We have just seen the 70th full moon living on board of Dagens 2. Since August 2010 we enjoyed the freedom to sail through Netherlands, Belgium and France. From time to time we could make wonderful holidays in Switzerland.

The freedom was accompanied with a certain loneliness.

In freedom and loneliness we encountered nature and unspoiled countryside: marvellous moments and challenging situations.

We gained impressive memories: the omnipresent wind in the Netherlands, the first small locks and the tidal Schelde in Belgium, the many moorings in France below the length of our ship. For every problem there was a solution, which we adopted gratefully.

For all the friends we met, there is André, a 86 year old fisherman from Strasbourg, a touching example. From mid-October we could see him in his little dinghy passing behind our stern, his angling rods hanging over board. We beckoned to him. He waved back. When it got colder, he came on the pontoon, where we were moored. The harbour was in modification to be enlarged. There were days, where the pontoon was merely a skeleton. The harbour master had removed the paving tiles to insert the electric cables and water hoses. But André didn't bother. He hopped from traverse to the next as a weasel, in one hand the fishing rods, in the other hand the bucket with the bait fishs. We caught our breath and observed his steps, worrying he might fall into the water. But nothing occurred. One evening he knocked at our wheelhouse and brought us a caught pike, still alive. What a surprise! Under his survey we prepared a delicious and substantial meal. A fine variation in our culinary rota.

André was not only a fisherman. Once he came on our ship and played a full repertory of chanty songs and french chansons on his harmonica. Earlier, he said, he had travelled through Portugal and Turkey and streched his travel budget by playing on his harmonica in the streets.

Travelling, we enhanced our love of life. We enlarged our knowledge of the language in each country we traveled in and immerged in history and culture of the land.

We enjoyed the famous children party on St Nicholas' Day in Holland, the flowery gardens at Keukenhof or at the garden exhibition at Venlo, the historical boat-lifts and the modern counterpart at Strépy-Thieu in Belgium, the persons on the quay who adressed us and talked to us. It's astonishing how many persons are on the move, just as we, living aboard, partly or during the whole year. We met people from Australia, Sweden, Canada, Italy, Great-Britain, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland and from time to time also from France. We had a nice time, swapping between the different languages, and sometimes merged the words in a hotchpotch.

Now it's time again to say good-bye to our Koejac winter-mooring at Strasbourg. It was wonderful to be here and we enjoyed the proximity to Switzerland.

All moments are transitory. But we are free to keep their memory in our mind.

We look foreward to the next travelling season. We shall heading from Strasbourg to Nancy and follow the Meuse/Maas down to Maasbracht, where we are expected to arrive mid-June in a dry dock for a check of our hull. From there on we plan to sail during the second half of the year over Mittellandkanal to Berlin, where we will stay at Marina am Tiefen See at Potsdam during winter 2016/17.

Our mooring place will offer us a beautiful sight over the river Havel and to the public park Babelsberg at the other bank.

There is a contemplative poem by Hans Kruppa in the little book "Glück kennt kein Alter", which we love to share with you:

Notwendige Freundschaften

Liebst du die Freiheit,

musst du dich mit der Einsamkeit anfreunden.

Liebst du die Liebe,

musst du dich mit dem Verlust anfreunden.

Liebst du das Leben,

musst du dich mit der Vergänglichkeit anfreunden. 

Inseparable friendship

If you love freedom,

you have to ease into lonelyness.

If you are devoted to love,

you must accustome yourself to loss.

If you adore life,

you ought to accept it's fugacious. 

Such friendships we were allowed to face at its full value. We get excited about the following periods between full moons and about all things, what life, love and freedom will present us between Strasbourg and Berlin.

We wish you a happy time around Easter.

Bernadette and Heinz
www.dagens2.ch

Rise of spring in Citadelle-park at Strasbourg on 19th of March 2016