Our interest in this area first started in 2015. We didn’t want a standard row house. A large house in the Netherlands would mean working very hard on our carrier to make this possible. For this, we loved surfing too much.

First steps
Tiny Houses came up. We saw the possibilities that an off grid tiny house could offer. So, we decided to build one. Since that decision, we’ve learned an incredible amount. We tried to make the tiny house we built that year as off grid as possible. Installing solar panels, a separet toilet, a halophyte filter and working with a water tank. We learned how consciously you had to live then. Full autarchy was still a long way off, because we always had to get our water from somewhere and the heat in our house still ran on gas cylinders. But, it was the start of an autarchic life!

Pioneering at work
In 2019, we started to manage a vacation park that even ran completely stand-alone for a month! That is, in terms of electricity. On a vacation park water has to be through the pipeline network in the Netherlands. The cottages at this park own 14 solar panels each, so even heat could be generated with these panels. The heat pump provided central heating and hot water from the tap. Cooking could be done through an induction plate. Gas was completely out of the question. In rental, a system with challenges, but a beautiful system with potential for the future!

Our work so close to Lake Grevelingen brought us into contact with sailing/ and living on the water. Water sports combined with an autarkic life seemed like a perfect combination! We tried to make de boat as off grid/autarkic as possible with the budget we had.

Self-sufficient on water
On the Kia Ora, we installed a watermaker. A Katadyn Power Survivor 80e. This watermaker can make 11 liters of water per hour. To provide electricity, we mounted several solar panels on the boat. We don’t have such a nice surface on a sailboat as on the cottages of the vacation park, unfortunately. But with some creativity you can get a long way. We mounted 2 small panels on our spray hood using strong magnets. Above the transom of the boat, we made a construction for which 1 large field panel is mounted. In total we now have 600wp of solar mounted on our boat. To control the consumption of energy, we have replaced all lights for LED lights. Old equipment that has high consumption, replaced for more modern energy efficient devices. In addition, very obvious, on a sailboat you live with the wind. The wind is your engine. How nice it is to move around mainly without emissions!

Even the Kia Ora is not totally autarkic there is a diesel engine in it and we have a backup generator. Still, our footprint is many times smaller than if we lived in a house. We have learned not to take everything for granted, but to enjoy a hot shower or heating. You can live close to nature without damaging it too much, as long as you are flexible and open to it.