12.2° C Sunny spells, squalls, very windy with heavy rain
showers. I pressed the button (on
 |
| Junc Spree & Havel - Wikimedia photo by Axel Mauruszat |
the end of the steigers for sport boats to
tie to to wait for the lock) to call the lock keeper at Spandau lock and I got
a reply in rapid German, not a word of which did I understand. The lock filled
and we went down 2m, just the two of us again. Below the lock there was a pusher
tug, called Jessy, waiting to go up. It was very windy running south down the
Wannsee (Berlin’s playground – a beautiful long lake, now on the Untere Havel,
UH) with a strong south westerly blowing. Only a couple of yachts were brave
enough to venture out in the very high winds. The trip
 |
| Wannsee (Berlin Havel) - Wikimedia photo by Times |
boat at Kladow set off
as we were passing and the skipper shouted something. Mike said it was probably
get out of the way! Though why we should be in his way with all the space there
was on the lake we had no idea. I made a cup of soup to try and warm us up - it
was 14.8° C outside. There was no let up with the wind as we entered the
narrows leading into Potsdam. Mike called Bill on Marine VHF to tell him there
was an easily accessible low grassy bank by the flats where we’d moored last
time we were there, where Fanny could jump ship for a pee. I made a cuppa and
baked some buns for Mike’s lunch. It started to spit with rain as we went
 |
| Templinersee - Wikimedia photo by Botaurus |
into
the Templinersee. Faces into the wind on a lake running southwest-northeast,
then we were sheltered from the wind by the railway embankment which virtually
cuts the lake in two. As soon as we passed under the railway bridge and went
into the southern half of the lake we got the full blast of the wind again.
Made some lunch as the first of several squalls hit as we went into the narrows
at Caputh. Our course then changed to northwest and, as we crossed the northern
end of Schwielowsee, we caught the full brunt of the wind on our port side -
which made for an
 |
| Passenger trip boats Potsdam - Wikimedia photo by Botaurus |
uncomfortable half an hour’s run due to the corkscrewing
motion caused by the waves. After we’d passed under the bridge at Geltow into
the Großer Zernsee we were more sheltered from the wind by the higher ground
(Mirenberg all of 52m (!) high) to our left. As we approached Werder, situated
on a hilly island, we could see the next squall racing towards us down the
lake, mist obliterating the view of the town as the rain hit. The water
bus/trip boat Berolina (which moors at Spandau) went by, overtaking us as we
went under the A10 motorway bridge. The next brutal squall hit as we were
tracking around the bend just before Phöben. The wind
 |
| Wind whipping up the lake at Caputh Wikimedia photo by Botaurus |
bent the brolly and the
torrential rain had us soaked in seconds without its shelter. As soon as the
wind dropped and the rain eased off, Mike ran into the bay at Phöben and we
could see the old wooden landing. The first time we moored there the landing
was F-shaped - the top edge of the F extending several metres to the left. Now
the top of the F was detached and almost completely rotten, sections having
fallen into the water and the second landing was rotting from the end furthest
from the pier. We backed very gingerly into the space by the second landing and
Bill brought Rosy alongside the
 |
| Mooring at Phoben - Wikimedia photo by Botaurus |
set of stern posts which run parallel to the
landing, backing up to the pier. There were two sets of stumps, put there
originally for little fishing boats to moor bows or sterns on, while the
opposite ends were attached to the wooden landing. The rain eased up as we
moored and we just about had time to tie up, pack away the gear and get in the
cabin before the next downpour arrived. Mike changed the engine oil. I put the Mac
on and did the log while he went for nap, having decided that the showers were
showing no signs of stopping. At 6 p.m Mike decided to fetch the car after all.
Meanwhile Bill decided he’d rather be on the other side of the rotting landing
 |
| Hermannplatz U-bahn station Wikimedia photo by Lienhard Schultz |
next to us rather than be alongside the stumps and came in bows towards the
pier. Mike set off at 6.30 p.m. to retrieve the car from Treptow on the far
side of Berlin. He was back at 9.30 p.m. having done remarkably well negotiating
the city streets (he’d marked the names of the underground stations along the
route into Berlin as far as Hermannplatz (where we caught the tube to get the
car from Spandau) in maker pen on the moped’s fuel tank, then he already knew
the route back to the car from there because we’d walked it. We put the moped
back on the roof in the dark, treading very carefully on the boards. Mike had a
very late dinner at 10 p.m.
No comments:
Post a Comment