Tuesday 7th June 2005 Chełmno to Bydgoszcz.

Moored on the quay at Chelmno with the river rushing past

9º C Sunny at first with a mackerel sky, soon changing to grey flying clouds, cold and windy. We set off early at 7.10 am, with our coats and scarves on, to do the 35 kms to Bydgoszcz. The water level had risen overnight by 7cms. We passed the first exposed tip of a sandbank by KP 803 and the next at KP 804, the latter was bigger and covered with birds and extended underwater quite a way up river. Groynes on the right bank made the water speed up and made us slow down to a complete stop. The boat was doing great speed

Bill and Fanny, moored at Chelmno

through the water, but making no forward progress over the bed for a few minutes. Extra revs were applied for a few minutes until the boat started to move again, there weren’t many revs left to add on. Over to the left again at KP 802 and our speed through the water picked up again so we could lower the engine revs a little. We went through a cloud of swallows, hundreds of them, diving and darting over the river eating flies. I went in to make us a warming cup of soup and some toast to go with it. At

Lashed securely to the quay at Chelmno

11.10 am we passed KP 792, 20kms to go. Back and forth, zig-zagging across the river. Another fast flowing patch in the river caused Mike to increase revs to almost full throttle to get the boat moving. Lunch at 12.45 pm was sandwiches, taken in turns as steering was not easy with the engine running at such high speed. Mike had increased the revs to see if we could improve on the average speed for the day. At 1.25 pm we passed KP 782, 10kms left to do. One side of the river to other, searching through binoculars for marker posts hidden in the trees, not visible until the last second. Under Bydgoszcz bridge at 3 pm, taking photos of all the old tugs and pans moored in the small basin downstream of the bridge and the sandbanks piling up behind each pier of the road bridge. As we passed under the right hand arch, I spotted an old dredger moored on the left side of the river, anchored in the middle. Beyond the bridge close to the left bank there was a large sandbank, where upwards of fifty swans (the only ones we’d seen on the river) were

Sand barges at Bydgoszcz

competing for standing room. Another sand dredger was moored in the middle of the river not far upstream of the right turn into the Brda, no signs of life on board. We left the Wisła at 3.45 pm. Our speed increased to 9 kph as we entered the slack water of the lock cut, stopped to moor next to a twenty foot high dolphin. Mike climbed the ladder, forcing his way past a dozen or more years’ accumulation of spider webs only to find there was no walkway across to the bank. We moved upriver to a

Sandbanks under the bridge at Bydgoszcz

set of dolphins closer to the lock and this time there was a passarelle to the bank. Mike went up to see the keeper. The lock started emptying as he climbed back down the ladder. The 4m rise was easily accomplished with the aid of floating bollards to tie to. The water level of the Wisła had gone down 1.5m since we were here last. Bill went in the lock office to pay for the lock. The charges had doubled as we were beyond normal working hours, i.e. after 3 p.m. We tied up to the piling above the lock.

Digging out the sand

Glad to be out of the fast flowing water and the force of the wind. It was 4.30 pm. The average speed had risen from 3.7 kph to 4.2 kph by increasing the engine revs, even though the speed had varied wildly during the day. As soon as we’d tied up and packed all the gear away we both went to sleep, absolutely shattered. So glad that was over.

How many swans can you get on one sandbank??

Monday 6th June 2005 Grudziadz to Chełmno.

