| No matter the question, the answer is give money! |
| Donations are our only source of income. |
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Are you part of Boom Chicago? So please do your part and call us the St. Nick Boat Club. |
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| How much does it cost? Nothing. We ask for a donation from each person. We can't legally charge for our rides. Nor do we want to. But we do want your money. We suggest 10 euros per person. But it's up to you to give. But keep in mind that boat rides cost money and keeping up old boats is even more expensive. The only reason we're still here is because we give our time and people give their money. You won't be pressured into giving and we don't want people to stay away because they're poor. We don't even ask for a donation until the end of the ride. And even then it's a no-pressure pass-the-hat system. Actually, our “hat” is a can, but it’s the same idea. We don't want anybody to feel like they're getting ripped off. We are non-profit and nobody is getting rich off this. All the donations go to keeping the boats afloat (OK, sometimes we buy beer). You can also donate money through the paypal "make a donation" link on every page of this website. A few people actually have! Thanks to you all, especially M.L.! |
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| Is it true we can eat, drink, and smoke on your boats? Yes! But keep in mind, you can't go to the bathroom because we don't have one. And please take out any trash you bring in and dispose/recylce everything properly. |
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| How come it's so hard to track you guys down? Can't you have a normal schedule? Or a phone number? What about an address? Why can't you be more professional?! Sorry. That's not who we are. The Saint Nicolaas Boat Club is a group of volunteers keeping up a couple of boats. We're not professionals and this isn't a tour-boat business. We have no office. We have no phone. We certainly have nobody to answer the phone. But you can come out on our boats and I suspect you'll be very happy you did. Information on our boat rides can be found when you stop by Leidseplein 12 in Amsterdam. The 1, 2, 5, 7, and 10 trams go to the Leidseplein. Looking at a map of the city center, we're on the southwest side (7 o'clock, on the compass) of the city. And the northeast corner of the Leidseplein, the bar of the Leidseplein Theater (Boom Chicago). |
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| Taking out boats all day? Sounds like a rough life. Can I have your job? This is nobody's full-time job. Some of us are more slack than others, but all of us have what could very loosely be defined as a day job. Nicole is an actor, Magnus is a sculptor, Mike is a union pilot (boat, of course), and Peter is a professor in New York City. And taking out boats isn't all fun and games. Sure we love it. But it's a skilled job and we're proud of our piloting skill and safety record. If you do come on our boat, remember to keep your hands inside and tip your captain. We deserve it! There's a lot of shit-work and awkward heavy lifting you don't see (see picture on right). Keeping boats in running condition isn't easy. Boats always need to be painted. Every third year they come out of the water to scrape and re-tar the underside. Electrics are always corroding. Oil has to be changed. The grease cap needs to be filled. Water needs bailing. And everything breaks. We've even lost our propeller more than once. As we say, "if it's not one thing, it's another." This is what you would call a labor of love. There's a cliché that boats are a hole in the water you pour money into. It's true: fuel, oil, paint, lights, engines, transmissions, repairs, drydock, advertising, and yes, even legal fees (sigh). Most years, we break even. We're always looking for people with a love of boats and diesel-engine or carpentry skills. Seriously! Just go to the boat and talk to the captain. And of course the job of pumping out the boats in the winter is always available. But we usually don't need more captains. Well, that's a polite way of saying we won't train anybody to be captain unless we already know you, like you, and trust you. |
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| Is the boat suitable for my children and grandparents? The short answer is yes. But that really depends on you. Everybody is welcome, but we tend to attract, shall we say, a hipper crowd than the big tour boats. Drinking and smoking are allowed. And getting in the boat requires climbing a few feet down a canal wall. Nobody has failed yet. But some minimal agility is required. Kids, of course, have no problem scampering onto the boat and tend to be well behaved. But parents have to make sure that their kids (literally) stay in the boat. The boats do not have life preservers. We have no plans on sinking, but we're just saying. We can all swim. The boats are open to the elements and we do not make a bathroom stop. |
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Hey, I've heard that you guys are barely legal? What gives? We could also probably get a permit if our boats were electric and not diesel. Great... except we don't have anywhere to plug in. Only the rich get docks. And the diesel, though it does pollute, is more historic. Update (June 2008): We're still getting hassled and have just found out that our latest application is going to be rejected by the binnenwaterbeheer. Among other things, they claim 1) we're part of Chicago, and 2) we charge money or make our guests feel like they have to pay. Both statements are false. But how can we convince them? We don't know what this means. But if nothin else lots of legal fees with money we don't have. Update (December 2008): We didn't get a permit. Why did we think this year would be any different than the last 12? But that's OK, because we're not actually doing anything that requires a permit. It's just that having a permit would be nice because then we'd stop getting harassed by the binnenwaterbeheer and wasting time and money in court. In the meantime, you'll still find us on the canals! |
