The Background to the film (Spoilers)
Scheepsjongens van Bontekoe, which would roughly translate as "the cabin boys of Bontekoe" is a film based on a very popular childrens book, which in the Netherlands is comparable to Robinson Crusoe in stature. The book which was written during the colonial era is in itself a romaticised account of a true 17th century voyage to the East Indies that went disastrously awry.
In 1618 skipper Willem IJsbrands Bontekoe set out from the trading port of Hoorn in Holland with his ship Nieuw Hoorn, an early east-indiaman. The destination was Batavia on Java. The voyage ended, for a large part of the crew, when the ship exploded after an accidental fire somewhere in the Indian ocean. The surviving crew, with their wounded captain, set out on a heroic voyage in two rowing boats and after a gruelling trip, including being attacked by a Sumatran tribe, they arrived at their destination.
The historical account, which was written down at the time, mentions as cause of the fire a clumsy cabin boy who dropped a candle in a cask of brandy. On this element the 19th century author of de Scheepsjongens van Bontekoe, Johan Fabricius, based his tale of four strapping young lads, one the son of Bontekoe, one a loser and the other two accidentally left aboard when the ship sails from port. Of these two, Hajo, is the hero, who wants to go to sea, but was always stopped by his overprotective mum; the other, Padde, is a fat boy who dreams of becoming an inn keeper and can't stand water (he is the comic relief in the story and also eventually the one who drops the fateful candle). The four cabin boys become fast friends during the voyage and after the attack on the shipwrecked crew on Sumatra, they become separated from the others and have to find their own way back, with the help of more friendly inhabitants.
Altogether it makes for a ripping yarn and its dramatisation for the big screen has long been contemplated. With the reconstruction in the Netherlands of some true copies of east-indiamen (i.e. the armed merchant ships of the 17th and 18th centuries) the stage was set (literally) for the film.