Rosy leaving the arm at Grudziadz

11.5º C overnight. Cold and breezy with grey scudding clouds and occasional bright spells. The water level in the Wisła had dropped another 5 cms overnight. Rosy went out of the arm first, turning right heading downstream with the flow to turn upstream out in the river. Mike powered gently round the corner, turning left into the flow, out of the mucky hole we’d tied in overnight. I made a cup of tea as we went upriver. The local authorities had been busy building new concrete capped groynes both

Sand quay at Grudziadz

up- and down-stream of Grudziadz. A pair of goosanders were using one as a diving platform until we passed them, then they flew off. Criss-crossing the river started again. Not long after we set off another little yacht came flying down the river with the flow. A sandbank was showing its head above water at KP 829.5. Two swans and a load of gulls were sitting on it. At KP 828 we caught the edge of another sandbank, so I warned Bill on VHF to keep off to our left and Mike backed off it, sending up

Bridge over the Vistula at Grudziadz

clouds of sand, into deeper water. We had been in direct line with the markers. Another one nearly caught us between KP 826/827, where we had to back off yet again and cross further downstream than the bank markers. It looked like the sandbanks had moved further downriver than the markers. Learning to “read” the river, we could see there was “flat” water over the sand and the wind was picking up bigger ripples where the water was deeper. We’d also noticed that, when we were coming up to a submerged

New tower blocks at Grudziadz

sandbar, the boat’s speed increased dramatically as it found slack water, increasing from 2 kph to 6 kph in no time. We backed off and tip-toed very gingerly across the river to the left hand side, downstream of the right hand markers on a right hand bend! As we crossed back to the left side, we could see the clearly defined downstream edge of the sand bar where the water cascaded over it. Then a team of three men in a fast boat that looked a bit like a dug-out canoe with a large outboard was coming down river crossing from side

Little yacht whizzing past heading downstream

to side. They were changing the bank markers!! Hopefully we will now miss the ends of the sandbanks! I took photos of them moving the goal posts. We were right! The sand was moving, rolling downstream, being churned along like sand dunes in a water covered desert. The wind started picking up at 11.45 a.m. I went in to make sandwiches for lunch at 12.30 p.m. Mike needed a spotter, so I left the sandwich making while we crossed back across the river. I finished making the

Exposed top of sand bank near Chelmno

sandwiches and we ate lunch whilst zig-zagging back and forth across the Wisła. A large bunch of mallard drakes and goosanders took off from a sandy beach, disturbed by our passage. Between KP 815/814 the bank markers had changed completely from when we came downriver. The channel had been routed along the other side of the river, right over on the left hand side at the start of a long left hand bend, downstream of Swiecie, a town practically invisible from the river. Mike’s charts of bank

Waterways lengthsmen changing the bank markers!

markers would have to be amended, which meant they would be of little use should we ever come here again. Upstream of the town there was a big sweeping right hand bend with a large sandbank on the inside. At 2.45 p.m. we could see the church towers of Chełmno in the distance. On the inside of the next big bend they had built four new stone groynes. More seagulls were standing on sand in mid-river at KP 811. Across the river, under the high girder road bridge at Chełmno and back

Speeding off to change more bank markers
to match the ever moving channel

across the river again to moor against a concrete capped piled quay that was higher than our cabin roofs. It was 4 pm when we tied at the upstream end.  Several car loads of people had come to watch. Mike gave Bill a hand to tie up behind us. A strange looking vessel set off from the waterways basin opposite and came steaming past us twice, then moored behind and an old chap came to chat to Bill, who was giving Fanny some grief and a bath as she’d found something smelly to roll in within seconds of tying up. Bad dog! Strange how

Chelmno and another sand bank

humans have no liking for eau-de-poisson-mort (perfume of dead rotting fish). Mike went to talk to the old chap. He told them that the return journey via the Warta from Bydgoszcz was prettier than the Notec and had fewer locks. 

Our visitor from across the river at Chelmno

Mike waiting with boat shaft to catch Bill's ropes

Sunday 5th June 2005 KP860 nr Grabowo to Grudziadz.

