>March 30, 1790 - It didn't come up in the text, but this was a
>full-moon night. In fact, it was the second full moon in the calendar
>month (a blue moon, as in the expression "once in a blue moon").

The lunar calendar knows 13 months compared to the modern day Gregorian one, and does not match up perfectly. As such, you'd see 1 blue moon in a year, and it shifts over time. Although I suppose you could see 2 blue moons in a year or none at all, depending on how it lines up.

>Kaap de Goede Hoop - The Dutch name for what is today the Cape
>of Good Hope, a headland on the Atlantic coast of South Africa. A
>critical waypoint on the Europe-to-Asia trading routes until the
>construction of the Suez Canal allowed ships to bypass the long
>passage around Africa altogether, the Cape was a Dutch possession, and
>the first stop for outbound/last stop for homeward-bound VOC ships,
>until 1795. Its capture by the English was part of the process that
>led to the VOC's downfall.

It wasn't the only stop, but it was the half way point. There were other stops along both the Atlantic and Indian Ocean sides of the trip for resupply, but Kaap de Goede Hoop had farmland and wasn't a jungle or desert, which made it a good place to take in fresh food, drop off sick or injured sailors, pick up replacement crew from sailors who were dropped off on previous trips and recovered and take in fresh water supplies. Instead of just fresh water supplies and some food stuffs, given the risk of tropical diseases.

It's also an area known for being stormy and prone to wild swings in weather, which was another reason to enter harbour, rest the crew and see to any necessary repairs.

>the Dutchmen only ever addressed her as "Girl" - The Dutch for
>this, not entirely coincidentally, is Meid.

Which wouldn't be capitalized. It's not her name after all, nor a nickname, it's just how they refer to her.

>Van Zaandt was the most disagreeable - No reflection on any
>actual person named Van Zaandt, Van Zant, Vanzandt, etc. is intended
>or implied.

A cursory search leads me to believe that the 'Zaandt' spelling is an English language approximation of the Dutch pronunciation. Given that this is before the French Revolution and conquest of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands it also implies a background in nobility, surnames for commoners generally didn't refer to a place until the French census wrote them into the record.

Correct Dutch spelling would be 'Zand' or 'Zandt', which are largely indistinguishable in pronunciation. 'Zaandt' in Dutch would pronounced with a notably elongated 'ah' sound.

And that's before we get into the rules regarding prepositions and articles in Dutch names, but given the fellow was only referred to by his surname alone that checks out.

>thirty guilders - A fairly substantial but not astonishing
>amount of money, more than half a month's pay for a VOC first mate.
>Exact comparisons are difficult after so much time, but the best
>estimate I was able to find suggests that amount of guilders in the
>1790s had around the buying power of $500 today.

The International Institute for Social History site's calculator (http://www.iisg.nl/hpw/calculate.php) indicates a buying power equivalent of about 286 euros, basing on 2018 euros (and about 630 guilder if that currency was still in use), and putting that into a current day euro-to-dollar calculator about 340 dollars.

The site's surprisingly amateurish for a component of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, but it seems to check out.