background, you certainly ask yourself: will it be okay this time?
crying children
It turns out that the image of the sinking steamer is quite disturbing to the little viewers. ‘Perhaps a little too exciting this year?’, a parent of two ‘stressed girls’ wonders aloud. Other parents also let us know on Twitter that many a child has been sitting in front of the television tonight with tears.
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Dieuwertje Blok’s sweater, with the word ‘chaos’ in large letters on it, immediately suggested that not much would go well tonight. Nevertheless, at the beginning of the Sinterklaas news, the Smeerpoets Piet seems to have found the solution for the leaking parcel boat: the water comes from below, so all the screws at the bottom of the boat have to be tightened. Sounds very simple, but Sinterklaas has really lost hope. “I don’t think this boat will ever arrive in the Netherlands again,” he says sadly. If it subsequently turns out that the water does not come from below, but from above and the steamer could sink at any moment, panic is also unavoidable among the helpers.
The mayor of Hellevoetsluis still has every confidence in Sinterklaas and encourages Rachel to continue looking for the most beautiful spot in town.
On Sunday, November 13, the time has come: after two years of ‘alternative’ Sinterklaas arrivals, the saintly man will return to the capital in all its glory. Here you will find all the information about the entry into Amsterdam.