A bank marker lying on the river bank

11.9º C overnight. Fast flying clouds, windy, sunny spells and a torrential downpour and thunderstorm mid-afternoon. Mike was up at 7 am. and we were away for 8 am. Bill held the two boats stationery against the flow using Rosy’s engine, while Mike fetched the front pole in, then I reeled in the head rope. We’d tied up with all the mooring ropes around trees or stumps to be able to just reel them back in without getting off as it’s easier to get the plank in first. The countryside surrounding us was very beautiful, low hills on the right bank covered with forest, flood plain wilderness on the left and not a soul in sight. Mike did

The riverside town of Nowe

a slight change in tactics after watching the tug going downstream yesterday. He started off across the river before we came to the markers and aimed to reach the bank further upstream than the markers. Each crossing of the river, from channels that were anything from five to nine metres deep, into depths of less than two metres - after yesterday’s brush with disaster - was a bit nerve racking to say the least. Before long we could see the church tower at Nowe, up on its hill. An aeroplane (the same one as at Biała Góra

Gathering storm clouds

perhaps?) came flying low over us as he went following the course of the river. We waved and he replied with a waggle of the wings! Sadly, he’d gone too quickly to get a photo. The downstream marker cross downriver of Nowe, just upstream of KP854, was still missing - we saw it lying flat on the water’s edge, probably not in the correct place and no signs of the square that should accompany it. It was chilly, the wind was cold, so at 11 am. I made us a cup of soup. By midday we’d done 14.5 kms, speed averaging 3.7 kph. Took

A cruiser from Bydgoszcz heading downriver

photos of Nowe on its hill. We could see the towers of Grudziadz appearing in the far distance. A cruiser from Bydgoszcz came flying downriver. We waved, they waved back. I took photos. On our left a parascender had taken off from the big hill (87m) and was catching the updraught from the very strong south westerly wind. As we came level with the hill we could see the big gap in the trees where he had taken off from where there were a few people sitting. We ate lunch (salad in bowls) sat out on the

A parascender who had just taken off from the hills to our left

stern at 12.45 pm, I ate my lunch first, then steered while Mike ate his. At the speed we were going and with the force of the changing currents, the tiller was pushing too much for him to steer as he normally does when he needs two hands free for eating, leaning with his back on the handle and steering by moving bodily side to side. You almost needed two hands on the tiller to steer. As we got closer to Grudziadz, perched on its hill, the clouds became blacker and the wind picked up speed from strong to very, very strong. The rain started to fall in penny sized drops and distant lightning flashes caused crackles on the VHF radio

Dark clouds beyond the fortified town of Grudziadz

. Typical, it waits until we’re almost at our destination before it buckets down! Luckily it stopped before we reached the mooring place, an old arm where there was a sand quay on one bank and rough ground and a low quay wall on the other side. Mike dropped me off on the muddy bank (it had been under water until very recently and the thin layer of mud on concrete was extremely slippery) and I held the bow rope (just in case) as he winded the boat just out of the current in the entrance to the arm. It was 4 pm. Bill did likewise and

More dark clouds beyond the fortified town of Grudziadz

moored Rosy - with assistance from Mike - just in front of us in slack water. After I’d got all the wet things sorted out, I put the PC on to do the log and Mike went off for a walk round the local area. A few minutes later Bill gave a shout to see if Mike wanted to go on an exploration, so I told him he’d just gone and he could catch him if he hurried. The local population had turned out to watch us come into the arm - but they were on the far bank - a little later the local kids turned up to look at the funny boats from the side we’d

Moored at Grudziadz in an arm off the river

moored on. Mike returned having taken a few photos of the boats. Bill had gone on into the town to take photos of Grudziadz’s fortifications from the inside. 

Saturday 4th June 2005 Biała Góra Heading to KP860 nr Grabowko.

