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| Marienwerder in 1999 - photo by Andreas Kage |
10.4° C Sunny and hot. Rosy off first at 7 am. and we
followed ten minutes later. I got up just after the engine started - I’d gone
back to sleep! Did the chores, defrosted
the ‘fridge which had been off overnight. Then the Hoover wouldn’t work. Two
yachts came out of the Finow - they must have moored overnight above the lock
as the staff don’t start work until 9 a.m. The young lock keeper at Ruhlsdorf
had got the lock ready for us. He had his life jacket on (as had all the other
keepers we were to encounter on the Finow). The lock was manually operated as
before, but had had new paddles fitted. “Ein Schleusentor,
bitte!” worked, we
got one gate opened for us. Followed Rosy down to the next lock, Leesenbrück
where the old chap in shorts told us he had the next lock too. Grafenbrück was
deeper at 3.6m and the keeper gave us leaflets about the canal when we asked
where we could get our water tanks refilled. He said that water was obtainable
at Finowpark at Eberswalde. The WSA were dredging below the lock, a young bloke
had come up on to the lockside and told Bill to go slowly past the boats. A
tug, pan and craneboat were in the middle of the canal just around the bend
below the lock. The three man crew ranged from an
old bloke, a middle aged chap
and a teenager. They’d made a new rastplatz in the old weir stream at Alte
Mühle, we spotted it as we went past and, as Rosy was behind us, Mike asked
Bill on VHF if he’d go in and have a look to see if they’d got water. They had.
We reversed course and followed Rosy into the arm. A young lady was in charge.
A shed had been set up alongside a newly made mooring. We filled up and Bill
gave her 3 Euros for the water. I got on with the chores while we filled up.
The vacum cleaner was in bits and the handle fell off my stainless steel sieve
while I was washing up, not having a good day domestically-speaking. On down to the lock at Finowfurt, called Schöpffurt.
The lad was just closing the one gate
behind us, when he had a ‘phone call and
started reopening the gate. “Another boat is coming”, he said. I got off to
open the other gate for him when he started shouting that I mustn’t do that. I
wasn’t allowed to touch the gates or paddles - safety! Only the keeper must
work the lock. I explained to him that I’d done nearly thirty years of lock
working - how long had he been doing it? Two! OK, if that’s the rules, I was
only trying to give him a hand. Four more boats arrived, so we moved down the
chamber. Before we got to the next lock one yacht tied up and another boat went
into the basin called the Messingerhafen (brass works basin), so there were
just four of us in
Heegemühle, where another young man in blue overalls and
lifejacket worked the lock for us. A short pound brought us to Wolfswinkel,
where an old chap worked the lock for us. Mike tried to ask him the height
under the lifting bridge with the bridge in the down position, and had a
terrific amount of trouble trying to explain what he was trying to ask in
German. The bridge had been made automatic and only worked every two hours on
the even hour. A cruiser and canoe were waiting below to come up the lock as we
left it. It was 2.20 p.m. when we arrived at the bridge, we’d missed it by just
20 minutes and had to wait until 4 p.m. for the next opening time. Mike put the
pins in, I did some washing while we waited and made some lunch. At 4 p.m. the
two cruisers had been joined by a yacht making five of us to
go down
Drahthammer lock, which was just beyond the vertical lifting road bridge. We
dropped down the lock and the two cruisers tied up on the lock waiting area
below the lock - they’d been chatting to the keeper. We went on down the canal,
following the little yacht into Eberswalde. The mooring at Finowpark was empty
and covered in graffitti, it had got water and electricity - both coin
operated. The mooring just before the bridge at Eberswalde also looked dodgy,
it was also covered in paint and a bunch of teenagers were around the picnic
tables under the trees - their territory, no doubt. We tied up in the basin by
the lock, opposite the preserved Finow kahn, called Annaliese, (which looked like it
no longer moves) and tied to large tree trunks embedded in the canal. Rosy came
alongside with its stern close to the wall, so the dog (and Bill) could get on
and off. It was a long jump from our roof to the bank. Several drop-outs were
boozing under the trees on the bank alongside the boat, but,
other than asking
Mike if he had a cup as one said he’d broken his, they were no bother. The two
guys with the yacht had moored by the lock on a bit of low quay wall with a
grassy bank, which was ideal for them. The lock walls had been rebuilt, as had
the basins (winding holes) above and below the lock. The mature chesnut trees
both sides of the lock had all gone, but had been replaced by new young trees. Mike went out to reconnoitre the area. When he
came back we called Bill over to watch the video about the Finow kanal -
“Canale Grande” - all in German, but still interesting. After dark
Mike and Bill went to take the rubbish over to the bins by the trip boat on the
other side of the canal, fly tipping!!
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| Marienwerder in 1999 - photo by Andreas Kage |
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| Annaliese moored above Drahthammer lock - Wikimedia photo by Ralf Roletschek |
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| Bridge over old arm at Finow - Wikimedia photo by EvaK |
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| Old paper factory at Ebeswalde - Wikimedia photo by Sinehu20 |
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| Mooring above Eberswalde lock - my photo 2004 |
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| Old quay on the Finow kanal - Wikimedia photo by Ralf Roletschek |
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