Sharing a lock with Willum who was making his way back to Winsum to moor for the winter. We had met him, his wife Truus and their budgie on the Mitteland so it was a lovely surprise when he caught up with us here.

We walked from the canal the 3km to the old fortified village of Bourtange, saved from dereliction in the 60's and now a popular tourist attraction. Like many towns and villages, it has a memorial to the surprisingly large Jewish population, more than 40, who were taken away by the Nazis, only 5 survived. Many of the towns in this part of the Netherlands have brass plaques set into the pavement outside shops and houses with the names and ages of families who had lived there, which concentration camp they had been taken to and when they had died.

On payment of a deposit, you are given a key for the self-operated bridges and locks on these small Dutch canals. The instructions are in Dutch and German and each bridge operates in a slightly different way. Often my small language skills are not enough and I have to accost a passer-by to help. Some offer anyway, including car drivers who probably see it as the quickest way of getting going again.

It is with great relief that we moor up on the Netherlands side of the border near Ter Apel. The friendly and helpful Dutch lockkeeper showed us a free mooring and found us at the end of his shift to chat about our boat. He also suggested visiting the nearby monastery as yes, we could stay as long as we liked. What a breath of fresh air he was. The monastery is now a museum.  It was the first time we had ever been able to see the other side of a vaulted ceiling, quite voluptuous.

By mid September we are back at the border with the Netherlands again. Sweet of them to celebrate our safe return with these decorations on the last swing bridge. Oh, it's not for us. The Rutenbrock Canal is 225 years old. Happy Birthday!

With the Mitteland behind us, here on the Dortmund-Ems Canal we remember this ancient lock from last time. They are building the new one just on the other side but in the meantime, there goes more of Snail's paint.

This is the large and mainly ultra modern town of Volkswagon complete with cafes, shops, sport stadium and power station. The Mitteland Canal goes right through it. It has its own railway but also quays for commercial barges to offload. The population all wore name labels. Strange place.

           It was a good year for wild hops though.

You can buy a pre-loaded key on the Mitteland that gives access to the water supplies dotted not very frequently along the canal. This one leaked more than it gave so drank a lot of our euros while dribbling into Snail's tank.

And on the Mitteland again where we are overtaken by this vehicle of the future?

Back we go again across the aqueduct over the Elbe.

We do our Good Samaritan bit and tow this yacht out of the lock as its engine has died. The Wasserpolizei are waiting, glower at us and take photos as we deposit the ailing yacht next to a pontoon and carry on. We find out later that you need a licence to tow in Germany. At least the yachtys are happy with us. They catch us up later having fixed the problem and dangle two bottles of beer on a boat hook over the canal for us to grab.

Outskirts of Brandenburg and everything down on the roof to get through this bridge.

There are some wide expanses of water on the way back to the Mitteland so for one last time we put out the anchor and enjoy the evening before beginning the long drag back to the Dutch border.

Responsible parenthood - much safer. Temujin have decided to stay in Germany until next year as by staying on the canals they have not upset the authorities. We have decided to head for the Netherlands. Quite why Temujin has not attracted unwanted attention as well is harder to pinpoint as it is impossible for us, however hard we try, to apply 'logic' to the German rules and regulations.

This is the second pylon we'd seen adorned in this way. The storklets must have quite a view.

The nearest we got to Berlin was Spandau. We were passed a few times by this beasty. Getting a bit long in the tooth now but still attracts the punters.

And this. Could make for an interesting insurance claim.

Not quite only cruisers, this is another version of the Tom Sawyer.

This lockful was a common if uninteresting sight too, cruisers only in Germany! Sadly another common sight for us was the daily logging of our travels by the Wasserpolizei. Just making sure we were travelling the right way I suppose, ie leaving.

Much of the surroundings along the waterways was heavily forested. This was a common sight, beaver damage.

In all our travels that summer, this was the only German boat we saw that could claim to be historic and traditional. Where have they all gone?

                        Snail at anchor.

However we feel, the peacefulness to be found here helps to heal. Over the next days we often anchor Snail out on the water and use Origami to get ashore. Woody loves it and so do we.

The lakes do not disappoint and as usual we are the only boat on them that isn't a cruiser or a yacht. Apart from the 'Tom Sawyer's that is. These holiday hire rafts are allowed out onto these vast waterways with just half an hour's instruction. Yes, we are bitter.

Very disappointed but not totally cowed, we are determined to reach the beautiful Mecklenberg Lakes before we turn around and head all the way back on the Mitteland through Germany again. Passing this beautifully constructed timber house, we take a picture and then see the sign - it's verboten to take a picture. We are beginning to find this country stifling.

No sooner had we tied up for the evening when the Wasserpolizei suddenly appeared. Papers! It is verboten to be on this river! You must pay a fine and be accompanied off or pay for a pilot! And when are you leaving Germany?! So, this is us being escorted off the Elbe by the police boat with our cruiser friends very upset on our behalf following at a safe distance. It turns out that Snail is regarded as much too long, although we never did find out for what. We also cannot go on the Oder so that's Poland out as well. Then we are warned off Berlin - so many police there. Sadly we begin to come to terms with the realisation that this is the end of our ambitions for this year and forever in Snail in this country. And then wondered if that ferryman had had a hand in it all.

We had been be-friended by a lovely German couple at the yachthaven who suggested we left together the following day for Wittenberge, the next possible stop on the river. There they are in their white cruiser ahead of us (ofcourse). The river had got busier but no worse than the Mitteland.

There was also a disturbing exhibition of wooden figures, this is just a few. The Holocaust has not been denied in Germany. We were to visit Belsen and Ravensbruck, the women's death camp this summer. Belsen had a personal impact as my father had been one of the first of the Allied soldiers to enter the place.

From one of  Tangermunde's towers there were fine views of the river and old town. You can just see the yachthaven on the left at the end of the arm.

I think you can see from the colour of the sky that it was a very warm day but here's the proof. The medieval walls had kept most of the flooding out of the town.

There are still reminders of the east's Communist past and this shop sells nothing other than products from that era.

The only place to moor at Tangermunde is in the yacht haven, pricey but friendly and worth it to explore the famous town. If you look closely you can see me under the white steps pointing to the height of the floods that had not long before receded. They had been the highest recorded. The stork knew the best vantage point was on the clubhouse roof.

We soon lost sight of the cruisers as we enjoyed the river at a more dignified pace. This was our frst view of the ancient riverside town of Tangermunde, our next stop.

Our troubles began early on in the trip on the Elbe with this ferry. We had waited with some German boats while it loaded up but when the cruisers began to move on in front of it we assumed that it was happy to wait for us all and followed. Out came the skipper with a loud hailer and in unintelligible German began to shout. It was obviously directed at us rather than the cruisers and didn't sound complimentary, certainly not welcoming. Puzzled and by now well past him, we eventually forgot about it.

It was around this time that we split from Temujin for a while. They had already taken the River Elbe route on previous visits to Germany and wanted this time to stay on the canals. We therefore arranged to meet them after exploring the Elbe ourselves and waited at this lock at Paraye to go out onto the river. It was to be a fateful decision.