Wisla pouring through the breakwater at Biala Gora

Milder 14.1º C overnight. Grey clouds and occasional showers, windy, with a thunderstorm in the afternoon. The water level had gone down 30 cms overnight. Mike was up early, woken by the noisy bridge by the lock. Every time a vehicle went over it went bong-bong. (Almost like the “ding-ding” bridge at Strawberry Island.) We set off at 8.00 am. with lifejackets on (Editorial note: Ha! Must be serious for us to don likejackets! These Polish rivers are like no others we know of, flowing fast with

Heading upriver on the Wisla from Biala Gora.

frequent sandbanks to be avoided and bank markers indicating the channel to follow, binoculars are a very necessary tool for this). Out of the lock cut, where the causeway upstream of the lock cut was starting to show and water was gushing between the trees growing on it. The river was flowing at about 4 kph, we had engine revvs to do 8.5 kph and we were actually travelling at between 4 to 4.5 kph (according to the GPS) when we started off. As we moved over to the right bank the flow rate increased and knocked our

Ferry boat at Gniew

speed down to between 2 to 3 kph. At 9.15 am. we could see the town of Gniew in the distance. It would take us more than two hours to do the six kilometres to Gniew. We turned the first right hand bend, five kilometres from the start, after an hour and twenty minutes running time. Our speed was averaging 3.6 kph. At 10.45 we’d done 10 kms. Our speed over the riverbed had been down as low 1.8 kph and up as high as 5 kph. The cable ferry at Gniew was back at work (it had been out of action when we came downriver because the road was underwater). It was crawling across the river with three cars on board. On the next

Rosy passing the ferry at Gniew

bend, upstream of Janowo, there was a sandbank starting to emerge from the river which stretched halfway across. I took photos of the seagulls and terns which were walking on it. It started to spit with rain as we went through lots of swirling water passing the sandbank. In the far distance we could see the factory chimneys and the church towers of Kwidzyn. At midday we had good views of Gniew behind us. For lunch we had ham and salad sandwiches on the stern as yet another short light shower of rain started. At 1 pm. the cable ferry

Birds walking on an exposed sandbank at Janowo

at Opalenie/Krzenie came into view. We could still see Gniew behind us at 1.30 pm. More gulls on a sandbank on the right hand side just downstream of the ferry. The ferry was loaded up with cars to cross the river left to right, but it waited until the two of us crawled past before setting off. We hooted and waved. It was 2 pm. by the time we’d passed it. Just upstream of the ferry a stone groyne was almost visible on the right hand side, the water boiling over it was causing lots of turbulence in the river. Five hours after we first saw it, we could still see Gniew. It was a shame that the nice looking off-line basin and

The ferry at Opalinie

quay by the ferry were not ten kilometres further upstream. We carried on, hoping to find a good mooring after we’d done battle with the river for around 30 kms. The rain showers got heavier and the wind picked up in strength. We saw our last glimpse of Gniew at 2.30 pm. As we approached the ruins of a railway bridge, where only the stumps of the supporting piers were left, the channel was over 8m deep. It was 2.45 pm. when we started to turn left following the bank markers, which indicated the channel went across the river from right to

Water pouring over the downstream edge
of a submerged sandbank near Opalinie

left close to the old bridge. I was taking photos, when suddenly we were no longer making forward progress. Stuck on another Wisła sandbank!! I called Bill on VHF to tell him not to follow where we’d gone as we were on the bottom. Mike tried powering it off and it didn’t budge. Just then the ‘phone rang – it was Vision Express in Bydgoszcz ringing to tell him his glasses were ready. What timing! Then rain was getting heavier too. I went to check around the hull with a shaft to find where we were stuck and how deep the water was. We had a sandbank to our left, the front port side of the boat was hard aground showing three inches of hull which should have been wet. Bill came to have a rope and pull with Rosy. Mike managed to get the

Approaching the demolished railway bridge in pouring rain

rope around his small jackstaff on the bow breaking it off with the rope and Bill’s pilot jack went sailing off down the Wisła. (He’d got another one but Mike said he would buy him a new one later) Once the rope was attached, Bill tried pulling us off by reversing Rosy. It didn’t move. I went inside and (trying hard not to panic) moved all the moveable heavy stuff; mud weights, coal scuttle, HF radio, microwave, plus all the tools and my sewing machine - all from the left side to the right - to make the boat list away from where it was

