Tuesday 28th September 2004 Hermsdorfer M. to Märkisch Buchholz and back.

Weir and hydro-electric power station Markische Buchholz

A very chilly 5° C overnight. Grey and showery, sun came out very briefly. The next lock upriver didn’t open until ten, so we had a lie in and left at 10.15 a.m. I defrosted the ‘fridge whilst I did the usual chores. The lock was emptying as we arrived. The lock keeper, a gnarled old chap, wouldn’t let Bill bring Rosy into the empty chamber alongside us. We kept telling him that the lock was plenty wide enough at 5.3m, but he either didn’t understand or just wouldn’t listen! A younger man on the lockside with him seemed to understand English as he nodded in the right places when I said to him that the keeper was the boss, it’s his lock and we’re in no hurry. The keeper told us (quite loudly) that the river was navigable for only seven more kilometres (which we already knew) and also showed me his log book to point out that the lock was closed from the end of September. I told him we would be back

Sign board below weir

later in the afternoon. The lock had been shortened from 41m to 28m when it was rebuilt in 2000 and had a sloping right hand wall like the previous lock. We waited above while Bill brought Rosy through the lock. A new bootschlepper (railway with a little cradle on a bogie) had been built at Märkisch Buchholz to take small boats of less than 350kgs around the weir and miniature hydroelectric power station to the continuation of the Dahme above, which was called the Umflutkanal or flood water channel. We could go no further into the Spreewald, so we moored next to the quay (after bouncing off a rock) for the bootschlepper and had lunch. Mike found a board listing the opening and closing times of all the locks in the locality. He was a bit perturbed by the fact that several were listed as closing on the 3rd October. We set off again heading back downstream (with very little flow) back down the Dahme with Rosy in the lead.  Hooray the sun came out, but shortly after the rain started again. Rosy was in the lock at Hermsdorfer Mühler with a green light still on and

Moored below the weir at Markische Buchholz
end of navigation river Dahme

the keeper called us in. Why the change of mind? We had no idea as we couldn’t communicate with the chap. But he was very quiet and smiling, so perhaps the chap who understood English earlier explained a few things to him? Who knows? We went back down the lock together. A couple were on the lockside chatting to him. They all waved as we left. We tied up twenty minutes later back at the same old quay. In the big meadow between the river and the forest there was a large herd of beef cattle - cows and their calves plus the bull. The day before they had been further towards the lock, today they had been moved to next section of meadow which was next to the quay. There was an electric fence surrounding them, but we suspected that it wasn’t connected although no one volunteered to try it and neither did the cows! Bill kept Fanny well away from them when they went out to play with her frisbee ring. The next shower arrived as Mike put the dish up. The sat finder, which had been for a swim earlier and had been drying out in the engine room with its back cover off, was refusing to work. With a little persuasion it found Sky. The weather was too wet for a BBQ, which we’d all been looking forward to so I grilled the rump steaks we had been saving for a BBQ.

Monday 27th September 2004 Schmöckwitz to Hermsdorfer Mühler.

Kuhnle hirebase at Zeuthen (pic from 2014)

10.1° C Grey and overcast with a light breeze, drizzle started mid-morning. We all went in the car to get groceries from the Extra supermarket and Mike bought some petrol from the Arral garage. Set off with the pins in at 9.30 a.m. doing some washing, heading upriver on the Dahme. I got on with the chores, made some popovers in the oven (puffed up batter - USA breakfast food) before doing the daily bread. At Zeuthen Mike gave me a buzz to look at the nest of Zunzle cakes - a bakery? (a hire base - Kuhnle Boats) - some had Waren on the sterns so they must do one way trips to the north of the Mecklenburg lakes. I carried on ironing, finishing

Below Neue Muhle lock (pic from 2014)

just as we arrived at Neue Mühle lock in Königs Wusterhausen. Glad to see that industry was still alive and well in the region - the tipper crane was still upending railway wagon loads of brown coal into boats to be delivered to the power station. A young man worked the lock from a control panel in a shelter that was about the same size as a telephone box. We rose about 1.5m with Rosy tied alongside. Nothing moved but us as we crossed the Krimnicksee and Krüpelsee lakes and went into the channel of the Dahme again. A small cruiser overtook us, which we saw no more sign of as the river bent and wound its way into the Dolgensee, again

Above Prieros lock (pic from 2014)

deserted, then back into the Dahme again at Dolgenbrodt. The river bank was lined with holiday bungalows and caravans, all shuttered and deserted, with rows of little open boats moored along the banks in front of them, also sheeted and covered in readiness for the colder months to come. No one around except a few hardy local fishermen. After a very short wait below Prieros lock, the blonde lady keeper emptied the water out and we went up about another metre. The lock had been modernised, rebuilt - it used to be a sloping turf sided lock but now only the right hand wall had a slope and that was above water level. The left hand wall was normal, straight sided like most other locks. Rosy went out first and we followed down the Streganzer See. Bill stopped at the end of the lake, not knowing which way to go until Mike gave him a call on the radio to tell him that the channel (almost invisible) was far to the left side of the lake and curved off round the back of a reedy island, the channel was not obvious. Heavy drizzle started just before we moored next to the old piled quay about a kilometre before Hermsdorfer Mühler lock. The car could stay where it was at Schmöckwitz for a few days. 