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| So what are your thoughts on the Binnenwaterbeheer? We wish them the best. The men and women of the BBA are dedicated and professional public servents during their best to keep the inner waters safe and enjoyable for everybody. But we do wish they would get to know us better so they could understand that we're not doing anything wrong. |
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| I've heard you hate the big tour boat companies. That really isn't true, is it? Oh yes it is! We hate them. Really. They're just bad boats. They give bad tours. They're too big for the canals. There is nothing historic or Dutch about them. They're very aggressive drivers. And the companies make obscene amounts of money because there is no real competition. And they try to prevent other boats (like ours) from running by claiming there are too many boats on the canals. The bastards. So yes, we hate the big boats and everything they represent. |
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| Are those the only reasons you hate them? God no! We also hate them because they're jerks. The tour boats drive aggressively, have right-of-way, constantly speed (the speed limit is 15km/hour), set a bad tone for the canals (by always going too fast, for example), create pollution, and are simply too big for the canals. But as captains, we do have sympathy for some of their captains. The poor guys have to drive the same route and listen to the same recorded tour in four languages day after day after day after day. Canals were designed for boats about 2-3 meters wide. The tour boats are twice as wide. So when they're going through a bridge or around a corner, no other boat can fit. They're like a doublewide trailer barreling down a scenic narrow mountain road. Combine that with their aggressiveness, and they become a dangerous menace. There's no reason their boats couldn't be half the size they currently are. Then at least they would be the correct size for a canal boat and not create havoc going under bridges and through sluices. And it would provide more captains' jobs as well. But they don't want anything to break into their massive profits. There are basically three big companies that control the tour business and the canals. They all have the same boats and give the same crappy tour. Here's a quote taken straight from one of their web sites: An on-board video system provides you with information in various languages and shows you details normally not visible from the boat. We supply information in: Dutch, English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Thech [sic], Swedish, Chinese, Korean, Thai and Japanese. Our luxurious glass top launches seat from 40 to 100 persons and some have an open rear balcony for the best fotographic results. Toilet facilities are standard, as is a heating system that allows us to operate all year round. If that's what you want, enjoy. But it's not for us. no desire to ever be on one of their boats. But the big boys see any boat that gives access to the canals as a threat. We try not to be paranoid, but they've reported us as an illegal tour boat to the Binnenwaterbeheer, who were only too happy to believe them. As a result, we've spent thousands on legal fees to fight City Hall. And we've had many sleepless nights because we know damn well what they say about fighting City Hall Since 1997, we've been maintaining our beautiful boats and letting people enjoy the canals from something other than glassed-in boats. Is there something so wrong with that? Regardless, we're nothing if not stubborn and we're here to stay! |
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| Wow, they do sound bad! So why doesn't the city do anything about them? As the largest users of the canals, the boat companies help determine canal policy. Such is the Dutch way. Since policy makers don't know the water, they take the tour-boat companies' word for it as they're wined and dined on tour-boat junkets. The official city policy is that there are too many boats on the canals. Hogwash, we say. Except for Koninginnendag and weekend summer days when the weather is good, the canals are empty. And they pay a shit-load of taxes. |
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You sure make a lot of sense! How could things be better? For the tour boats, the city should allow competition. Different visitors have different needs. There are plenty of niche markets for boats. Currently, the city only allows licenses for boats that cater to rich people (the salon boats) and tour groups (the big boats). |
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| Of course we do. Won't you be our friend? | |||||||||||
| I still have a question... If you're still reading you've more than earned the right to e-mail me, Peter, the club founder, at mail@amsterdamboatclub.com. E-mail me about anything... except reserving a seat for your upcoming trip to Amsterdam. I can't help you with that (see our boat rides section). And keep in mind that unlike the other active captains, I'm not actually in Amsterdam. On the plus-side, I'm generally good about getting back to you quickly. |
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