Kite-surfing lovers Jurre and Suus started their Boatlife in 2019. They sailed the world while keeping their careers running and expanding their family. A great example of how boatlife does not mean leaving more "traditional" dreams of careers and family behind.

Please introduce yourselves:

Jurre: We, Evi, Suus and Jurre, bought our 44ft Van de Stadt sailboat in 2018 and set sail in 2019 from Amsterdam. We sailed the coast of Europe, to the Canaries and then onto Marocco, which was crazy and awesome. From Marocco, we crossed the Atlantic Ocean to Barbados and have been sailing the Caribbean Islands since.

How can you afford to live on a sailboat?

Suus: We have several income streams. One income stream comes from content creation. Jurre creates paid Vlogs and articles for a Dutch sailing magazine regularly. He also writes and creates content for different kite surfing platforms when the opportunity arises.

I have my own consultancy company in digital marketing. I help my clients with their digital strategy, like what is their main proposition, how they should market themselves, what is the target audience, what different propositions they should have in the market, what marketing activity they should perform to grow, ect.. In a second stage, I also help them run campaigns or build a new website. I do most of the work myself, but for some of the work, I hire freelancers to help build a website or run campaigns, ect. 

How many hours in the week do you work?

Jurre: We try to work in the mornings, so roughly 20 hours a week. But some weeks it might be 5 and the next 40. We try to stick around 20. When we first started, we struggled a lot with finding a balance. We often work on weekends, which is amazing for the client but was detrimental to us afterwards. We started to take weekends purposefully and have days off for our wellbeing.

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What does your ideal workday look like?

Suus: Ideally, we do a morning swim, which we hardly ever do, and try to start to work around 8. After lunch, we prefer to go on an adventure. Either go on land or go diving or kite surfing. We end the day with a sundowner. That is like our perfect day on board. 

Ideally, not too much boat works and cleaning. But of course, those things also need to be in the schedule. 

Do you need to go back on land to support your income stream?

Suus: Not really, but we are currently in the Netherlands. We find it beneficial to see clients. Jurre struggled to find consultant projects from the boat but took on a huge project just now. He will have to visit the client frequently in the following weeks. 

Jurre: Being back on land and seeing clients is very beneficial. Doing that once or twice a year is probably enough.

Do you have an office set up on board?

Jurre: We recently started creating a proper office setup. We got laptop stands to get that eye-level screen, wireless mouse, and keyboards. We are both hooked on our wireless headphones. They are great if you need to take a call while sailing, keeping your hands free for boat stuff.

Favourite workspace on your sailboat?

Suus: I prefer the saloon, while Jurre loves to work in the cockpit. He enjoys being outside. I also like to work in the cabin because I can close the door, so it's nice and quiet, and I can focus better. 

How do you keep in touch with colleagues?

Suus: Over chats and video calls. I think Jurre misses seeing colleagues. He enjoys it here in the Netherlands, where he can work with a team. I love remote working and not being so much involved with people. That might sound a bit a-social, but that is not the case. I just love to focus on work.

How did you prepare to work remotely on a sailboat? 

Jurre: Not really. The initial idea was to try boatlife for a year. I still had a project running, and we had some savings. But the savings were gone after half a year, and we had to resume working more seriously. We basically figured it out while we went.

Main challenges/downsides of Boatlife?

Suus: It's a big pitfall to work too much. You should schedule your work time to avoid getting lost in it. Otherwise, you keep working and do not enjoy the time together or exploring. Working on a boat with a baby is an even bigger challenge. That's why we decided to take a land break with the second kid on the way.

Any tips for those starting their Boatlife?

Suus: You covered most in your bundle. I would just add a great idea is to figure out a recurring income as early as possible. It will help people pay you, give you a steady income and make the clients less worried about invoices. 

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