About Boaty

What does Boaty stand for?

The name Boaty is a playful English twist on the Dutch word ‘bootje’, meaning ‘little boat’. It sounds the way we want to be: friendly, cheerful, not too fancy, internationally minded and uncomplicated.

What does that mean for you in practice?

1. Our boats: they are eco-friendly, easy to sail yourself and basic in a pleasant way. Don’t expect luxury, but you will have everything you need to cruise through the city in a relaxed way.
2. Our processes: simple and efficient where possible, personal where needed. Booking is quick and easy: by phone if you want to go out today, and online for any other day. And before departure we personally explain everything you need to know in just a few minutes.
3. Our rates: we are deliberately by far the most affordable boat rental in Amsterdam, because we want to keep boating accessible. Of course we are happy that our company has grown steadily over the years. But we achieved that with more boats and higher occupancy, not by constantly raising our rates. In our first 12 years, we raised a rate only once, for weekend afternoons. All other rates stayed the same all those years. Where else do you still see that?

What do others think about Boaty?

In our first years we still had an old school paper guestbook, until reviews on social media took over. Now you can read how our guests rate us on platforms such as Facebook, Yelp and above all Google and Tripadvisor. In the many hundreds of reviews you can clearly see what we stand for. People generally find our boats fairly basic and not too fast, but also spacious enough, easy to steer and well suited for cruising through the city. The fact that our boats are electric is becoming more and more important to our guests, and our value for money is highly appreciated. But what stands out most in the reviews is the appreciation for the personal help and explanation from our team.

Come sailing with us!

Would you like to experience for yourself what it is like to cruise the Amsterdam canals in a whisper-quiet electric boat? And do you appreciate good personal help and explanation, without having to pay top prices? Then book your own Boaty now. See you soon!

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Lots of boating ourselves, always fun!

Boaty Boat Rental was founded in 2008. Before that, we often went out on the canals with friends, in rickety second-hand boats with old gasoline engines that we had bought together. Especially in the first years after buying them, we went out a lot. Sometimes planned long in advance, but usually spontaneously at the last minute. Either way, it was always fun and relaxed. The many friends and acquaintances who were invited to come along thought so too. We often stopped by the supermarket for some food and drinks first, and decided on the way where we wanted to go and how long we would stay out. Relaxed!

…but owning a boat turned out to be a lot of hassle

Still, owning a boat turned out to have a downside. We soon understood where some old jokes among boat owners came from: ‘Buy a boat and work yourself to death’ and ‘There are two happy days in a boat owner’s life: the day you buy it and the day you sell it’. Engines broke down, after a rainy spell we had to bail out a lot of water to get the boat somewhat dry again, the steel boats rusted and the plastic boats cracked or even started leaking. The mooring fees went up sharply and boats even disappeared: one wrongly moored boat was towed away by the municipality and two boats were stolen.

The boat rental idea: all of the fun, none of the hassle!

In short: boating yourself is great, but all the worries that come with it are a lot of hassle. So how nice would it be to enjoy sailing the Amsterdam canals yourself without all that hassle? That seemed like a gap in the market to us: a boat rental company where you can easily and affordably rent a boat to sail yourself.

Pioneering on the Amsterdam canals

At the time, there were no self-drive boat rental companies in Amsterdam yet. That meant we had to reinvent the wheel ourselves. That had some very fun sides, such as searching for the most suitable boats, jetties, power supply and other materials, coming up with fun routes through the city and building our first website. And some less fun sides, such as a long bureaucratic process to obtain all the necessary permits, and there turned out to be quite a few of those. But we made it, and in the spring of 2008 we were able to start with three brand new whisper boats. Since then we have grown step by step into the fine fleet we have on the water today. Wherever you’re from, we look forward to helping you enjoy a relaxed Amsterdam canal tour too!

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