A common question asked is why S/V Isabell is under the flag of The Netherlands, while the boat is registered in Sweden.
The simple answer is that the captain and owner is a citizen of that little country in Western Europe. Although having been a resident in Sweden since 1986, I never changed my country of origin. Isabell is built and registered in Sweden. With a Swedish MMSI and registration, the international rule of thumb is that the operator is responsible to follow the rules and regulations as they are stated by the Swedish law. That is an advantage for me, as I am also in possession of a Swedish naval education and various nautical authorizations.
Nevertheless, besides being a wee bit less proud of the evil history of Dutch colonial behavior, that little nation has a long tradition of seafaring and naval engineering that has set the stage for global boating as we know it today. Many nautical terms are directly copied from the dutch language. And best of all, the proud folks of Zeeland were among the first to circumnavigate the World. Zeeland, today, is still a region with close ties to water and all that the knowledge of water systems encompasses. I was born in Zeeland, from a family with a Zeeland tradition that goes back to the 15th Century. So, besides flying the dutch flag, Isabell usually shows the flag of Zeeland under the port spreader. But Sweden is my home, enjoyed very much the same.