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!