The rest of the demolished railway bridge

aground. Meanwhile, under Mike’s instruction, Bill carefully turned Rosy so he could pull our stern with Rosy in forward gear. That worked. Thank goodness! Bill now qualifies for Tugmaster! (Honorary title given by us to anyone who has rescued another narrowboat stuck on the mud/sand, whatever) Relieved, I went in the cabin to put all the gear back and restore the boat back to normal – ie, without a severe list to starboard. The heavens opened and thunder crashed. Mike and Bill decided to try crossing over the river downstream of where they thought the sandbank ended - well before the bank

Rosy powering through the demolished railway bridge

markers. We went slowly across the river at forty five degrees, eyes glued to the echo sounder, until we were in the deeper channel on the left bank. A big sigh of relief went up. Then we had the gap between the end two railway bridge piers to contend with. The water was flowing very fast through the gap (we reckoned that after the bridge was destroyed the other gaps between the piers were left filled with rubble and only the one gap was dredged out and made navigable), we were doing good speed through the water but going nowhere – l

Gniew

ooking at the banks told us we were not moving forward. Mike increased engine revvs to almost maximum, wriggled the boat from side to side and we began very gradually to crawl through the demolished railway bridge. That was almost worse than being stuck on the sandbank.  A couple more passages from one bank to the other, following the bank markers, but without much confidence now, done very gingerly when the echo sounder showed less than 1m, Mike reduced the engine revvs right down to tick over, ready to stop and back off, until the echo showed more water beneath us. Our nerves were in tatters, so we started looking for somewhere to moor, we’d hd enough for one day. A small yacht went past

The passing tug and pan

us, heading downstream really flying along under sail, going with the wind and current. We pulled gradually over to the left hand bank by the next set of channel markers and I threw a rope from our bows around an old tree stump and we tied up with Rosy alongside. Mike and Bill put our long poles out to the bank to keep the boats off the bottom and put ropes around more trees at the stern ends. We were in the wilderness with grass as far as you could see, but within minutes of tying up we heard the voices of some people walking past at the top of the bank. We didn’t think they saw us, it must have been either fishermen or poachers. A tug and pan went downriver just after we tied up, we wondered if they knew about the sandbank in the channel below the railway bridge and expected that they would be much better informed than we were. 

Click here to go to loads of info on the Vistula on Wikipedia

Friday 3rd June 2005 Marlbork to Biała Góra.

Oh isn't it nice not to have to search for other people's photos to illustrate the blog - from now on they're all mine (or Mike's!) - we've entered the age of digital photography, hooray!

Lashing to the quay at Malbork

Milder 10.8º C, grey and cloudy, drizzly light showers and occasional spells of sunshine. Bill went to the Internet café early to avoid being mobbed by twelve year old boys. Mike did the engine room month end checks, replacing an injector “o” ring which had gone flat and caused a slight leak, and I got on with the usual chores. Then I had the PC on to look at the camera software and some of the pictures we’d taken. Not too bad, room for improvement. Bill came back and said most of the shops didn’t open until ten.

Malbork castle

He went again when they reopened. We set off at 11.45am. Three young lads in a pedalo were splashing about around the boat, laughing and giggling, generally getting in the way as we untied until Mike hooted at them, then they were all smiles but moved out of danger range of collision. Took more photos of Malbork. It was dull and spitting with rain. We arrived at Szonowo lock at 12.30pm. After we’d hooted, a young man came and opened the gate to let us in, closed the gate and then lifted the paddles. A woman took Bill’s

Malbork castle

money (the usual amount this time 11,36 Zł! They charged us 12.80 last time) and then she opened the top end gate. We left the top at 12.50 pm. Low wooded hills on the left and flood dykes (no longer necessary to prevent flooding, so there were lots of paths cut through nowadays) on the right. On the right bank we spied a bicycle leaning against a fence post and Mike said I bet there’s another boat somewhere with a bloke fishing. He was right. About two kilometres upstream in the reedy bank there was a bloke

