The sea-horse of Volendam

14 October 1843: Klaas Mooy sailed with his boat, Wilbert (a six-year-old chestnut horse) and his cargo ship to Hoorn. Storm. Boat capsized. Klaas survived by clinging to a floating piece of wood. Wilbert, tied to the after-deck, sank with the boat. Klaas searched 14 days, found nothing.

14 October 1844: Klaas, on the harbour quay to honour Wilbert with a minute of silence, saw at half past eleven at night a horse rise out of the water and enter the harbour. Wilbert. Dripping wet, without saddle, calm. Klaas called Wilbert; Wilbert came, nodded, touched with his nose Klaas’s hand. For three minutes. Then Wilbert turned and stepped slowly back into the water, vanishing in the Zuiderzee. Since 1844 Wilbert appears every 14 October at half past eleven, three minutes, on the harbour quay. Klaas was there every year until his death in 1879. Since 1879 other Volendammers stand on the quay: sons, grandsons, now (2026) great-great-great-grandsons of Klaas. Wilbert still comes. Now there was one old man (Joris Mooy, 84, great-great-great-grandson of Klaas) who every 14 October at quarter past eleven stood on the quay. Joris died in January 2026; in 2026 for the first time in 182 years no Mooy will stand on the quay to receive Wilbert. Volendam wonders: will Wilbert come anyway?