Thursday 23rd September 2004 Schmöckwitz–Müggelsee–Schmöckwitz, then three days off.

Thursday 23rd September 2004 Schmöckwitz–Müggelsee–Schmöckwitz.

View from a 'plane of Seddinsee (bottom left to middle)
Wikimedia photo by Ralf Roletschek

9.1° C Brief sunny spells, windy and showery. Set off at 8 a.m. up the Seddinsee with the pins in and the washing machine going. I’d already shovelled tons of tree seeds off the roof before we set off, they were covering the front deck too and all over the carpet (which took ages to vacuum up). Saw Police launch N° 22 - we’ll get the full set yet! Turned into the Gosener Kanal and emerged into the little round lake called Dameritzsee, where we immediately turned left into the Müggelspree channel. I changed loads in the washer and went to sit outside to admire the holiday homes along the banks of the little river. Noted that the residents have no love for the local airport as lots had large banners in their gardens saying “No to the extension of Schönfeld!”

Schonefeld airport in 1990 - Wikimedia photo by Ralf Manteufel

Oh dear, Bill’s friend Veronica was going to use that airport! But I don’t think they’ll be closing it just yet! Several channels off to the right lead into a maze of tiny canals in Neue Venedig, but although the waterway looked wide enough the sharp bends would probably stop us, so we gave up on any plans for exploring them and thought maybe we’d try it another day. A fishing enterprise had two boats with trawling nets and an old Berlin tug (small Dutch styled) to tow them. The ironing called, it

Gosener kanal - Wikimedia photo by Biberbaer

must be done while the electricity is being generated. The Muggelsee, a large round lake with a buoyed channel (which all motor sports vessels must adhere to), was very choppy as the wind had picked up quite considerably. Several commercial boats were engaged in sand dredging on our right hand side and they were being surveyed by an anchored police boat. We also noted there was now another buoyed route, not on our chart, which went southwest across the lake to a factory at a village called Rübezahl. Into the sheltered river Spree at Friedrichshagen. The washing had finished and I’d almost finished ironing as we arrived at the boatyard where we’d bought Bill’s gasket. Meanwhile police boat N° 52 had come alongside Rosy and asked for Bill’s papers. I turned

 Dämeritzsee - Wikimedia photo by Ralf Roletschek

my iron off and tied the boat up. Mike left the engine running and I finished off the ironing while he helped Bill come alongside, then they both went to see Lutz. He’d got an expansion tank for Bill (and wouldn’t have any money for it). Bill went back into the workshop to ask if he’d got any hose and came back with a rolled length of tubing. Mike fed 1€ in the slot machine and we refilled with water before we set off again up the Dahme back to Schmöckwitz. It started to pour with rain as we went past the Regatta course. Its score board was lit up with the message that the practice would start at 2 p.m. for the Berlin Youth Olympics. Poor kids, we didn’t envy them practising in that foul weather, the rain was

Neu Venedig (New Venice) canals
 - Wikimedia photo by Andreas Steinhof

bouncing off the surface of the lake and visibility was poor due to the mist it was producing. The area was devoid of craft except for a couple of kayakers who must have gone out before the rain started in earnest and a couple of coxed fours whose middle-aged crews looked like drowned rats. Even with the brolly swivelled towards the direction of the prevailing wind Mike was getting wet. He’d turned the bottom edge of his waterproof green biking jacket up as the rain was running off it on to his legs. I looked down and noticed he’d got a lake in the turn-up, he looked down and it spilled over, all down his leg and down his sock into his deck shoe. We laughed so much we nearly fell off the back of

Neu Venedig (New Venice) canals
 - Wikimedia photo by A Savin

the boat. N° 22 went past again, heading downstream, they waved again. There were no boats on the mooring again at Schmöckwitz. We moored in the corner, but this time Rosy went on the inside and Bill turned the boat round so his bows were pointing at the old landing stage. It was easier for the dog to get on and off, plus we’d got a view of the lake. It was 3 p.m. and the rain had eased off. Later a hireboat came in to moor in front of us.

Friday 24th September 2004 Schmöckwitz.

