Nautiner 40 or Sun Camper 35 Flybridge? Two big licence-free houseboats

Nautiner 40 or Sun Camper 35? The short answer

You take the Nautiner 40 when space and privacy matter: 12.7 m long, 3.7 m wide, three cabins, eight people. You take the Sun Camper 35 Flybridge when you want to steer from the roof and have a better shot at a free week: 10.6 by 3.0 m, two cabins, seven people, but five of them in the fleet. Both run without a licence. Both have a flat bottom and high topsides. Everything else differs, and it is that everything else which decides whether the week on the water turns out the way you pictured it.

Size: those two metres really do the work

On paper the difference looks harmless. The Nautiner is 12.7 m long and 3.7 m wide, the Sun Camper 10.6 m by 3.0 m. In practice that is a different class of interior. Seventy centimetres of extra beam spread over the whole length means roomier walkways, a saloon that genuinely seats the whole crew at one table, and a cabin where you can get changed without gymnastics.

You pay for that space in port. A wide boat needs more water to turn and forgives less when you slot in between the mooring piles. Nothing dramatic, but if it is your first time at the helm, the Sun Camper will feel safer simply because there is less of it.

If you are still getting your bearings, start with the complete guide to houseboats in Masuria. That covers the whole mechanics of chartering; here we go into these two specific models.

The flybridge, and what it actually gives you

The Sun Camper 35 has a second helm station on the roof. It sounds like a gadget until the first time you drive the boat from up there. You sit above the reeds, you see the entrance to the bay and the traffic on the route before it catches up with you, and when manoeuvring in port you watch both sides at once instead of guessing where your stern is.

Honestly: the flybridge is brilliant in the sun and useless in the rain. In a cold wind you go below and steer like on any other motorboat. If you charter in July and like sitting up top with a mug of coffee at seven in the morning, you will use it every day. If you are booking a week in September, do the maths with a cool head.

The Nautiner 40 has no flybridge. One helm station and that is it. On the other hand there is no structure above the roof, so the boat has a lower profile.

Draft and wild shorelines

The Nautiner sits 0.8 m under water, the Sun Camper 0.6 to 0.7 m. Both get in where a sailing yacht already has to be very careful. That is one of the main advantages of a houseboat in general, and a common reason why people switch over from sails. More on that in the piece on a sailing yacht or a motor yacht in Masuria.

But those few extra centimetres can decide things at a wild shoreline. You approach a bay, the bottom rises gently, and the difference between 0.6 and 0.8 m is a few metres closer to shore or a few metres further out. In Masuria this is rarely critical. Once a week, though, you will hit a spot where the shallower houseboat simply gets in and the deeper one stops a bit short.

A reminder while we are at it: the anchor on a charter boat is on a rope, not a chain. In ports you moor to piles or pick up a mooring line, and you catch that line with a boat hook from the stern and walk it forward to the bow. Overnight at anchor only in a sheltered bay and with the anchor light on. Rubbish and sewage go ashore in port, because this is a protected area.

Availability, the most practical difference of all

We have one Nautiner 40. A single boat, 2019, based at Port Royal in Giżycko. Of the Sun Camper 35 Flybridge we have five, built between 2022 and 2025.

Translate that into a calendar. Charter weeks customarily run Saturday to Saturday, and peak season is July and August. So one boat offers as many slots as there are Saturdays in the season, and you are competing for them with people who book in January. With five boats your odds go up many times over. If your holiday dates are fixed, the Sun Camper is simply more realistic. If you are flexible, the Nautiner is worth fighting for. Outside peak season shorter stays than a full week are sometimes available too.

One detail worth saying out loud: engine power differs between individual Sun Campers, from 40 to 115 hp. There is no single figure for all five. You check the exact power in the listing of the specific boat you are booking. The Nautiner has 80 hp.

Who sleeps where

This is the heart of the decision for a bigger group. Three cabins on the Nautiner means three couples behind their own doors. At full capacity two people still sleep in the saloon, so eight does not mean "eight separate bedrooms". It means six people have their own space and nobody wakes anybody up at six in the morning.

Two cabins plus the saloon on the Sun Camper is different maths. Two couples get their own space, the rest of the crew sleeps in the saloon. That works great for a family with children or a group of mates who do not care who sleeps where. It works less well for three couples who barely know each other.

Eight people versus seven is not just one berth more. It is the difference between "we all fit" and "somebody has to drop out or we take a second boat".

Comparison table

What neither of them forgives

High topsides and a flat bottom are the same story on both boats. A side wind catches the hull like a sail, and while manoeuvring in port it will push your bow off faster than you can react. The fix is trivial and everybody knows it, but few people actually use it: come in slowly, check where the wind is coming from, and set yourself up so the wind presses you onto the berth instead of pushing you off it.

The second thing is open water. In a strong wind Śniardwy and Mamry build a short steep chop, and a houseboat in that kind of wave turns unpleasant. You cross them in the morning or not at all. On top of that, the swing bridge in Giżycko and the Guzianka lock have opening hours, so you plan the route around them, not the other way round.

And the formality that comes up in every conversation: neither of these two models requires a licence. The rules are laid out in detail in the piece on a houseboat without a licence in Masuria.

Which one for whom

Three couples or a multi-generation family, eight people, most of them wanting their own door: Nautiner 40, and you start looking for dates well in advance.

A group of up to seven, first time at the helm, holiday in peak season on fixed dates, and a taste for sitting up top: Sun Camper 35 Flybridge.

A smaller crew, four or five people: then this is the wrong shelf entirely. Have a look at the Stillo 30 and 31, because for a group that size they make more sense.

Frequently asked questions

Which houseboat for eight people? The Nautiner 40. The Sun Camper 35 has seven berths and that number does not stretch. If there are eight of you and you have to sail in a specific week when the Nautiner is taken, two smaller boats often make more sense than cramming onto one.

Is the flybridge actually useful? In July and August usually yes, because the visibility while manoeuvring and the sheer pleasure of steering from up top make a difference every day. Off season, in cold and rain, you sit below and use it now and then. It is a decision about the weather, not about prestige.

Do you need a licence for either of them? No, for neither. You drive both without any qualifications. Before you set off the harbour master gives you on-water training, and that is enough to get going calmly.

Which one is easier in port? The Sun Camper, for two reasons at once: it is two metres shorter and seventy centimetres narrower, and the flybridge gives you a view of both sides as you come up to the piles. The Nautiner manoeuvres without drama too, you just have to give it more room and come in more slowly.

Where are they based and how does the deposit work? Both models are based at Port Royal in Giżycko, on Lake Kisajno. The deposit is refundable and settled on site in cash, the same as mandatory fees such as the final cleaning. You do not pay those online.

Cover photo: NaCzarter.pl (own fleet)