12.7° C. Overcast, showery. The
yacht was still moored on the quay at 8.00 a.m. when we
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| Building works underway at Sulfeld |
left. I made some tea as
we ran down to the lock at Sülfeld. We had a short wait above the lock. Bill
called the keeper on the tannoy system as an uphill boat cleared and two
started going into the chamber to descend. The keeper cheerily said “Come on in
boys!” (In English!) We followed an empty 67m boat and a WSA tug breasted to a
workboat modified to carry diggers and mowers. Dropped down 9m slowly, the
water emptying into three economiser pounds on each side of the 220m long
chamber. Building working was going on apace alongside and below the lock. It
was 9.25 a.m. as we set off on to the last pound of the MLK. Two Czech tugs
pushing pans set off from the moorings below the lock as we went past. They
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| Czech tug and pan overtaking us below Sulfeld locks |
crept past us slowly. Bill overtook us too as the rain stopped. On the railway
track alongside the canal we had our first glimpse of one of Germany’s famous
ICE trains (Like the French TGV, bullet trains). A WSP (Wasserschutspolizei)
push tug went past, its steerer waving madly as we came to the beginning of the
VW plant at Wolfsburg. I made us a warming cup of soup. I took some photos of
the new, beautifully designed buildings at VW - which had only just been
started when we were
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| New buildings at VW Wolfsburg |
there last time. Three helicopters went past overhead, one
by one, following the canal, as we went past the WSA/WSP haven at Vorsfelde and
round a sweeping bend. The last Czech tug was still in sight as we commenced a
5 kms long straight stretch. The next shower of rain arrived. Mike put the pins
in to run the Markon and I did some more washing, fleeces first. Lunch. A black
kite flew over the boats, checking the canal for watery style “roadkill”! (i.e.
fish clobbered by props). Saw our first white stork in Germany, spiralling
uphill on huge wings. The café (a pizzeria) was still there by the old
east-west
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| New buildings at VW Wolfsburg |
border, although the moorings were now difficult to access due to the
canal widening and bank rebuilding works. Next load in the washer as we passed
through the former Iron Curtain. A red kite and a buzzard were battling each
other for territory over the canal. Two Dutch cruisers had managed to occupy
the whole of the 35m long mooring area at Bergfriede by tying in the middle of
each side of the passerelle. The mooring was at the end of a long, long section
of dolphins for commercial boats. I’d remarked that they’d probably only
stopped for lunch and one of them, a large cruiser called “Shalom”, went past
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| New and old buildings at VW Wolfsburg |
us a little later on. A gaggle of cruisers overtook us, all at the same time as
commercials were passing in both directions which made for an interesting few
minutes. Bill was disappearing into the distance. He told us he gets tired and
has to go for a nap when we tie up. I read some more of of a book I was reading
aloud (so Mike could share it) as we went along a very uninspiring canal
section. The new moorings at Calvörder were immense. First there was a 220m
section for dangerous cargoes, then a section for commercials - 740m - then a
miserable 50m for pleasure boats. Nothing was moored on the commercial section
until very much later in the day and there was one resident cruiser on the 50m
mooring. Bill had tied up at the very end and we slotted in between him and the
cruiser, filling all the available
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| New building at VW Wolfsburg |
space for sport boats. It was ten to four.
Mike went off on the moped to get the car at 4.20 and came back just before
five with a loaf from the supermarket in Calvörde. He set off again to collect
the car and I got on with the chores. It poured with rain. Two cruisers arrived
and moored beyond the resident boat. Later on, after dark, several commercials
arrived and moored on the long moorings. Mike was back at 8 p.m. and we had
dinner and then, when the rain eased off, put the moped back on the roof. Then
we found we’d got problems with the satellite TV reception. No ITV1 or ITV2,
nor any BBC TV or radio transmissions except radios 2 and 4. All the other
channels were OK. Mike had an accident when getting off the boat, he
overbalanced and fell back on to the boat ending up with his feet between the
boat and the piling, luckily standing on a tie bar between sections of piling.
He’ll have a few bruises, but didn’t get wet or give himself any really severe
blows.
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