“My name is Femke, and in daily life, I am an entrepreneur. Recently I bought my first boat, Orca, with my husband, Pieter. We both really enjoy being on the water and we really enjoy the freedom that it gives us. We don’t have children and big responsibilities at the moment. Therefore it is a great time to see new places, meet new interesting people and explore this world from the water right now.”
“I cannot recall my very first time being on the water. However, I do remember my parents taking me to the sea when I was younger. I was being bullied a lot, and it would really calm me down. Boats made me feel relaxed, calm, and happy. Since then I associate water with relaxation and soothing times.”
Can You Explain about the Floating Freelancers Concept? How Did You Come Up with this Concept?
“We bought our boat in January in a very sad condition. It was owned by the construction worker, and he didn’t take good care of it. Therefore we are still busy renovating it. Now we are working on the interior of the boat. We want to make it modern, luxurious, and suitable for comfortable staying.”
“My husband and I met each other at the Seats2meet. We both like to combine the freedom of working with meeting new people and working with other people. We like to surround ourselves with other entrepreneurs and get inspired by them. Hence the idea of Floating Freelancers was born. We are happy to combine our drive to work and exploring the world.”
When Are You Going to Host Your First Guests?
“We already have a group of people (the first ones) who want to stay with us from the end of July. This month we are planning to finish small things. So we would like to welcome more people from the beginning of August. By then we can comfortably host 3 to 4 people on our boat.”
Why Do You Think People Should Sail and Work at the Same Time?
“There are a couple of good reasons for it. The researchers from Stanford University stated that people are more productive in places where they like and found comfortable to work. Also in the future, the way of working will be different and more people will work in the distance. There is already a large number of growing communities, of digital nomads. We also have personal reasons to do it. It is something that we like to do. We don’t want to work from Monday to Friday and do fun things during the weekend. We want to have fun every day with remote working.”
Are There any Rules or Traditions on Your Boat?
“We don’t want people to be feel obliged to do something. We really want to ask them and include their wishes as much as possible to make their stay enjoyable. Freedom is quite important for us. We are happy to eat, play games, and brainstorm together with our guests.”
Tell Us about Your Best Sailing Trip that You Made in the Netherlands. Why Was It that Special?
“The biggest trip for us was from Zeewolde to Wijk bij Duurstede. We also got married at the marina of Wijk bij Duurstede. It at the dead arm of the Rhine, it is a breathtaking place, there are many little places you can go and see. It is the perfect river for learning and improving your boating skills. For instance water around Amsterdam can be very busy and difficult for beginners. You constantly have to adjust your boat after huge boats pass by and create big waves.”
What Place Do You Plan to Visit with Floating Freelancers for the First Time?
“We are planning to go somewhere in the Rotterdam area to travel to the South of France later on. However, we still don’t have a set route to take. We are still working on it.”
If People Want to Join You on Your Boat, Do They Need to Be Experienced with driving a Boat?
“We are happy to teach people if they are open to it. We are still learning for ourselves, and we are also open to learning from our future visitors.”
P.S
“If you are planning to celebrate your wedding on the boat or in the harbor, my advice would be to have a plan “B” in case the weather is bad that day. Our friends and family really enjoyed dressing up in the nautical theme, so don’t leave out yours from such fun.”