9.7° C Grey, windy and chilly.

View of Muggelsee from restaurant at Muggelort
Wikimedia photo by Lotse

Rain showers. Bill wanted to go to Ikea. We were going to go to Spandau, but Mike phoned the MBK shop and the bits for the moped hadn’t arrived yet, so I looked in the Ikea catalogue and found there was a store close by to where we were moored. We called at the post office in Eichwalde and collected the mail from Glyn. Ikea in Waltersdorf was busy, lots of people were shopping in the megastore. We went to look at the blinds. Bill got the folding chair he wanted (for BBQs etc) and we bought a roller blind for 18,50€  (£12.40). I had also seen a small folding table which was reduced from 12,99€ to 9,99€ so we bought one of those too. Called in the DIY shop Toom to get the fittings to install Bill’s new expansion tank. Mike got a 6.8mm drill for tapping. I bought some acrylic gloss paint in 125 ml tins (for decorative painting - roses and castles) and bought a piece of dowelling for the bottom edge of the window blind. When we got back Bill gave me a chopping board - he’d bought a pack of two and only wanted the smaller one. Baked some buns for Mike’s lunch while I did chores. Lunch. A picture postcard of Schwanstein castle in Bavaria came in the post from Glyn, it

Muggelsee - Wikimedia photo by Lienhard Schultz

was from Hans and Marianne on three weeks’ holiday. Bill called to see if Mike was about, he’d just woken up so he went to have a look at Bill’s newly installed expansion tank. I noticed that the booklet I’d picked up in Ikea had a price written in small print at the top. Waah! Shoplifting! I thought it was the same as their catalogues - free. Mike rang Sky to cancel our subscription, but got cut off by the call back service whose message said we’d run out of credit. Wonderful! They’re at it again. He tried ringing the call back number - it wouldn’t ring back. Bill tried ringing them, but his ‘phone wouldn’t work outside as the battery was flat and the signal strength wasn’t good enough for it to work inside on his charger. Give up. We fitted the new blind above the

Kopenick - Muggelspree
Wikimedia photo by Lotse

kitchen sink. It only took a few minutes and it looked really smart. I got Mike to take the roll outside and I sprayed the fabric surface with Scotchguard to keep it looking smart. At 8 p.m. Mike used Bill’s ‘phone (battery recharged) to call WWT and asked them to find out why his call back wasn’t working and ring him back. Debbie rang back at 8.30 p.m. to say they’d sorted it out. Mike asked what was wrong, had someone pressed the wrong key on the computer? She said no, it was a technical problem. We bet! I made potato wedges and chicken saté in the oven for dinner which we ate late at 8.15 p.m.

Saturday 25th September 2004 Schmöckwitz.

10.5° C Sunny spells, rain in the evening. Mike and I went back to Ikea in Waltersdorf to get another blind for the other window in the galley. It was even busier than the day before. We

Regatta course at Grunau. Langersee
Wikimedia photo by Mfranck

also called in Toom again and I got some more little pots of acrylic paint. Mike bought some coax plugs and some fender string. When we got back to the boat Mike took Bill to get diesel from an Arral garage in Schmöckwitz. Lunch, then Mike took Bill to get a second load of diesel. Bill bought him an ice cream and a crate of beer as a thank you. Mike returned to the boat with an ice cream he’d brought for me - a Magnum choc ice - I hadn’t had one of those in years! I cleaned the boat windows with some windscreen cleaner while they were away. Mike fitted the other blind. It seemed very light and airy without the curtains. Bill came over for a look. We had a transport café special for dinner, chips with beans and fried egg and spam.

Grosse Krampe - arm off the Langersee
Wikimedia photo by Andreas Steinhoff

Sunday 26th September 2004 Schmöckwitz.

8.8° C Chilly, wet and miserable day. Mike got up early to watch the first ever F1 Grand Prix from China, Shanghai. Schumacher had a disasterous race. He spun and only managed 19th position for qualifying. Started from the pit lane, spun again, then had a puncture and didn’t finish in the points! Barichello won with Button second. I got up just as the race had finished and Mike was going back to bed. Lunch. Bill asked if we wanted a log for the fire. The “log” which had floated down the side of Rosy was a section of tree bole that we doubted all three of us could have lifted - Mike gave it a shove with our short boat shaft and sent it out towards the middle of the lake. Bill had got a visitor. He said he’d see us at 8 p.m. and he’d bring a bottle of Sekt. Bill came over at eight and asked if we wanted to be in a documentary about alternative lifestyles - not really! The visitor was a cameraman who wanted to make a film and was going to try to persuade a producer to fund it. He would be visiting Bill again when we’re at EHS. We drank Bill’s bottle of Sekt and a bottle of our Erben Spätlese and chatted until Bill and Fanny went home at 9.30 p.m. 

