Floating Couch

You see a lot of these kinds of rafts in Amsterdam, but usually they’re attached to a houseboat of sorts. To find one in the wild is exceptional. You have to wonder: who, with all the rainy weather, is going to lounge on this one?

where: Haarlemmervaart @ Westergasfabriek

 

Floating Shack

The best part is: this floating shack has an actual ‘tax paid’ sticker, so somebody is serious about this thing.

Where: Jacob van Lennepkade

 

Seabike

Now what is a Sea Bike doing in the Admiralengracht. And who is this guy kidding? Don’t think this baby is very seaworthy.

 

Bootje auctions

We received this letter from Paul:

Hi there,

I have been in A’dam for a year now and am just about ready to pick up a canal boat. I hear there are auctions put on by the city of Amsterdam to sell off the sunken boats that have been retrieved from the bottom of the canal? I was wondering if this were true, and if so, would you please direct me to where I can get more info about such an auction?

Thanks so much,

Paul

The City of Amsterdam is cracking down on people who don’t pay their bootje-taxes (binnenhavengeld). If they spot your bootje without the compulsory sticker, they will tow your boat away and it will end up right here. Supposedly you can pick up great bargains at these auctions, I am curious to know if that is indeed the case.

You can find out more about towed bootjes here

 

Gezonken Bike

This is what your typical Amsterdam bike looks like after spending some time in our great canals.

where: Herengracht @ Vijzelstraat

 

Bootje under Meisjes in hun Blootje

You see the weirdest stuff flying over the canals in Amsterdam

The artwork is by Spencer Tunick. He made this for Dream Amsterdam.

 where:  Leliegracht

 

“To the owner of this boat”

The preparations of the Prinsengrachtconcert are in full swing.

The note says that the owner has to move his bootje before saturday. There were dozens of these notes hanging from bootjes here. If your bootje is near the concert site, better get there in time, or you’re gonna be in trouble.

If you ever have the chance to see Michel van Erp’s hilarious Pretpark Nederland, don’t miss it. There’s some great scenes in there in which some bourgeois Amsterdam bootje-owners are getting into nasty fights about who gets the best spot.

where: Prinsengracht @ Raadhuisstraat

 

Jungle bootje

Some sort of weird mini rainforest on the Prinsengracht

where: Prinsengracht @ Looiersgracht

 

Surfing Amsterdam

Surfboards are used for all kinds of purposes in the canals of Amsterdam: rest areas for ducks, signboards, etc. But would it really be possible that someone would be using a surfboard to actually windsurf in our murky waters? Who knows, this one seems functional anyway.

where: Herengracht @ Korsjesportsteeg

 

Mokum – 7 meter

See Mokum by surfing

where: Hugo de Grootgracht

 

Don’t you just love the canals of Amsterdam

Now is this: a) the remnants of a party, b) an abandoned coot’s nest or c) nothing of the above, this is how all Amsterdam canals look…

where: Lijnbaansgracht

 

Ducks surfin’

What better use for an old surfboard than to house a few endangered city ducks

where: Lijnbaansgracht

 

Vlog & Hungary

Gezonken Bootje has been vlogged bij MobuzzTV. Check it out. By the way, gezonken=sunken, boot=boat, bootje=small boat

And now, that we’re on the subject: can somebody please explain why I am getting a huge amount of visitors from Hungary. Do you guys have Gezonken Bootjes in Budapest? Is the Blue Danube as vicious to bootjes as the canals of Amsterdam?

 

The heartbreaking story of the wretched baby coot and an evil grey heron named Gijs

 

Cycling along the Egelantiersgracht (see it on a map) this morning, I spotted some people pointing to a coot’s nest built upon some old, floating car tires. Mother coot had apparently left the building. What’s more: she had taken all her offspring along but for one tiny, wretched baby coot (a ‘zieligje the Dutch would call her). This one had to fend for herself.

I walked over to the other side of the canal to get a better look. Baby Coot made heartwrenching beep-beep sounds.

 

Gastank

This is all that rests of… Yes, of what? Could have been the prettiest boat of Amsterdam. Who knows. Come to think of it: pretty dumb to attach the gastank to the quayside instead of outboard engine or the boat itself.

where: Prinsengracht