For a sunny week this past June, I was a grateful live-aboard on the houseboat, “True Love”, moored in a charming canal lapping between Amsterdam’s Centrum and Jordaan neighborhoods. Houseboat owners, CC Stone and Andy Niss, have again generously offered a week aboard the “True Love”, this time to benefit Vashon Swim for All and the Vashon Rowing Club’s scholarship fund.

Now, if you don’t care for leisurely strolls through centuries-old architecture, nightlife until wee hours, beautiful people peddling bicycles every which way, and having locals tip their glasses to you as they put-put along your starboard side – then by all means, don’t win this raffle. Maybe you wouldn’t enjoy a ten minute stroll to the train station where you can hop a ride to any major city in the EU, or a TOTALLY FLAT bike ride to the North Sea along dykes and pastures with glimpses of 17th century churches and barns along the way. In that case, just buy the tickets to support a couple of good causes.

But if a little time aboard the “True Love” does sound magical (and I promise you, it is), there’s still time to buy tickets which are being offered by members of the Vashon Rowing Club until September.

— Carrie Sikorski