Tuesday 21st & Wednesday 22nd September 2004 Repairs to Rosy’s engine.

Tuesday 21st September 2004 Schmöckwitz. Autumn Equninoxe. Repairs to Rosy’s engine.

Ruins of the Jagdschloss Schmockwitz - Wikimedia photo by Dramburg

10.8° C Sunny spells between grey clouds, breezy and heavy showers in the afternoon. The birch trees in the park alongside the mooring were shedding masses of tiny seeds which got everywhere, all over the boat roof, the carpet and tried to fill the front deck. We went shopping at the Real in Treptow park. Glyn ‘phoned to say he was just off to post our mail to Eichwalde. Got the groceries and set off home, calling at the boatyard in Adlershof on the way back. The guy said the gasket should arrive later in the day. Mike gave him our ‘phone number so

Schmockwitz trams in 1991 - Wikimedia photo by Roehrensee

he could ring us when the gasket had arrived and they would go and fetch it. Packed all the stuff away and made some lunch. Mike went to give Bill a hand stripping the Perkins down. The chap from the boatyard rang and Mike told him he’d be there before they closed at 6 p.m. They finished taking the engine to bits and went to get the gasket. Bill was lucky he only charged him 63€ for it, that’s just over £42 - ours cost £50 back in Britain, and he gained some grease for free and a slice of the office lady’s sandwich! I cooked a pork and smoked sausage casserole with savoy cabbage (French Potée Lorraine with a German flavour). Peter sent an text to ask Mike how to make a remote-operated door latch for his boat. Mike sent one back with details of a type of relay he

Schmockwitz trams in 2013 - Wikimedia photo by Platte

needed to get to build it. He said it was to prevent boat-jacking! Didn’t think they could get away with that with all the CCTV cameras, etc, in the UK nowadays. 

Wednesday 22nd September 2004 Schmöckwitz. Repairs to Rosy’s engine.

9.9° C Grey cloudy, sunny spells, windy. The ‘phone bleeped. There was an unread text from Peter from the previous night. It said that there were gangs of youths in the UK who steal from boats at lock flights when their crews are busy locking; that was why he wanted a remote door locking device. The men set to work again on the engine. Mike had

Aerial view of Schmockwitz - Wikimedia photo by Marathoni62
Mooring quay is towards top right below the blue roofs

been chewing over whether or not to have a look at the valves, he did, they weren’t too bad, but all six needed a session with the grinding paste. They started reassembling. I did chores in the morning, made a pizza to go in the oven with the buns, and then made some lunch. They finished rebuilding the engine and started it up to test it at 4.30 p.m. It fired up first time, no leaks or any sign of the original problem and Mike had finally convinced Bill that a header tank should be fitted as soon as possible. Otherwise the next time the engine overheats it could damage the head. I made Indonesian fried rice for dinner.

Monday 20th September 2004 Schmöckwitz via Teltow and Britzer back to Schmöckwitz.

Langer Dahme - Wikimedia photo by Lienhard Schultz

9.5°C Sunny spells in the morning, cloudy, cold and breezy in the afternoon. Set off at 8.05 a.m. with pins in and the washing machine going. Called in at a boatyard in Köpenick to refill the water tanks. Mike gave them 2€ for the two boats. When we set off again I finished the ironing and vacuumed the carpet. Made a cuppa and sat out on the stern to catch up two days’ log notes. Then Bill called on VHF to say his engine was overheating! Calamity! He’d stopped by Britzer Allee bridge, so we winded and went back and tied alongside. Mike went to have a look. He rigged up some clear tubing to vent the air and a bottle to catch the coolant, then watched to see how much air bubbled out. Loads. I made some lunch. Mike’s not happy, he said there should have been a header tank installed at the highest point on the cooling system when the extra tanks were fitted at Condé. Politzei launch N° 42 went past (he’d been past us heading the other way half an hour earlier) followed shortly after by a loaded Bromberger. Set off again along the remainder of the Britzer Zweigkanal and turned right on

Panorama of the Langer See - Wikimedia photo by Andreas Steinhoff

the Spree heading upstream back towards Schmöckwitz. Decided to leave the tour round the Muggelsee for another day as Rosy limped slowly back. Peter sent a text to ask if we’d left Berlin yet. Mike ‘phoned him to tell him the latest news and he came up with the suggestion that the cylinder head might be cracked - as happened on his Montego. We called into a boatyard that offered boat engine repairs to ask if they could get a cylinder head gasket. Bill arrived and moored alongside us. The boss came over to have a look. He said he’d do some ‘phoning round. Mike told him we’d call back and see him next day by car. We stooged slowly back down the Lange Dahme back to an empty quay wall. We tucked into the corner again and twenty minutes later Rosy came and moored alongside. 

