History of Frisian Shipping and Navigation. Frisian skippers sailed offshore as well. There was a regular and busy service between Friesland in the north and the province of Holland in the west by way of the Zuiderzee, the former inland sea that stood in open communication with the North Sea at the time. Frisian coastal navigation flourished in the 18th century. Koffs and smacks sailed to the Baltic states, the Scandinavian countries, England, France and Spain. The States of Friesland even…