Water inside the boat
At the front door I am greeted by Barbara and Toke, who ask if I want to start with a tour of the outside. I can already feel that I am on a boat. Hardly any waves today, but you can still feel it rocking a bit. Enough to make you notice it, but not in an uncomfortable way. The tour is quickly interrupted by one of the everyday problems that comes with living on the water. Their little boat Oda is full of water, and therefore needs to be emptied, probably because of the recent storm we've just had. "Now you just witnessed one of those fun and different tasks we deal with, like having to go down and empty the boat before going to work," Toke says.
It makes me wonder how much they actually use Oda for everyday purposes: I mean, how are they dependent on it? "I used it a lot when I was working in Østerbro, sailing to work. But now that we have to drop off the kids, it doesn't fit into the logistics that well," Toke says. "It's definitely a part of the good story; using the boat for work, living your whole life on and with the water," Barbara adds. But the reality is that it's only useful if, for example, you need to cross straight over the harbour, otherwise it's simply too slow. "In the summer, we pick up people at Toldboden, as the parking is terrible over here. You can save 20 minutes that way," Toke says.