playbook
Veluwemeren weekend with kids
Moor in Elburg on Friday evening. Saturday sail until the ice cream melts, Sunday pancakes on board.
2d
duration
€ 300–700
budget
Ignite
pace
Being on a boat with young children is not the same as without. Half your time you're behind the wheel, the other half you're watching a child who keeps drifting too close to the edge. The Veluwemeer is a good training ground for that: open enough to actually sail, and sheltered enough that you don't have to worry about wind coming out of nowhere.
The trick is short legs. Elburg to Harderwijk in two hours, food, an hour back, ice cream, sleep. No three hours of sailing in a row. Kids get bored after 45 minutes on a boat, they want to swim, climb, eat. Mooring on Saturday evening at a marina with a playground makes all the difference.
Checklist
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Reddingsvesten voor elk kind
Eigen maat
Boot met vaste kuip geboekt
Niet open sloep
Vaarbewijs gehaald door één ouder
Aanlegplekken Elburg en Harderwijk gereserveerd
Snacks voor elke 45 minuten
Speelgoed dat in een tas past
Boekjes, kaarten
Zonbescherming voor kinderen
Hoed en factor 50
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by PlayTryBe team
Book a hire boat in Elburg from Friday evening to Sunday evening. Ask specifically for a boat with a fixed cockpit, not open. Safer with children.
Elburg, Veluwemeren450One parent gets their small craft licence beforehand. You don't both need one, but one of you does for larger boats on the Veluwemeer.
130Suggestion: Do this eight weeks before the weekend.Friday evening you pick up the boat at around 6 pm. Boarding takes an hour. Head straight to your overnight mooring after that, no more sailing that evening.
Friday evening on deck with the kids: watching other boats, taking in the sounds of the marina. A world they haven't discovered yet.
Saturday morning: breakfast on board, depart at 10. Sail to Harderwijk in two hours. Stop along the way if the kids want to climb or start complaining.
Harderwijk30Saturday afternoon in Harderwijk: go ashore, ice cream, half an hour at a playground. Then back to the boat for the wind-down part.
25On a Saturday afternoon, somewhere between Harderwijk and Elburg, a child falls asleep on a cushion on the boat. The other parent steers, you watch the waterline. That's why you're on holiday.
Saturday evening, moor in a quiet bay or at the marina in Elburg. Pancakes on board never fail. Early to bed.
Sunday morning: a short loop, then back to the hire company by 4 pm. Don't push the weekend any longer, it'll turn on you with tired kids.
A boat with kids is not a relaxing holiday. But it is a holiday you'll keep scrolling through photos of afterwards. That's a different kind of rest.
For anyone copying this
Do as we did
Suggestions
- Life jacket on, not stowed on board. For every child, the whole weekend.
- Plan short legs, no three hours of sailing in a row.
- Snacks every 45 minutes, otherwise things get rowdy.
- A marina with a playground as your overnight spot. Elburg and Harderwijk both have that.
- One parent holds a boating licence, in case the other is in the water with a child.
Variations
- - Met grotere kinderen (8 plus): zwemmen tussen havens in een baai bij Harderwijk.
- - In het laagseizoen (mei of september): kouder water, minder druk, kinderen slapen vroeger.
- - Met meer dagen: combineer Veluwemeer met Drontermeer voor afwisseling.
- - Met grootouders: een grotere boot met aparte kajuit, kinderen slapen daar.
More like this
Boating licence in six weeks
Rent a boat on the Maasplassen in Limburg
Renting a sloop on the Amsterdam canals
What to do when it rains on the water
Renting a Sloep on the Spaarne Haarlem
Getting married on board a flat-bottomed sailing ship
Rent a Sloop in Volendam-Edam
Birthday on the Stadsdommel
Rent a motorboat on the Westeinderplassen Aalsmeer
Skipper Weekend Friese Meren