Über uns
A portal for the Musel
nautic.lu came about because there was nothing for the Luxembourg stretch of the Moselle: no decent overview of moorings, nowhere to offer a boat in the region without paying one of the big international portals, and no coherent cruising information for the run from Schengen to Wasserbillig.
Why it costs nothing
Because the question is wrongly framed. A portal for a forty-kilometre stretch with maybe a few hundred active boats does not carry a business model. Charge a fee and people stop posting, and without listings the portal is worthless. So we charge nothing.
This is not an introductory offer or a freemium model with a later paywall. There is no paid promotion, no subscription, no commission on sales and no payment data in the system. If anyone asks you for payment in the name of nautic.lu, it is a scam.
The promise
Post, edit, extend and delete listings — free. Search, filter, get in touch — free. Waterway data, map, lock details — free. For everyone, permanently.
What is here and what is not
The waterway data is a community effort, not official information. We collect what is publicly available and mark every record not yet checked against official sources. What counts is always ELWIS, the notices to skippers, the WSA Mosel-Saar-Lahn, the Service de la navigation and the signs on site.
We check listings for the obvious before releasing them. What we cannot do is inspect the goods. View every boat in person before money changes hands, and for larger sums bring in a surveyor.
The figures
Language
The site is available in German, French and English. German is the source language, because it is the working language on the water on the Luxembourg Moselle and the whole lower course is German-speaking.
Who is behind this
Marc Kreitz
Gründer und Betreiber · Luxemburg
Baut nautic.lu in der Freizeit und hält es kostenlos.
No team, no agency, no investors — and that is exactly why the free promise holds. There is nobody who will eventually want a return. If something is wrong or missing, the message lands right here.
Why someone gives this away
Professionally, Marc builds platforms with artificial intelligence — and does it very well. When someone turns up with an idea, what usually comes out is something that works: portals, analytics, automations, things others would need half a team and a year for. That is his trade, and he knows it.
nautic.lu is none of that. There is no client here, no specification and no invoice at the end. This site came from a different impulse: Marc boats himself — the Moselle, and offshore too — and it simply annoyed him that there was nothing decent for this stretch. Anyone who has looked for information here knows how it goes: three dead links, a PDF from 2009, and a forum post where someone writes “Channel 20 I think?”.
So he built it. For the pleasure of it, in the time others spend in front of the television. That also explains why the waterway pages turned out so detailed — chamber dimensions, radio channels, the business with pontoon A at Schwebsange. Those are things you only put in when you have needed them yourself. The inland and maritime radio certificates come from the ILR — which is where he went and got them, so the “I think” could go.
If you are looking for something in this line professionally: just ask. For nautic.lu itself what is written above still holds — the site stays free, out of conviction, not as advertising space.
Getting involved
The most useful thing you can do is correct things. A wrong phone number at a lock, a landing stage that no longer exists, a clearance you know precisely — all of it makes the site better for the next person. Second most useful: post a listing, even when things are quiet.