In Biala Gora lock

fishing from a boat. A bit later on we saw three men fishing by a pipe, probably a sewage discharge from a village not far away. I said if they come from that village and they catch fish that are feeding on the sewage that comes down that pipe then are they getting their own back? Mike replied only if they don’t sell the fish they catch to someone else! There was a terrible pong a bit further on up the river. It smelled like pigs being boiled. Round the next bend and it disappeared. It must have been coming from a house hidden in the woods between us and the Wisła. A white tailed eagle was being pursued by a silvery male hen

Bird's nest in the lockgate at Biala Gora

harrier. The smaller bird had no chance against the eagle’s big flapping wings. The river narrowed where an old railway bridge used to stand, there were embankments on either side the river. Four men were fishing in various spots in the narrow bit. Back into wider waters and the whole terrain opened up into the former flood plain of the Wisła from the days before they built the lock and flood defences at Biała Góra. Round the last few bends to the lock. Mike put the boat against the dolphins (new linked ones with a passerelle on t

Men still at work at Biala Gora refurbishing lock

op) and went to find someone to work the lock. A young man came and wound the gate open and we went in. The difference in levels was much less than last time. The workmen had put their electricity cable over the lock up over two pieces of wood on the lock edges but we could get underneath easily as the Wisła was now 1.3m lower than when we came down it. Hopefully it should be running more slowly. As we came out of the lock an aircraft flew over very low, right over the lock chamber. He turned and came

Moored on Wisla above Biala Gora lock

back and did it again! Bill put Rosy against the bank on the right side just beyond the lock where some piling had been exposed. It was very muddy and he couldn’t do much but stand still and hold the ropes. We went alongside and Mike got off and did the tying up, while Bill held on to the boats. It was 4pm. Mike went off with the camera to repeat the photos he took last time we were here for comparison with photos

Markers on the banks of the Wisla (Vistula) 

taken with the 35mm camera. 

The boats moored on the Wisla from the lock gates at Biala Gora

Thursday 2nd June 2005 jnc Jagiellonski canal to Marlbork.Nogat river - Wikimedia photo by

River Nogat - Wikimedia photo by Kepiny Wielkie

A cold night 5.5º C. Heavy rain in the night. Then grey clouds, rain showers with a cold wind all day. Mike was up at 7 am to be ready for off at 8 am. I had a hand-crafted birthday card from Bill (and Fanny)! The clouds were getting darker as we went under the first road bridge. A pair of cranes took off from the meadow on our left. Around 9.30 am we had a ten minute shower of rain, so up went the brolly and the radio, maps etc, went into plastic bags. An hour later we arrived at the first lock, Michałowo, the lock was full and there was no sign of anyone, so we put the boat in the lock mouth and Mike went to find the keeper. Bill went with him as it was his turn to pay for the lock. When they got back, Mike said he’d been to the farmhouse which was surrounded by a wire fence. He hadn’t noticed the lion (an immense old dog), which was sleeping under an iron bench at the front of the house, until he had crossed the yard and climbed the steps to the front door. The lion walked to the bottom of the steps, as i t was a very old lion it woofed at them in a very deep voice, but not with any great conviction. Mike knocked the door which caused an explosion of dogs inside the house, they all collided with the front door at the same time. Fortunately it opened inwards. The lady keeper calmed them down (there were only three of them, it seemed like a dozen!) brought her windlass with her and worked the lock for us. We rose 1.7m. Bill paid - she hadn’t got any change and Bill only had a fifty note. We loaned him a ten. We said bye, bye to the keeper and thanks. Above were two canoes waiting for the lock; the very elderly couple paddling them were waiting to go down.  I made a cuppa and cooked some Scotch pancakes, setting the fire alarm off (it’s very sensitive). A medium-sized yacht from Torún, south east of Bydgoszcz on the Wisła, went past heading downriver. I went in the cabin to make some lunch. Mike called me to come and look at something swimming across the river. Through binoculars I could see it was an otter and two black terns were giving it some grief, it kept diving under water to get away from them. Had it been thieving eggs? There were lots of birds about. Herons and common terns and black terns. Another couple in a two-man canoe stopped for lunch, pulling into the bank and paddling with trousers rolled up above the knees to get ashore. The flow rate went up to 1.5 kph before we got to the next lock. It must have been a shallow section, after about a kilometre it slowed back down to 1 kph again. We passed a fisherman with a most unusual boat. He’d nailed a couple of bits of wood on top of two oil drums and was sitting on it