Chart of Berlin waterways - Wikimedia by chumwa

Sunday 19th September 2004 Schmöckwitz. Visit to Swiss Saxony by car

View of the Bastei rocks - my photo

9.3° C. Sunny spells rainshowers. Had a day off. Did the chores first then went out for a drive in the car. I’d noted in my Michelin guide that there was a scenic hilly area to the east of Dresden and the start of the motorway to Dresden, the A113, was only just a few kilometres away from where we were moored. We took the route south through Eichwalde and into Könings Wüsterhausen to get the A10 then the A13, the continuation south of the A113 out of Berlin. There were three lots of roadworks where they were doing carriageway repairs, in one place the destruction of the other carriageway was so complete that Mike said he thought they were still building the A13! We drove almost into the city centre of Dresden

View of the Bastei rocks - my photo

then turned to run east towards Bishofswerfda, then south through small villages in among some lovely undulating low hills. We paused for lunch, parked in a section of old road kept as a parking area. It was almost filled with parked cars, but no one was around and we were in the middle of a forest. People came back to their cars later with carrier bags full of something - probably mushrooms. The place we’d come to see, the Bastei viewpoint in Swiss Saxony, was not very far down the same road. We parked the car on a

Bastei - Wikimedia photo by Zairon 

car park that charged 2.50 Eu for the first two hours and a further 5.50 Eu for any time after that. It was the only place to park. We took the camera and headed off down the road with crowds of other walkers and met crowds of other walkers on their way back. Busy place. The viewpoint over the Elbe was reached by lots of sets of steps running downhill to a bridge which linked several sandstone stacks together. Looking over the edge there was a sheer drop of several hundred feet to the rocks below. On the left side was a reconstruction of a fortress, called Felsenburn Neurathen, which was there in the middle ages. They charged 1,50 Eu for a fifteen minute trek up and down more steps linking more of the columns of sandstone. We

Formation called Monch at Bastei - Wikimedia photo by FunkBrothers

continued downhill to look at the rest of the cliffs and watched the paddle-wheeled trip boat, Leipzig, coming down the river, then a tethered ferryboat took about fifty people back to their cars on the far bank. The steps were a real killer for a flatlander, although Mike had no real problems, I was puffing well and sweltering before I got back to the level of the fortress. We decided to give the excursion a miss and went back to the car. We’d been away almost an hour and twenty minutes. Paid our 2,50 Eu and set off back via Bad Schandau down on the banks of the Elbe - and within a few kilometres of the Czech border. The villages in the tiny steep valleys were more like French

The golden statue of Augustus the Strong
 - Wikimedia photo by Pudelek

hill towns than German, not so prim and tidy as most villages in the flatlands but very picturesque. We followed the road to the south of the Elbe back to Dresden and got stuck in a queue from the top of the hill above Pirma all the way through the bends down into the town centre which took over an hour. An ambulance had gone past us with its lights flashing, but there were no obvious signs of what had caused the holdup. The centre of Dresden was a mix of very modern buildings on wide boulevards and reconstructed ancient buildings (the Allies bombed Dresden the night of the 13th/14th Feb ‘45 and didn’t leave many stones standing) which were on the left as we crossed the river bridge. The road swung to the left and we passed the beautiful golden statue of Augustus the strong, on horseback, 17c Elector and builder of the famous Zwinger palace - now a museum.

View of Dresden on the Elbe river - Wikimedia photo (no author listed)

Out through the suburbs and back on to the motorway heading north. Paused for a break at the first rest area. A Czech coach load of teenagers were running around, three girls supported a fourth who looked decidedly ill. We arrived home at 9.30 p.m. after finding the route off the 96a through Falkenhorst back to Schmöckwitz. 

Saturday 18th September 2004 Mitte N° 5 to Schmöckwitz.

Muhlendammer schleuse - Wikimedia photo by brokenshpere

9.1° C sunny. Set off at 8.00 a.m. just as a pusher and two pans appeared behind us. I’d sorted the washing ready for Mike to put the pins in when we got to the lock at Mühlendamm. Mike said if we’d got to follow the commercial we couldn’t do the washing - we couldn’t go fast enough for Markon generating! Paused below the lock and I spoke on the intercom to the lady keeper. Didn’t understand what she said back though. We followed in behind Andrea, a scruffy old tug pushing two pans loaded with building rubble, into the left hand chamber - there was just enough space left for us behind him, one on either side of the chamber. Meanwhile the

