29th july 2007 - tulcea

it is 7am. There is dew on the roof of the boat for the first time when I go outside. it has cooled down. The heat only reigns during the day. We are just passing tulcea. It's 70km to the black sea. Past thatched houses, families of geese, boats on land and on water, some elegant and made from wood, others less attractive made from plastic some with, but many without motors. In front of one house and another stands a car. The smell of manure: cows, horses ...

50km to go. The sulina branch has been a channel for 120 years, bordered to the left and right by a stone wall it flows dead straight into the sea and, although it holds less than 20% of the water, it is the most important channel and is actually the only connection to the sea for ships.

40km to go. The aroma of wine blows across the water, berry-like, similar to our uhudler wine. Decaying remains of buildings from the agricultural commune. My skin is wind and weatherbeaten. My soul is softened and roughened by the many emotions, the permanent lack of sleep, the moods and challenges that change daily.

30km to go. Hideous, 3-storey prefabs appear and disappear again, just like the ugly hydrofoils.

20km to go. The regulation is now sometimes broken up, giving way to natural shores. Washed out trees, bays, camping fishermen. Then the channel again.

10km to go. Thoughts of home.

The lighthouse at sulina, km 0. it now stands 12km from the sea. Because before the danube was dammed to death europe was moving 100m into the sea every year. Nowadays it is only by 30cm. We travel the last kilometres to the new lighthouse. There, at river kilometre "minus 12", we stop despite forbiddance and gesturing from the authorities, run to the little beach and throw ourselves into the black sea. Beaming, faces beaming more than usual. Horizon of dreams. Turning point. Fresh water. The beginning of the return journey. The end of the beginning. The beginning of the end. Full moon.