Nogat at Malbork - Wikimedia photo by Der Hexer

, fishing without a care in the world as we went past. Bill thought it was just a seat in the edge of the river, but the water was too deep to paddle out to it and he’d got poles to move it around. Up Rakoweic lock. A young man came out to empty the lock when we hooted and two older men came out to help and talk. One was in uniform, wearing an olive green short sleeved shirt with badges on the sleeves. This time Bill had change from his fifty. On the outskirts of Malbork we passed an old arm with two pans and an old Bydoszcz tug in it, plus an old barge converted into a bar and “hamburgery”, which was now disused. Beyond it was a long piled quay with bollards where there was a big pile of sand and a crane, plus an empty 80m pan. Behind the quay was an old abandoned factory, partly demolished, surrounded by a fancy concrete fence which was also broken down. We followed Bill upriver to Malbork and moored alongside Rosy on the quay. Bill went off on his bike to do some shopping. I went to the tourist information office to find the location of the nearest supermarket. On my return Mike came out with the bags and told Bill where we were going. He’d fetched our mail from the Post Office after having to argue with the woman behind the counter, who insisted there was no poste restante mail waiting – Bill said there was – she went to look and, well I never! - there was! He offered the loan of his bike to carry our shopping back on instead of us having to carry it. Great idea. Our post was a parcel from Mike’s Mum and Dad containing three birthday cards for me and some VHS tapes of our favourite soap. We called in a shop selling digital cameras and treated ourselves to a new Kodak digital camera (1399 Zł) plus a bag for it (54 Zł) and a 256 mb flash card (129 Zł), all for the sum of 1573 Zł (£262) – I used my new Nationwide credit card for the first time to pay for it. Then we topped up with groceries from the Bomi supermarket, spending another 204 Zł on my Nationwide credit card. On the way back, I held on to the bike with all our groceries while Mike took some cash from our current account via a cash machine to compare the rates that Nationwide charge on credit card sales. By the castle there were lots of tourists. Among them we heard the unmistakable loud voices of Yankee tourists! The first Americans we’d seen since leaving France. Unloaded the groceries and Bill went off on his bike to do more shopping. Loaded the software for the camera into the PC and had a look at the new camera. It had got a load of features, including being able to turn off the automatic functions and take pictures manually. We had fresh baguettes with cheese and onion and Pringles crisps (a treat). Later Mike and Bill wanted to try some EB (Elblag special brew beer) so they went next door to the floating bar - but they weren’t open - so they went to an open air bar by the river and drank a few Tyskie beers under a tent instead. They got talking to some locals who spoke English who told them that the Polish-German border used to be here on the Nogat and there was once a customs post on the bridge. 

Wednesday 1st June 2005 Przegalina to jnc Jagiellonski canal

Dolphins at Przegalina lock
Wikimedia photo by Gdaniek

A chilly 7.7º C overnight moored next to an ancient accommodation barge on the Wisła above Przegalina lock. It was sunny first thing, then black clouds rolled over and we had showers until mid-afternoon, when the sun came out again but the wind was still cold. We set off at 8.20 a.m. and turned the corner out of the lock channel heading upstream, against the flow on the Wisła. It was five kilometres to the lock at Gdanska Głowa, where we would turn off on to the Szkarpawa. The river was flowing at about 4 kph and we were making about 4 kph against it. I went in to bake some bread buns for lunch as we’d eaten all the bread. When I’d finished making the dough and kneading it, I put it in the engine room to rise. We were at the lock after a run of about an hour and ten minutes. One lock gate at Gdanska Głowa was open ready for us to go down. Bill went to pay the woman while the old man worked the manual lock. We dropped down 1.1m (it was 1.7m rise when we went uphill so the river level had dropped by over half a metre since we were there last time). Set off again at 9.45 a.m. on the placid little river Szkarpawa. The flow was against us by about 1 kph (they told us that the Baltic has no tide?). Stopped again