Oberbaumbrucke - Wikimedia photo by calfier001

right hand chamber emptied off for a lone tripper, also going uphill. The lady keeper came out to chat and ask questions of Mike while we came up in the lock. The tripper in the right chamber, Elfe, was up and gone before we got out of the left chamber following the slowest, smokiest tug in all Berlin. Loud pop music at nine in the morning? It was coming from a long low building on the left bank just before Schillingbrücke. An all-night rave or a weekender? There

Spree at Kopenick- Wikimedia photo by orderinchaos

were a few teenagers wandering about outside. A little further upstream there was another party going on aboard a converted barge called Eidelweiss, where there was more loud music and loads of teenagers milling about. Around 9.15 a.m. we met the first of the trippers on the move. An ex-police boat called Tremor went past heading downstream at Oberbaumbrücke. I made tea and cooked some buns. Two planes went overhead, a biplane and what looked like a powered glider. Following the pusher the water was swirling and it was too slow for running the washing machine. A big tanker boat was plying to and fro, emptying the toilet holding tanks for the trippers moored at their “nest” at the Weissflot harbour. I said that might count as

Molecule man - Wikimedia photo by George Slickers

one of the 21st century’s worst jobs, but Mike said Tony Robinson wouldn’t agree as they didn’t actually have to handle the effluent nowadays, they pump it out through hoses, they don’t have to use buckets and shovels! Still bound to pong a bit! The pusher turned left, heading for one of the quays on the Rummelsburgersee. Hooray! Mike put the pins in and I started the washing. Several little boats went past but there was very little else moving as we trundled on up the Spree. The washing finished at 11.10 a.m. and Mike took the pins out just as a Berlin tug pushing two pans loaded with brown coal came round the corner at Köpenick. We turned left into the bay by the town centre to have a look at their public mooring place. There was a short pier sticking out at right angles from the bank, where there was a grassy area with trees and then a busy road. The two sides of the pier were occupied by two largish cruisers. Full! We winded and twiddled past a string of fishing nets on poles back into the main channel, looks like it will have to be Schmöckwitz after all. Mike put the pins back in and I did another load of washing as we continued down the Langer Dahme, the left spoke in a series of lakes which l

Rummelsburgersee- Wikimedia photo by beek100

ooks like a trident. I made a cup of soup. The wind was picking up and it was very chilly. There was a race going on at the regatta course. A large electronic score board gave the results of the 200m one-man kayak race as we went past. The two-man kayaks were lining up ready to do their race. A couple of coxed-eights went past us and beyond the racing course the river was very lively with all sorts of pleasure boats, including an apricot coloured cruiser which had a web site on its side and called itself a solar powered craft. Further on there

Oberschoneweide -  Wikimedia photo by lotse

was a sailing regatta taking place. An 80m loaded commercial travelling along the buoyed channel let out one deep booming hoot and the sailboats parted and left him a large space. A speedboat went in front of the commercial making sure the yachts kept out of the barge’s way as it went past Großer Rohrwall island. We ate lunch on the move just in time to tie up on the quay at Schmöckwitz at 1.30 p.m. There was just enough space for us to go side by side behind two cruisers and a yacht which had occupied the rest of the quay. Mike and Bill got secateurs out and trimmed off the overhanging tree

Langer Dahme - Wikimedia photo by Lienhard Schultz

branches by the sterns of the boats. Mike asked Bill if he wanted to go with him to play trains and fetch the car. He said no he’d got a few jobs to do. I went with Mike as I couldn’t pass up an afternoon playing trains, especially as I’d got new shoes for walking. We walked to the S-Bahn station in Eichwalde and paid 2,60€ each for the trip back to Spandau. Changed trains at West Kreuz. Got on the S75 to Spandau and got off at the station at Stresow, by Ikea, when Mike recognised the familiar townscape. That saved us a long walk back from the Rathaus. I suggested that we drove back through the city centre as that was the most direct route, but we got as far as the

View from mooring at Schmockwitz
 Wikimedia photo by orderinchaos

island with Golden Else (the 222 foot high Siegessäule, or Victory Column) arriving there just as the police were stopping the traffic to let thousands of cyclists whiz round the corner and head down the Unter der Linden into the city. They closed the road behind them and weren’t allowing traffic into the city via that route, so Mike went all the way round the island and took the road into the Tiergarten, followed the Landwehr canal, then headed south on the 170 through Britz and on to the 96a, which tried to take us back into the city towards Treptow, so we had to turn round to find the road back to Schmöckwitz. We were home by 6.30 p.m. not bad, three and a half hours. Bill told us that his friend and postlady Veronica had been searching the net for cheap airflights and had found one for £14 to Berlin Schönfeld, which is very close to where we are moored at present. The trick is finding a similar priced ticket for the return journey!

Friday 17th September 2004 Mitte N° 5.

