[armada651]

> "Oh Van, by the way what name did you sign in the log book?"

Actually his name is Erik, van Sabben is his last name. Perhaps that's how he got away with it.

[jachee]

I’ve known several people whose surname was Van<something> who simply went by “Van”.

They were all older gents, but it’s not outside the realm of plausibility that “Van” could be what van Sabben was called. :)

[armada651]

I think that only goes for when Dutch surnames are adopted by people who don't speak Dutch. "van Sabben" just means "from Sabben" and calling someone "From" just sounds weird. ;)