Gdanska Glowa lock - Wiki photo by Lukasz Katlewa

at Drewnica at 10.10 a.m. to wait for the pontoon bailey bridge to open. There was nowhere to tie up and wait, so Mike put our bow fender on one of the pontoons (called Alexandra – strangely all nine floating boxes had names!) I tied the bows to it and he threw a small grapple anchor out on the windward side. Bill brought Rosy alongside. The next opening time was eleven. The bread was ready for knocking back and shaping into buns. At eleven o’clock Mike got off on to the bridge and went to find the bridge workers. OK. They were coming. They wouldn’t if he hadn’t gone to tell them we wanted passage through the

Pontoon bridge at Sobieszewski - Wiki photo by  Jarba

bridge. Bill untied and backed off, then Mike lifted the anchor and we did likewise. The middle section of the bridge motored open and we went through. Just in time to get the bread out of the oven. For a while a silvery male hen harrier flew along parallel with us over the reeds along the edge of the river. White and yellow water lilies were just starting to bloom along the banks. We had a salad in bowls for lunch with my fresh brown bread buns. The boat went under the big yellow liftbridge at Rybina with the mast off to get under the bridge deck at 2.58m, so we had no need to wait for its opening time. Herons, black-headed

Pontoon bridge at Sobieszewski - Wiki photo by Yanek

gulls and terns were fishing along the next stretch of river. The clouds had blown away behind and in front of us and we had blue sky and warm sunshine, shame about the chilly wind. Had a cup of hot coffee to warm us up. At 2.50 p.m. we turned right out of the Szkarpawa’s widening channel before it arrived at the lagoon and started heading into the Nogat. The wind was blustery and two fishermen with a khaki camouflaged boat were checking fishing nets. A small yacht from Gdansk was moored in the reeds, it had a small solar panel on its stern. A man came out to wave and say hello as we passed. We were going with

Pontoon bridge at Sobieszewski - Wiki photo by Yanek

the flow now, again about 1 kph. Lots of water lilies, both white and yellow, lined both banks. We slowed down when the cable ferry at Keparybaka went across. Bill didn’t slow down and went past us. Mike had to tell him on the radio that there was a cable about 1.5m above the water (plus two more on water level). He hadn’t see it and thought the cable was underwater. The ferry went back again, then the operator lowered the cable and called us through. At 4 pm the water flow changed and started running the other way. The access into the other route to the lagoon from the Nogat, the Cieplicówka canal, was blocked

Pontoon bridge at Sobieszewski - Wiki photo by  Karina

with reeds and water lily pads. There were two small boats with people fishing from them by the entrance to the Jagiellonski canal. We turned into the canal and moored next to the piling for the third time. It was 4.30 pm. Fanny had rolled in something stinky again while Bill was tying up (she did it last time we were there) and had to have a bath - which she didn’t like at all and barked at Bill. A medium sized wedge shaped power boat went past. He'd slowed down, but his wash (from the speed he had been doing) caught up with him

Liftbridge at Rybina - Wiki photo by Andrwej Obtrebski

as he was passing us. Prat. He went through the bridge, turned round and went back again the way he'd come! Bill came over to have a chat about where we would be stopping on the Wisła. If the Wisła was flowing at about 4 kph it will take us four days to get to back upriver to Bydgoszcz. We should make 30 kms per day against it and be able to stop at Grudziadz and Chełmo, but the first night will be difficult as there was nothing that we noted as a mooring possibility on the way down. I helped with the video camera re-assembly by cleaning all the lenses. It still didn’t work. Back to the drawing board. Not another dead camera?