9.5° C sunny but breezy. Woken at 8.15 a.m. by the sound of strimmers. The WSA men were back to continue the clean up along the bank by the boat mooring! Mike got up and went out

Footbridge to Reichstag - Wikimedia photo by Joseph Renalias

to make sure they didn’t break the windows - we’ve had trouble before with waterways men with strimmers, ie stones and broken car windscreens. The hotel boat had gone and the men were doing the other bay first. Thankfully, they cleared alongside our boat with shovels and didn’t use the strimmer. Bill was getting ready for his cycle tour of the city. He ran Rosy’s engine for an hour before he went out at ten. The trip boats started moving again shortly after that. Mike went out on foot to buy some bread. I tried ‘phoning the F1 hotel in Calais again and 

The Bode museum - Wikimedia photo by Calflier001

got a message to say it was an invalid number. I took Fanny out for a wander around the greenery along the path above the quay. A young woman was sitting on the quay by the steps. She said something in French as the dog went past so we had a short chat in French, which made a pleasant change! I’d just returned Fanny to Rosy’s back cabin when Bill returned. He came back with some interesting postcards of the war damage to the city centre and the “Wende”, the night when the wall came down. No sign of

Trip boats by the Bode - Wikimedia photo by De-okin

Nefertiti - he said she must be at Charlottenburg. Mike ‘phoned the F1 hotel in Birmingham - their number worked and the girl who answered gave him the number for Calais. He went off to post a film to be developed and I ‘phoned Calais. The new number was an automatic booking service, so I followed the prompts (in French) and booked us a room for the 1st November. The wash from the fast passing traffic ripped one of our tyre fenders off and, of course, it sank! Mike tried 

More trip boat by the Dom - Wikimedia photo by Telecasterman

searching for it with our boat pole attached to one of Bill’s long shafts (the water was over 3m deep) but there was no sign of it. Not surprising really considering the amount of sploshing about that the water does. Peter sent a text to ask us to see if we could make contact on HF radio and to try 40m. We put the pole and wire up. It was very noisy, couldn’t hear much. Came to the conclusion that we were getting lots of local electrical interference. Peter gave up and went to play at finding portals on 2m repeaters. A hireboat managed to squeeze into the gap in front of our bows, it was attached to the 

TV tower (fehrnseturm) from Dom -
Wikimedia photo by Andreas Praefcke

dolphin in front of us about halfway along its hull. The boat moored behind us had been playing very loud bumpty-bump pop music all evening. Mike went out to start up our genie (which is very quiet, suspended inside the engine room with an exhaust through the pigeon box on the roof) and had a staring match with the bloke off the boat behind us (a middle aged man not a twenty-something pop addict!) who was sitting on the top deck. The volume went down after that. 

Thursday 16th September 2004 Spandau N° 1 to Mitte N° 5.

Rosy in Charlottenburg lock

9.1° C Chilly. Sunny, clouding over in the afternoon giving a few short showers of rain. Set off at 7.30 a.m. A commercial overtook us and went into the new Charlottenburg schleuse. The gates closed behind him as we turned right to go to the old locks, which are now used only for sport boots. Not today! We’d heard a voice on the tannoy say something as we passed the waiting place for the new lock but took no notice as we couldn’t understand it. The old locks both had two red lights - not in use. We winded and went back to the new lock. A man on a bike came down the towpath waving and smiling, pointing in the direction of the new lock. While we were waiting for the big lock to empty Bill hatched up a plan to get a

Old warehouses due to be converted into luxury flats

mooring in the city centre. If there was space at mooring N° 3 one of us would occupy it while the other went on to see what space was available at N° 5. If there was space at N° 5 we’d call to say come and join us, if not we’d return to the space at N° 3. (N° 4 now had signs saying no mooring - the blue mooring signs which had been turned round so they faced the flats, not the cut, had gone). If VHF didn’t work, due to the height and number of the intervening buildings between N° 3 and N° 5, a system of rings on the ‘phone was organised.

Beyond the old warehouses.

There were just us two narrowboats to go up in the new lock. I took ‘photos as it was the first time we’d been through the lock. After leaving the chamber we turned right heading for the city centre. A WSA tug passed us, then a crane boat, which made us wonder if there was a stoppage on the old locks for cleaning or maintenance today. If so, they should have put a bag over the sign below the new lock which said all sport boots turn right for the old lock! The trippers started moving as we arrived at N° 3 mooring. There was space there, so Mike suggested to Bill that he should stop and we would carry on to N° 5, which he

