NO SHIPPING THIS WEEK! 16-03-2026 to 22-03-2026 The adventures on the water with my new ship.

In my planning, I had already taken into account that not everything would go smoothly. Unfortunately, more things went wrong than I had anticipated. It started on the day of departure; initially, we were supposed to leave Friday morning, but this was hampered because the payment took 24 hours to arrive. Much later than planned, we finally started the crossing on Friday. To make up for lost time, we sailed the entire evening and part of the night, finally arriving in Amsterdam just after 1 a.m.

The lost time was made up, which I was very happy about. On Saturday morning, we were supposed to go through Amsterdam, and then it would actually have been only a short distance. Unfortunately, this went completely wrong as well. Due to work on bridges and locks, there was absolutely no way to get through. Another possibility would have been via Haarlem, but unfortunately, the same problem. The whole morning and afternoon wasted, a few hundred liters of diesel later, and I was back to square one. There was only one option left, and that was via Utrecht, continuing on to Rotterdam, which is a huge detour. We sailed the entire evening and part of the night again (and to think we had started early in the morning). We finally arrived in Gouda at 2 a.m.

On Sunday, we were finally going to reach our final destination, despite all the setbacks. Unfortunately, luck was not on my side this time either. Because the recreational season doesn't start until April 1st, the lock didn't open on Sunday. There was no alternative route, so we were stuck in Gouda for the entire Sunday. This was extremely frustrating, considering how hard we had tried to make it on time.

There was nothing left to do but continue the journey on Monday morning. So we did just that; early in the afternoon, we arrived at my old familiar harbor where my old boat was also moored. It is a huge relief that we have reached this point. I could finally shower again after days and transfer my own belongings to the new ship. I finally have power again and a laptop to clear the huge backlog in my mailbox. I will start with this tomorrow (Wednesday, March 18, 2026). There is so much in there at the moment that I will likely be busy with it all day.

Unfortunately, the ship is not yet in its final location. My crew members had to leave due to other commitments. This would mean I have to sail the last stretch alone. But I don't dare attempt this without an extra pair of hands. I will have extra help again on Sunday, and then the ship will move to its final location. By now, I am pretty exhausted after everything that has happened over the past few days. But despite that, I am really incredibly happy with my new house. A lot still needs to be renovated and made livable. But I have until the end of the year to do that.

The coming months will be very intense with work, which is my greatest passion and love. But a new love has been added to that, which will also demand a lot of attention and time. I therefore want to thank everyone for your patience. I know how annoying it is to wait for something when you want it as soon as possible. In the coming weeks, I will do my best to catch up on the backlog as quickly as possible.

This means that new orders should once again expect a delay of at least 2 to 3 weeks. I will try to make a new estimate of the expected shipping dates tomorrow. But please allow plenty of room for this. My life is full of unexpected obstacles.