Well, and then you are in Friesland on Saturday morning and you see other people in 'your boat' for a week's holiday. A double booking, it turns out. Damn! If only we had left earlier, Frank says to me. Because yes… a double booking… the first person to enter then suddenly has the first rights. That's how it generally works. So what now?
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It happened to us before that we had a double booking, we were a bit further from home, in Marrakech. I was 'not amused' at the time and that was putting it mildly. I totally flipped. Now I had quite a bit behind my back at that time and I was emotionally charged so to speak. I had buried my mother a month before after a severe illness of six months. Well, then we couldn't go anywhere, of course, and we had to settle for what we were offered – which was significantly less than what we had booked for. Unfortunately, the fine print said they were entitled to that, so we didn't have a leg to stand on.
With the double booking of our boat I was a lot more relaxed. Not emotionally charged, that makes a difference. But we were also still in the Netherlands. That speaks easier. And if the solution isn't to your liking, you'll be right back home when you want. "Every disadvantage has its advantage," said a wise man once 😉 .
But of course the kids were quite disappointed. huh? Why double booking? Well, explain that. They have been looking forward to this holiday for months. For the first time we will really sail on a boat. And sleep. Also on that boat 😉 . And then you stand with a fully loaded car and you see that the boat that is actually intended for you has already been cheerfully confiscated. Tsss….
If you follow me a bit, you know that we have been saving for our own boat for years. Or a holiday home, we (read:I) are not quite there yet, haha. For Frank, however, it is clear that it is a boat. At the top of his wishlist.
And since we first want to experience how this all works, a real boat holiday seemed appropriate to us. The boat we actually rented was a boat of about 8 meters. mr. called Fred. Quite a whopper you would say, especially for someone who does not yet have much experience in boating. And Frank's experience with sailing himself is limited to steering and mooring a boat twice for a few hours.
We also have experience with sleeping on a boat. It all started with that. We once slept with the four of us on a boat of about 7 meters, where you cannot stand upright. Very cosy, but not for a whole week's boating holiday.
Afine, mr. Fred misses us because of the double booking. The owner of the boat rental wants to moor us a smaller boat. I immediately say that I am not in the mood for that. In the smaller boat there is only sleeping space for 3 people, which means that one has to sit on the couch under the 'convertible roof'. Seems unsociable to me, cold too. And certainly not suitable for a whole week. And the dog has to come too!
We agree to go for a walk so that the boat rental company can call around for a solution to the double booking. And there it is!
Read also: two weeks ago we walked on the Stubnerkogel!
The solution offered is the Fantasy, he calls a beautiful boat, approximately equal to Mr. Fred, but a little bigger. The boat rental company calls out about 3 meters taller, but that doesn't matter all that much. I see Frank lose some color in his face. The Fantasy turns out to be 11.5 meters long! That is a lot more than what Frank had geared up for.
I'm already over, but hey, I don't have to be at the wheel. In fact… I don't even want to! But a little more space on the boat is music to my ears. So we decide to go and see the Fantasy, it is on the other side of the lake where we actually see Mr. hired Fred. We have to be at Bootvakantiefryslan now.
Arriving at Bootvakantiefryslan we receive a warm welcome from Ultsje, the owner. A type 😉, but a nice guy! We feel very welcome and the dark cloud of our double booking seems to be slowly drifting away. Even though Frank still has sloshing armpits from the 11.5 meters he has to sail, haha.
At the end of the afternoon we can finally set off. Soon more about our first days on the Fantasy, but you can see from Frank's face that the tension is good!
