In 2021 I decided to spend more time in the Netherlands and took a part time teaching position at Tilburg University. Immediately the question of housing came up. Tilburg in itself is a small university town and it is fair to say it has a housing crisis, which I did not want to add to. So when thinking through options, I started to look for boats. And this is how a three year semi-holiday in the Netherlands started. I have published frequently posts on this website about it.
A good friend introduced me to the Dutch waterways before and I always enjoyed seeing the world from the water side. Considering different boat types, and given I needed it mostly for staying and not for travelling, I opted for a motorized Houseboat, a Campi 320 Long Roof, and bought it from Golliath in Sneek. As a second home, it turned out to be perfect, being able to change the scenery from urban to rural and back, cruising the canals and having all the comforts of a little swimming house. The motorization proved sufficient for that with a Yamaha 9,9 High Thrust, which allows travelling at around 6 km/h with a fuel consumption of about 2,5 l / hour. And even winter was cozy, with a gas central heating.
Sure, there are some adjustments. For example, if you don’t attach the boat to land water, you have 250 l fresh water before you need a refill. That’s about a week for one person. You can get water easily in any marina though. The same for “black water” (sewage). In the Netherlands “grey water” (shower, kitchen, sink) can go into the river. That also meant, I took it strict on how much and what kind of detergent I used. Then during stormy nights, even in sheltered waters, it can get a little bumpy. The body shapes of these type boats, are catering to comfort, but it does make them hard to maneuver in strong winds. I never took it to one of the house boat settlements, which I heard is great to be. I had plans to bring it to the French Canals later, but then moving to Canada came around the corner. So, I made investigations on whether it would be feasible to move the boat to Ontario, or take it up the Mississippi River. But going into technical details, I finally decided, not to follow that plan. While in Europe the infrastructure, services and spare parts are available and easy to obtain, this is different in North America. Especially, as my boat has been built to European standards and I would not even find a 250 Volt electric fuse in Canada or the USA. Also the distances are so much larger, that it is probably not feasible to take the boat for a ride in summer, which is short anyways. Plus, there is the Canadian winter, which has a reputation.
So, a little heart broken, I put my boat on the market for sale. It’s like always when you sell something you like, you want to find somebody who appreciated it the same way. Let’s see how I can manage that. Now it’s online for a start here.