Peter | Groningen

I am Peter and I am currently scrubbing the deck. I don’t live on the boat but sometimes I sleep here. The boat is a clipper. My job is to run group trips by boat to the Wadden Sea.

How was your day?

Quiet, actually I am sick but right now it is getting better.

How do you like it in Groningen?

Quite well. I have lived here for 45 years.

What is your motto for life?

Do what you like to do. And what I like is sailing. I’ve always been connected to the water and started sailing when I was in school. After school, however, I first studied social education, and when I couldn’t find a job afterwards, I started working as a sailor on a ship. Then 33 years ago I took over a boat on my own. On this boat I have been sailing for 23 years. The fact that I have not found a job as a social pedagogue does not bother me. I love sailing. In fact, I have to deal with social and pedagogical issues, because I have many children and school classes on the boat.  There are always problems. But nothing wild. Puberty and slight behavioral problems. Most of my clients are German or Swiss. The Dutch hardly do that. That’s why I also learned German. However, I learned the language even earlier, because I grew up on the border with Germany and there was always German television there.