The Dutch “Golden Age” in the 1600’s was fueled by their dominance of the Equatorial Spice Islands and slave running. No other seafaring nation could make the trip to Indonesia and back with any reasonable chance of returning. One of the keys was indeed sauerkraut as a food staple, the other was the rest and provisioning stops in South Africa. Ships were run with a more egalitarian model than those of the Portuguese and British, and the sailors were afforded a considerably better diet.
