Houseboat: “De Albatros”” with tender”

A Surla Houseboat is a sailing summer residence — our water villas are fully equipped, 100% ecological and self-sufficient, blending luxury, comfort and respect for nature. This houseboat, built in 2023, comes fully equipped.

The Surla Houseboat is 15 metres long and 6 metres wide, with a total area of 84 sqm (excluding the roof terrace). The living room and kitchen span 25 sqm, with 3 large sliding doors keeping you looking out over the water throughout. There’s a spacious living room with a couch, a dining table, a TV, and sliding doors to the front terrace with outdoor chairs.

The open-plan kitchen has an induction cooker, fridge, oven, dishwasher, kettle and Nespresso machine, plus a table-top freezer in the utility room. The bathroom has a shower, sink and a dry toilet.

There are 3 bedrooms: two with hotel-style beds (1.80×2.00m), designed specifically for Surla Houseboats, and a third with a bunk bed (0.90×2.00m). Outside stairs lead up to a spacious rooftop terrace with a lounge set-up, perfect for sunrises and sunsets, and there’s a warm outdoor shower on the back terrace, great after a swim.

Your check-in host, Natasja, will welcome you and guide you to the houseboat — it helps if you let her know your expected arrival time early, and you’ll receive her phone number in your instructions more than a week before arrival.

In summer, weather permitting, Surla moors the houseboat in a beautiful lake location, held in place by spud poles; in bad weather, a Surla team member moves it to a sheltered spot in the Monnickendam marina, which may also happen during your stay for safety reasons. Free parking is available in the Monnickendam marina, past the entrance gate, straight on after the white building, then the second road on the left.

A Surla tender (aluminium dinghy) is included with your rental — start it in neutral, sail slowly, and moor gently at the front or back of the houseboat to avoid damage (damage costs are charged immediately). The tender arrives fully fuelled, and we ask guests to refuel it before check-out (98 octane petrol, available at the Texaco in the village, or as a jerry can from host Uwe) — €40 for an empty tank or €20 for a half tank can also be left in cash on the table. If it isn’t refuelled and no money is left, costs will be charged afterwards.

Guests don’t sail the houseboat itself, but the included dinghy should be sailed at walking pace, as we’re all guests on the water — any fines are the guest’s responsibility. No parties are allowed. An outward-facing camera on the front deck is purely for security when no guests are aboard, switching off once guests arrive — there are no cameras inside.

Note that Surla operates several houseboats at different locations, so the exact spot, floorplan and interior may vary slightly from the photos, though all boats were built in 2022-2023. Swimming ability is strongly recommended, and the houseboat isn’t ideal for guests with walking difficulties. We’d suggest doing your grocery shopping before boarding — a few basics are provided (Nespresso capsules, milk, sugar, tea, oil, pepper, salt, some toilet roll), plus towels, with the beds made up for your arrival.

Our Surla Houseboats are built sustainably and are 100% self-sufficient, with clever systems that let you live aboard without shore power, and filtration systems that remove the need for water tanks — fully off-grid and ecologically responsible. We’d love to welcome you aboard to make some memories.