Tuesday 3rd August 2004 Himmelpfort to Havel KP31 (in the wilds)

12.9° C Sunny, breezy and one short, but heavy, shower of rain. The boat roof was covered

Rosy abv Bredereiche lock Upper Havel 2004

in condensation when we set off following Rosy across the Stolpsee and turned left into the Havel’s twists and turns. We were overtaken shortly after we set off by two cruisers and a canoe. I made some tea. The Havel was peaceful and serenely quiet. Bredereiche lock’s guillotine gate lifted as we arrived and we were followed into the chamber by a small open motor boat. Dropped down 2.9m with the keeper, an old chap, pressing buttons in the second storey of the lock cabin. He leaned out of the window to say “tschüs” (bye) as we left. We noted that there was CCTV above and below the lock chamber, with cameras strategically placed so he could see when the boats were all in (or out!). The river emerged from the forest into open farmland for a while and the banks were bordered with meadows.

An edible green frog. Upper Havel Aug 2013

A field of golden sunflowers was the first we’d seen this year and a bit further on we saw a Hereford bull in a meadow with a herd of cows. All along the banks had been edged with cut tree stumps, making underwater piling and this had been backfilled with small rocks to prevent erosion from the wash of passing boats. Two cruisers came up in Regow lock and the gates opened to let them out just as we arrived. The lock was automatic, so I turned the green pole and we went into the lock with three boats behind us, a large cruiser, called Silvia, a small yacht and a small wedge shaped speedboat cruiser. We dropped down 1m. About 100m below the lock a gaggle of canoeists had pitched camp by the weirstream. They all waved and shouted hello as we passed. The cruisers which had been behind us in the lock overtook us on the first long sweeping bend - good job nothing was coming as they always seem to under estimate how

Upper Havel navigation - photo by Bill

long it takes to get past 18m of boat. At KP 39 a WSA tug from Zehdenick was moored with its bows up the bank while the crew of two older blokes watched the youngest strimming the area of bank round the kilometre post. It was 6 kms to the next lock and the river passed between some lovely low sandy hills covered in trees, ideal terrain for paddlers to camp overnight. The cruisers were going down in Zaaren lock when we arrived. I turned the green pole and we waited. Two yachts came uphill and then we went down, as there were just us two to drop down only 1.1m, we descended ropeless. Bill was eating his lunch at 11 a.m. - he said he does that when he has an early start - has an early lunch. Below the lock the WSA men who were grass cutting took time out to watch the two funny boats go by. I went inside to ‘phone the bank about the fact that they had paid £55 ($100) to WWTelecom in error. I spoke to the branch customer services manager, who said they couldn’t reverse the payment and I would have to phone or write to their head office. Very helpful! At Schorfheide lock there were several boats in the lock coming up 0.6m. In the short time that we waited a

Moonlight over the river. KP31 Upper Havel Aug 2013

whole armada of little boats arrived to queue behind us. Only three piled in behind, and they didn’t offer to squeeze up so that any of the others could get in too. As we left the lock the first of the three behind us forced past on a right hand bend just as we were going past the junction with the Templiner Waßer - Mike said to me what happens if I decided to turn left here - do I take him with me? The cruiser was on our left about half way along our cabin side. We continued a few kilometres further downriver and moored in the wilds at KP 31, (same place as we did when Glyn was visiting four years earlier), in the middle of nowhere, next to a nice sandy bank which had obviously been used many times for an overnight camping spot for the paddle boating fraternity. It was 12.30 p.m. so we had lunch sitting in the cabin for once! There was a lot of uphill traffic during the afternoon, including a WSA tug from Marienthal. After lunch we had a siesta. Mike set up the BBQ on the bank. Bill had already cooked his dinner as he said he’d nowt to BBQ. I marinated some cubed pork in pineapple juice and threaded them on skewers. Mike saw a fox looking at him from the thicket. It must get a few pickings from what the campers leave behind. We all sat out chatting and had a few beers while Mike cooked. The woods were full of white campion and pansies - plus lots of toilet paper left by the happy campers! They’d had camp fires, their ashes were left behind - so why couldn’t they burn their paper? Bill went in at 9.30 p.m. I collected up the plates, etc, and went in at 10 p.m. leaving Mike burning wood to make more charcoal and sinking a few more of his Holstein Pils by the light of a Tilley lamp that he hadn’t used for years. 

As today's trip was mostly on the beautiful little river Havel there's no need for a route map this time!