Many people in The Netherlands live on boats permanently moored to the quay.

Even a canal tour in Amsterdam will give you a new perspective on water.

To celebrate special family time with sons and grandsons, we rented a boat in Friesland. Friesland is one of the northern provinces of The Netherlands, the low lands, a country where 21% of the population lives below sea level. [If you want to learn why the country is not called Holland but The Netherlands, be sure to click here for a good laugh and a confusing history/geography lesson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE_IUPInEuc

Seafaring history is everywhere here, including a replica of the Batavia which sank in 1629 in Australia. It is now part of the ship museum in Amsterdam.

The province of Friesland has a special relationship with water as well as its own unique history and culture. The Frisian people are very independent and speak their own language.

Friesland generally has a lot of wide open land, windblown skies and lots of water. We rented our boat from http://www.dedrait.com. The boat was well equipped even though the company didn’t excel in customer service. But it turned out to be a great boat with lots of space. The upper back deck had lawn chairs for us to sit, sip beer and keep an eye on the captain. The captain, of course, was our own son who happens to be a real captain. But, to my amazement, anyone is allowed to rent a boat and cruise around here. Without our son, however, I’m sure our boat would have been returned with dents and scrapes since we had to navigate through narrow canals.

Downstairs was a ‘living room’ with a large sitting area, a few steps down to the kitchen and a dining table where the kids played with their toys. The boys had their own bedroom with bunkbeds in the front while the rest of us had private bed- and bathrooms too. Luxury. The boat was well equiped with dishes, pots and pans and everything else we needed. We planned simple meals to cook on board or we ate out on patios, often steps away from our boat.

We peacefully chucked along canals, passed even narrower bridges and crossed wide lakes while enjoying picture perfect Dutch skies with billowing clouds. Cows, windmills and old farm houses made it a true Dutch experience. We stopped in many gorgeous historic towns, where we walked around and stocked up on groceries: Sneek, IJlst, Bolsward, Joure, Grou and many more - many of Elfstedentocht (speedskating race) fame.

As per ancient custom, some of the bridges were still manned by a bridge keeper who lives nearby. Sometime he or she saw us and came to open the bridge. Other times we had to push a button or get close to a sensor. As we passed, the bridge keeper would extend a fishing pole and line from which dangled a wooden shoe. We would drop our one or two euros payment in the wooden shoe! Other times we had to wait for certain opening hours. It was amazing to watch the most interesting bridges swing open or pull up for boats. Even solid railroad bridges. A favorite of the boys was aquaducts where we sailed right over major highways and watched trucks and cars disappear underneath the water (in a tunnel).

In each marina (often this meant simply tying up to the quay) we paid a mooring fee which include electricity and/or water, sometimes wifi and use of a shower building - similar to traveling with a camper.