For centuries, sailors around the world have told the legend of a

cursed ghost ship, named The Flying Dutchman.

The ship is cursed, and as such can never return to port. Since it has place to go, The Flying Dutchman sails around the ocean aimlessly, haunting the minds of sailors and toying with the imaginations of sea farers globally.

There have been tales for ages, of late-night spotters in the crow's nest of a ship seeing a ghost ship passing their bow. Men swear on their lives that the cursed ship, The Flying Dutchman was seen sailing past them.

The ship is said to originally have sailed from the Dutch port Terneuzen, ( close to our little town) under the command of Captain Willem Van Der Decken.

The tale tells that Van Der Decken sailed out on Easter, but became trapped in a storm when sailing through the Cape of Good Hope and that Van Der Decken cursed god and yelled: "Even if God would let me sail til Judgement Day, I will round the cape!"

And just moments, after he said this the storm subdued and a echoing voice told him Van Der Decken - You will sail the seas for all eternity!

After the voice disappeared, the crew of the ship all died and Willem Van Der Decken

and The Flying Dutchman would from then on sail the seas, sometimes being seen by

sailors in bad weather as a ghostly sillouhette sailing against the wind.

The ship became a ghost ship that can never go home, and is doomed to sail the oceans forever. The Flying Dutchman is usually spotted from afar, sometimes seen to be glowing with ghostly light. It is said that if she is hailed by another ship, her crew will often try to send messages to land or to people long since dead. In ocean lore, the sight of this phantom ship is reckoned by seafarers to be a symbol of doom.

Throughout the years, many sailors have claimed to see a ship sailing past them, and then disappearing. One of the most famous men who

swore to have seen The Flying Dutchman is Prince George of Wales, along with his brother Prince Albert Victor. In his writings, he stated that no less than thirteen men saw The Flying

Dutchman sail by their ship in the middle of the night, and a few hours later disappeared from

all site into thin air.

This story may be a legend to those who casually read about stories on the ocean's open waters, but one thing is for certain: A sailor does not dare to call the bluff of the mighty ocean for they do not want to fall

victim to the same fate as The Flying Dutchman.