ABOUT US

The bicycle boat is kept sailing by a team of 50 enthusiastic volunteers.

What do the volunteers of the Eemlijn do?

It is 9 o'clock and the five volunteers who sail today come on board in Amersfoort. Sometimes they come half an hour earlier because it is then "clean sweep" and the boat gets an extra cleaning.  
                                                             
After the indispensable cup of coffee, the preparations start to give the passengers a good speed again.




At 09.30 am the boat goes to the other side of the Eemhaven. On the side of the Grote Koppel is our jetty and passengers can easily get on board.


On the upper deck the seats are set out, the flags are hoisted and below deck the ticket offices and the bar are put in order.
The skipper checks the engine and the oil level, and distributes a number of tasks among the four other volunteers. When the first passengers report, the bicycles are taken over by our volunteers and when we know how far the passengers want to sail, the bicycle is neatly placed in the appropriate list.

After paying, the passengers look for a place on the upper deck and wait until 10:00, when the boat departs.
The enjoyment for the passengers really starts then.


The volunteers also enjoy in a different way. They enjoy it when the passengers are having a good time and they are 100% committed to this. Make coffee, tell on the top deck what there is to see in the area where we are sailing, bake a sandwich, in short, make the passengers feel at home.

At the mooring places, the boat must of course be properly secured, so then all catering work stops and the crew is busy with safety on board and of course returning the bikes and welcoming new passengers again.




At 5.45 pm the boat is back in the Eemhaven in Amersfoort.

The work is not over yet. The cash registers have to be made up, the seats are piled up again, flags are lowered, toilets are cleaned, the fridges have to be replenished for the passengers of tomorrow and when everything is cleaned up, the crew will evaluate the trip of that day while enjoying themselves of a drink.


Around 6.30 pm the crew will go home with a satisfied feeling, looking forward to the next trip that they will be able to sail again.