The Floating Nomad Houseboat Rentals owner Rheanna Sinnett sits in the sunroom of one of the cabins at Otyokwa in Bremen, where her business is based. Sinnett, who established her business in Rangeley in 2018, is preparing her boats for their fifth summer on Pemaquid Lake in Bremen. (Piper Pavelich photo)
After receiving an award from the U.S. Small Business Administration and celebrating her fourth anniversary of living in Bremen, Rheanna Sinnett is gearing up for another season on Pemaquid Lake.
Sinnett, owner of The Floating Nomad Houseboat Rentals, is preparing to welcome guests to her boats Nomad and Roam for her fifth rental season on the waters in Bremen.
“You come and just unload here,” she said. “You come and you’re away from the hustle and bustle.”
Through the business, renters can choose between staying on Nomad or Roam for a minimum of two nights starting Memorial Day through Indigenous Peoples’ Day in mid-October. The boats are equipped with everything a guest may need, said Sinnett, with the expectation they bring their own groceries and toiletries.
The boats are securely moored during guest visits, she said, as guests are not authorized to operate them.
Sinnett and her boats have not always called Pemaquid Lake home, as her business’s origins can be traced back to the waterways of Rangeley.
Growing up in a military family, Sinnett moved around a lot but refers to rural Maine as her family’s “home base.” In 1983, the family bought property in Rangeley and used it as a vacation destination until her parents retired there in 2005, she said.
After graduating from the naval academy, Sinnett joined the U.S. Navy and was on active duty from 2003-2014.
Following her return from active duty, Sinnett helped her parents operate their business, Rangeley Region Lake Cruises and Kayaking, which launched boats on Rangeley Lake from the dock on their property. It was through this venture that she became a registered Maine guide and a licensed boat captain.
Sinnett said helping her parents made her realize she wanted to run her own business on the water. Although she was still settling into “civilian life,” she knew she wanted her future business to be based in Maine.
“Rural Maine is just my heart … It washes your soul,” she said. “I knew that that was where I wanted to live, that’s where I wanted to run my business, and it comes full circle because it’s where I want to bring people to share in that experience.”
After returning from a yearlong deployment to Germany in the summer of 2017, Sinnett said she had her mind set on the business she wanted to create. Her first idea was to buy a parcel of land from her parents on Rangeley Lake to develop tiny houses for rent.
However, a series of events changed the trajectory of her life. Her father found the boat she would eventually purchase, Nomad, on Craigslist. Then, a friend sent her an article about a boat builder and designer, Rick Keith, of Falmouth, and her father suggested, she said, “What about tiny houses on the water?”
Nomad, the namesake of The Floating Nomad Houseboat Rentals. Nomad is one of two boats owned and rented out by Rheanna Sinnett, of The Floating Nomad Houseboat Rentals. Sinnett’s business is based on Pemaquid Lake in Bremen. (Photo courtesy Josh Laskin)
“It all kind of fell into place,” she said. “All of it, it just feels like all of this kismet, like perfect combination of wonderful symmetry, like full circle.”
In the winter of 2017, Sinnett bought Nomad and worked with Keith to renovate it and convert it from a saltwater offshore craft to a freshwater lake boat.
After living on Nomad for awhile to learn about the boat, Sinnett launched The Floating Nomad Houseboats Rentals in the summer of 2018 from the same dock as her parents’ business. At the time, she felt uncertain at first about how her business would be received.
“I remember thinking if people don’t come, I’m just going to live on Nomad,” she said.
But people came and kept coming, she said, and good experiences, word of mouth, and online reviews helped get the business off the ground.
Sinnett said she knew she wanted to start the business with one boat available for rent, but in the winter of 2018, she enlisted Keith’s help with building another boat. Just like she did with Nomad, Sinnett lived on the second boat for awhile before making it available for rentals.
She said business picked up “exponentially” during her second season on Rangeley Lake, so much so that she had to turn away business because Nomad was quickly booked for the summer. So, she moved out of her second boat, Roam, and started renting it out in the summer of 2019.
“That was when I knew we were onto it,” she said.
For awhile, all was well, until Sinnett and her parents had to close their businesses in Rangeley in the summer of 2020 due to unforeseen circumstances, she said.
While she was able to keep her boats on Rangeley Lake for the winter of 2020, Sinnett said she moved to Falmouth while she figured out her next move. She kept busy helping Keith build another boat, which has since found a new owner, and becoming a U.S. Coast Guard credentialed master captain.
While looking for a new home for her and her boats, John and Crissy Stirratt, the owners of Bremen camp Otyokwa, reached out. The Stirratts were fans of Sinnett’s business, she said, and wanted to talk with her about bringing her boats to their camp on Pemaquid Lake.
Sinnett, who is now the camp’s property manager, brought her boats to Bremen in April 2021.
“It was kind of one of those, again, just perfect timing,” she said. “It really is a special spot to call our home port.”
Sinnett runs her business in conjunction with the camp. She said people often rent both her boats and cabins on the site.
In March, The Floating Nomad Houseboat Rentals was named the 2025 Maine Veteran-Owned Small Business of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Association, an honor Sinnett said she appreciates but did not expect.
Roam, one of two boats owned by Rheanna Sinnett, of The Floating Nomad Houseboat Rentals in Bremen. With the help of boat builder and designer Rick Keith, of Falmouth, Sinnett built Roam and began renting it out as part of her business in 2019. (Photo courtesy Katherine Hardeman)
“That’s my life’s work, in the sense of that’s what I do. That’s kind of who I am really … It’s what I love,” she said.
She said one of her favorite parts of the rental season is watching her customers see the boats and the lake for the first time.
“It totally rejuvenates me … It’s like me seeing it again for the first time,” she said. “Everything about it is just so special and to see someone else get excited about it … To me, that’s just the most fulfilling, that’s what gets me going.”
One of her greatest joys throughout her journey has been learning from her parents, she said, who she watched run a business themselves. From them, she saw firsthand what it was like to problem solve, put out metaphorical fires, and adapt to change, she said.
“It’s really, really fun and it keeps you kind of agile and mentally excited … It was fun for them, and I saw that … And I was seeking that out,” she said.
Sinnett credits her time in the Navy with instilling a great sense of responsibility and accountability in her. For Sinnett, it’s important to be professional and diligent at all times, as the safety of her renters is of the utmost importance.
“Everything works great, and I think not only because we’ve thought through everything, but it’s just a simple experience by design,” she said. “That’s how it should be.”
Her advice to those who want to start a small business is to just “do it.”
“If you love it, you’ll figure it out,” she said. “You just find a way … You need your people that also believe in you, too.”
The Floating Nomad Houseboat Rentals is located at 244 Nobleboro Road in Bremen. For more information or to book a stay, call Sinnett at 443-852-1125, email info@thefloatingnomad.com, or go to thefloatingnomad.com.