New footbridge across the river Spree to the Reichstag

did. We carried on into the city centre. Two police officers on horseback, a man and a woman, waved to us from the path which ran alongside the canal on the right bank after Lutherbrücke. We found out later that the German Chancellor’s office was located there. The bridge, Lutherbrücke, was made of red sandstone and covered with stern faced Prussian heads and eagles. Work was still going on by the canal junction to rebuild the station. It was very quiet on the navigation as we went past the Reichstag. Success! There

Reichstag from the Spree

were only two bays between dolphins at mooring N° 5 and one bay was free - the other occupied by a large square cruiser, which we took to be some sort of hotel boat. We moored and called Bill to come and join us. As we tied up the trippers started up, seven of them were milling about by the museum insel and a Connoisseur Cruisers hire boat added to the mayhem. It was 10.55 a.m. A team of WSA men were cleaning the narrow quay alongside and beyond the moorings, removing the litter and weeds. They had their two work boats moored to the bank while they finished off their cleaning - they then left. Bill arrived with Rosy forty minutes later and tied alongside us. A chap leaning over the railings above the boats told Mike and Bill that the trippers average fifty passages an hour where we

Map of the Berlin moorings from the Wassersport Berlin-Brandenburg '99 magazine

were moored (there aren’t fifty boats, there’s about half that number). Made some lunch. Bill went to try again to look round the Bode and he left his keys so I could take Fanny out for a pee, which I did at 3.30 p.m. Bill returned as we were going back to the steps down to the quay. He told me that the Bode was closed, all year, so he had looked round the other two museums and had been in the cathedral shop (they charge to go in the cathedral, so he said he wouldn’t bother). The next day’s mooring to aim for was Köpenick, or further if that was occupied or unsuitable. Bill came over later to say he’d changed his mind and would like another day in Berlin to have a cycle round to the museums at Tiergarten. That’s OK with us. I called Diana at WWT, direct to USA (ouch). She said yes it had just been done, two minutes ago - try it now! Mike did, so he ‘phoned his Mum and Dad and had a 40 minute chat, then I called Peter and we also spoke for about 40 minutes! Well, that little session put the ‘phone bill up! 

Wednesday 15th September 2004 Spandau N° 1.

11.8° C Sunny and warm with white fluffy clouds. Lots of traffic started moving early. Bill

Spandau railway station - Wikimedia photo by Jwaller

called to say that Ikea didn’t open until 10 a.m. (we’d arranged to take him as there was something he wanted to get). At ten we left in the car to find the store which was opposite the MBK shop in Stresow. It only took about five minutes to get there in the car. Bill wanted a new chair for computer working. He chose one with a moulded wooden back and the usual single support leg with half a dozen castor feet. A snip at 59€. He also bought some Gravad Lax, Swedish salmon and bought us a pack to try for having taken him to the shop. Back at 11.30

Spandau railway station - Wikimedia photo by Jivee Blau

a.m. Mike drove the car back to the station car park and was lucky enough to find a space. Lunch. The mooring was busy again with cruisers coming and going, several of them were charter boats. Still no WWT callback service for our ‘phone. I rang Europe Central in Coquelles (Calais) to book our French car in for its Control Technique (equivalent of the UK MoT) and got a booking for 8 a.m. on 2nd November (the 1st is a national holiday in France as it is All Saints Day). We called for Bill at 2 p.m. and went into Spandau on foot to find a Cybercafé to use the internet. Found one right inside the corridor leading to the station. The place was packed but

Spandau streets -Wikimedia photo by Dguendel

Bill had a PC and we had one between us. Started off having trouble with the fact that everything was in German. Bill said he always starts off by loading up Yahoo.co.uk which comes up in English and takes it from there. Checked our e-mail - there were several old ones from WWT, first telling us about the changes, then saying that the new system was coming in to force on the 1st Sept. The WWT website wouldn’t let us have a copy of our August ‘phone bill - it dawned later that we were using the new NAC code instead of the old one. We got a bank statement, printed that and

Spandau streets -Wikimedia photo by Alexrk2

then we booked our ferry crossing via SeaFrance 159€ (not cheap!) We tried several times to book an F1 hotel, but couldn’t get their home page to fire up. We’d had two hours on line, but the price wasn’t too bad at 1€ an hour and 25c per printed sheet. The newly built shopping arcade was right next to the station, so we went to have a look for a shoe shop, found one and I bought a new pair of Eccos, exactly the same as the ones I’d just (almost) worn out. Expensive, but worth it for the comfort. Mike wanted to get some postage stamps, but the machine in the old town wouldn’t work. He bought a 15€ top up for the ‘phone from a Vodaphone shop and then we went back to the boat. I made a pork stew for dinner. Bill came over to discuss where we were off to next. He said he wanted to have another go at the Bode museum, so the nearest mooring would be N° 5, and Mike said we’d try for it but might not get it with the number of hire boats which were still roaming around in Berlin.