I returned to the Netherlands. It’s raining, 6° Celsius, and it gets dark at about 17:00 (5 p.m.). But I am staying on my boat, and it’s cosy inside. The gas heating is doing a good job. I was going out with a thermal camera to spot some weak spots in terms of insolation potentially. But there are non. Also, I ran the engine for some hours, put more air into the fenders and tightened things up for potential autumn storms to come. There is now no wind at all, and the water is like a mirror. That’s a little uncommon for the season, definitely when compared with last year, when heavy storms swept over this land.

This is the second winter on the boat. The marina is nearly empty, as many took their boats on land for maintenance. I will do so only briefly before I am planning to take the boat through Belgium to France in the coming spring and find a harbour in Alsace.

A boat is a lot of work. And they have a character. You better learn about it. It took me 2 hours to figure out a problem with the DC/AC-Inverter. Then many hours small maintenance items and cleaning. Finally, also the dingy had a problem. I pumped out the rainwater and slipped on the wooden plans, smashing my knee. But all okay.