13.5° C Sunny after a cool start. Breezy. Clouds building
up from the north in the afternoon.
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Stadtschleuse Rathenow - only open in July & August
Wikimedia photo by Biberbaer |
At 7 a.m. we went back up the weirstream to
the Hauptschleuse, the big lock in Rathenow. Moored next to the pontoon to wait
for the lock. Mike had called on VHF, but had no reply, so he went for a walk
taking the chart with him so he could ask about the locks on the Gnevsdorfer
Vorfluter (an extension of the Havel running parallel to the Elbe). The young
lock keeper was just coming out of the house when Mike got there at 7.20 a.m.
Mike spoke to him while the lock filled. He spoke no English and knew nothing
about the two locks Mike was interested in, didn’t even know they existed, but
eagerly told Mike that the town lock in Rathenow was closed, which we knew
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| Hauptschleuse Rathenow -Wikimedia photo by Biberbaer |
already. (It seems not everyone knows that it’s only open July and August, several
canoeists and the crew of a small yacht asked us if the lock was open!) He
wouldn’t let us sit in between the straight sided walls by the top end gates of
the immense lock chamber (220m x 9.5m) while it emptied, we had to give him a
rope which he passed through one of the inset iron bars in the sloping wall
(which we didn’t really need) and then we had to keep the boat away from the
sloping wall using short shafts. Mike was getting annoyed because at the
previous lock the
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| Grutz lock - Wikimedia photo by Biberbaer |
keeper had told him we could stay between the top end gates,
and he’d got a tethered workboat in the corner of the chamber that we could tie
to which made life easier. Bill brought Rosy alongside and we dropped down
about 1m. The river below Rathenow was much wider. We passed one small cruiser heading
upstream. There were lots of cruisers moored along the river bank at a marina
in Grütz. A little further downstream we passed a small open fishing boat with
a large outboard motor heading upstream fast, making lots of wash. Birds of
prey were plentiful, we saw a honey buzzard on
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| Cable ferry at Molkenberg - Wikimedia photo by Biberbaer |
an electricity post, several
common buzzards and a red kite which was circling close to where a fisherman
was fishing from an anchored boat near KP 116. Notices above the lock at Grütz
said it was automatic (DIY), but the new electronic sign board said that there
was a lock keeper on duty today. We tied to the pontoon and Mike went off to
have words with the keeper taking the chart with him again to ask about the
locks on the end of the Havel. There was a workboat in the lock, the men were
repairing the brickwork on the left hand side and the lock had just started to
empty. Mike went to the tail end of the lock where two men were cleaning the
lock gates. He
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| Graz lock - Wikimedia photo by Biberbaer |
asked them about the lower Havel locks, they didn’t know
anything either and suggested asking the lock keeper, who was nowhere to be
seen. A WSA tug and a small yacht came into the lock. Mike gave up and came
back to the boat. When the two boats exited the chamber we went in with Rosy
still tied alongside and Bill dropped a stern rope on the workboat. The keeper
appeared and asked if we had come from Holland, we said no - England! Past wide
meadows with the forest at a distance, we continued downstream on the Havel. A
large cruiser, called Blue Sky, went up river near KP 125, the crew waved as we
passed. Glyn ‘phoned at midday and spoke to Mike, he’d posted our mail to
Werder the day before. I’d just finished making sandwiches when we arrived at
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| Honey buzzard - Wikimedia photo by Jo Kurz |
Garz lock. Two uphill cruisers were in the chamber, so we tied on the pontoon
and Bill hovered in mid river. The two boats left the lock and we went in
accompanied by a small cruiser which had caught up with us. Took the left hand
wall as the right was taped off - the brickies have more work to do in this
lock! As we left the lock I steered so Mike could stand on the boat roof and
ask the keeper about the lower Havel locks. Yes, he said, they’re OK and working.
Great! As we passed the village of Strodehne, a few small powerboats were out
enjoying the warm sunny afternoon. A large cruiser, called Adler III, overtook
us. Arrived in Havelberg at 3.40 p.m.
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| Red kite - Wikimedia photo by Andreas Trepte |
The quay had been rebuilt. Formerly it
was a piled quay with an untidy grassy bank, where the tripper Jerichowerland
loaded and unloaded. The tripper was still there, but the quay had been
transformed. Now it was brick built with concrete edging and a wide paved area
above and a new tourist information office. There were dolphins to tie to and a
ladder. Bill brought Rosy in to moor behind us and Mike gave him a hand with
getting his ropes round the dolphins. There was a lower section with some steps
by Rosy’s stern, which made it easier to get Fanny on and off. A line of small
boats was moored on the opposite bank at the Campinginsel and in middle the
plane of water, which was the former Winterhafen, they had installed a floating
fountain which was sending three jets of water into the air, two small ones and
one large one - the spray from it was reaching us on the breeze. Bill went to
take the dog out and called in the Tourist info office. They had no internet
cafés and no library according to the man in the office and town maps cost 1,50
Eu each, so Bill said “No ta!” and went back to his boat for an overdue nap!
Mike set up the satellite dish and then unloaded the moped. He went to pick up
the car at 4.40
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| Havel at Havelberg - Wikimedia photo by Botaurus |
p.m. I put the Mac on and caught up with the log entries.
Later, while I was rechecking what I’d typed, a gang of punks on the bank by
the tripper started shouting loudly, dogs started barking, then there were some
slaps and a female with red hair who had been doing most of the shouting
started howling and yelling louder. I shut the cabin doors and locked them! The
noise got louder and there were sounds of more blows and a dog started
attacking someone, so I looked out from the side doors but couldn’t see what
they were doing. A group of teenaged girls,
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| Havelberg - Wikimedia photo by Franzfoto |
who were sitting by the tourist
office when Mike left, were still sitting there chatting and didn’t turn a
hair. I’d thought of ‘phoning the police, but then I thought - there were lots
of other people about on the quay - so it only sounded like murder being done. When Mike returned at 6.45 p.m. the
crimson-haired punk girl was sitting on the ground talking to a police officer,
while a black-haired youth with a spiky haircut was standing by the road. The
girls from the steps by the tourist office had checked out and gone home.
Helped get the moped back on board. Packed up at 7 p.m. and cooked a stirfry
for dinner. Bill had been chatting to a guy, who spoke good English, who was
keen to know more about getting to Bromberg and down the Vistula. Mike went out
to chat and then Bill asked the chap to use his ‘phone and call the keeper on
the Vorfluter to make sure the locks would be open next day – he confirmed that
they would be.
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