This spring is full of fun activities 😊. With the absolute highlight being the '21 dinner' for Eline last weekend. While the world is full of craziness, life is very good to us. This is not to be taken for granted and we realize this all too well when we read the news and hear less pleasant stories from friends and colleagues. 'Seize the day and appreciate this time of prosperity' is therefore our motto.

Boat life still suits us just fine. Especially now that the days are getting longer again and we can be outside more often with nice weather. We have also picked up playing golf on weekday evenings. Last week we went out in record time to paint the underwater ship (by Van Ast), to polish and wax the hull (by CCA) and to mount the new gori propeller (Toine). Out on Tuesday morning and back in on Wednesday afternoon 😃.

The weekends that we don't have appointments on Saturday, we look for a nice anchorage on the Grevelingen. These are wonderful moments of rest for the two of us. Like now in the Hals 😊. 

A look back at all our fun activities .... end March we go with Harrie and Anja a long weekend to Vienna. With the night train and that is a very nice experience. We are very lucky with the beautiful summer weather. What a beautiful city, full of culture and wealth of noble families such as the Habsburgs from European history.

 

At the beginning of April we went to Maastricht for a weekend and met Sam's parents. A very successful meeting with a delicious dinner in a fine setting at restaurant Normandy. Very well organized by Marinthe and Sam 👌👍.
The following weekend, Marinthe and I are going to Iceland for a long weekend. This is another belated mother-daughter graduation trip. What an overwhelming nature and nice people. We drive with a rental car through the south-west of Iceland and stay overnight at 4 different places. It was very nice that we could take the drone with us; in a short time Marinthe became quite proficient at operating it. Very valuable to have spent so much time with Marinthe. Especially since she will be in Bangkok for the second half of this year.
Iceland is high on our list of sailing destinations; we hope to sail there with the SeaQuest as the start of our 2025 departure ☺️.

The Easter weekend we spend together, with Sam there, cozy With the NoDoubt in Burghsluis. It is great sailing weather and dinner in the Oliegeultje and the homemade brunch from Hellofresh is delicious 😋. On the second Easter day we drive to Wijchen and Nijmegen to visit Joke and Wim.

 

On King's Day we will cycle a 77 km tour of Grevelingen together. Fortunately with a little 'support' on an e-bike from Aqua Vitesse. Top cycling 👍. Very nice to do, but also very tiring 🥵. The girls have a top day in Maastricht with a meet-and-greet with André Rieu and visit from Alex, Maxima and daughters.

 

In the meantime, we are picking out a kitchen, bathroom and tiles for our little apartment together with the girls and also signing the official purchase contract. The construction will start just after the summer vacations. In this period of "de-stuffing" this does feel like a contradictory movement. But it also feels very good as a basis for our family for the coming years.

Also, together with Mieke, I complete the Hertogenpad in Roermond and we start with the first two stages of the Pilgrims path from Maastricht to Amsterdam. These are always great walking days 😊. The second day we had fun with the men. That is also worth repeating 😃.

 

And then last weekend as a highlight Eline's belated 21 dinner in Bruinisse (she is already over 22 😉 ). What a special happening with beautiful warm words and a delicious dinner at Sailors Inn in a nautical setting. We did spend some time puzzling over how to handle this without the space of a house. Iris and Marco wanted to help us with a fantastic dinner, starting on the terrace with the boat next door and the dinner itself in the beautiful upstairs room with a view of the Grevelingen. 👍😃😊.

 

Eline sleeps with 8 friends on the boat, Marinthe, Sam and Jonas in one of those cozy floating houses of Aqua Vitesse, and Toine and I in a hotel in Bru. Very successful! It couldn't have been better. How proud we are of our daughters and happy with both their boyfriends ☺️☺️.