For the second time we left Minden, this time in westerly direction, on Monday the 6th of August at 10:02AM. After a relaxing cruise we switched off our engine four hours and twenty-four minutes later at Bad Essen – an attractive looking location, ‘sold out’ on the way up. Here we are; the new(ish) local marina is visible in the background, situated on the opposite bank. We are self-supporting and avoid marinas most of the time, as they would cost us at least € 750,00 on a monthly basis during the cruising season. We try to buy diesel and beer (to name but a few) for that money and take in water at boat-clubs when necessary for a few €€€ at the time.

The first picture shows us on our own. Later on we were accompanied by a fellow countryman, as this picture shows. That’s not really the point, however. The weather was, well, sizzling hot, a reason for young men (the girls looked on in awe) to jump into the canal from a bridge, situated just behind us. Initially they did it from a ‘low’ level, being street level. Though that was daring enough, two of them even reached the highest level, climbing the outer girder like monkeys.

Natural phenomenon (I). Recently we could present some spectacular pictures of what nature shows us occasionally. On the 7th of August, around 8:00PM, it seemed as if it was gonna rain – at last. It didn’t.

Bad Essen, a nice enough town indeed -and convenient because of the shops- was left behind at 9:30AM on Wednesday the 8th. Another uneventful journey ended at 12:46PM at Bramsche, next to the commercial harbour and the smelling plant of Eilers’ fodder mill. Later on we discovered that a smell-free spot was easy to find just a bit further on. Now we know for sure: avoid this spot, especially when the wind blows from the west!

The view towards the harbour, as shown two pictures back, was completely obscured by the heavy rain during some ten minutes.

A more or less spectacular sight was offered by the bridge close behind us. The rain-water is drained by two pipes, of course emptying into the canal.

Natural phenomenon (II). Around 6:00PM the rain had stopped altogether. Looking at all the brown grass/leaves and obviously suffering trees along the way, they all could do with a week of rain instead of a mere hour. Sometimes it even looks like autumn. Having said that, the sky anew offered us a spectacular cloud-formation in the distance.

We had been planning for the week-end (more about that hereunder) and made a reservation in the marina of the Osnabrücker Motor-Yacht-Club. Bramsche was left on Friday the 10th of August at 8:29AM; the OMYC reached at 9:50AM after a short cruise onto the Stichkanal Osnabrück (also Zweigkanal Osnabrück) – a branch of the Mittellandkanal. As the name suggests this canal eventually ends up in the city of Osnabrück. We’re moored here on the outside of a T-formed pontoon, in fact on the canal itself. All facilities included for € 20,00 a day, which undermines our assertion of ‘at least’ € 750,00 a month. This, however, is a cheap rarity – take our word for it.

On Saturday the 11th we discovered that we are visited more of less permanently by a flock of young common house martins (huiszwaluwen). Initially they found coverage on the leeward side of our ship when the wind blew severely from the west. Today, Sunday the 12th of August 2018, they take a rest together, using one of our ropes, after having played very skilfully in the air above the water.

Natural phenomenon (III). Back to two pictures before this one. We wanted to make a picture using the light that is the most beautiful, we think, being the light created by a setting sun. To have a striking overview of the marina we made a walk across a near bridge towards the opposite bank. When arriving at the right spot we had to wait for an obscuring cloud. That makes for spectaculair views. This is one of them.

The last-but-one picture for this week. We cruised as close as possible to Osnabrück as we rented a car there in view of visiting a family member because of her reaching a crown year (another lustrum), combined with her living in the east of The Netherlands – not all that far from where we are at present. We discovered that renting from Friday 1:00PM through Monday 1:00PM cost a few cents over € 20,00 a day – so not a lot more than € 60,00 in total. Then we discovered that the renting company (Sixt) is opened on Sunday, too. Ha !, we thought, then we bring the car back on Sunday. Surprise, the price per day was all of a sudden a bit over € 30,00 a day(!!). We’ll yet bring the car back on Monday. Price-wise speaking it does not make any difference and it gives us the opportunity to do some additional shopping on Monday-morning.

This picture, taken on Saturday the 11th of August 2018 was, surprisingly, already sent to us this very day, Sunday the 12th. What we see here are 5 sisters and 1 brother, accompanied by 3 husbands and 1 wife. (One husband unfortunately died already 7 years back, a second one separated and lives far from here – in Central America.) It was the birthday-party for the one visible on the extreme left. We all had a great afternoon, together with a load of friends of the birthday-girl. Bis nächste Woche!