Tuesday 5th - Thurs 7th October 2004 Groß Köris to Schmöckwitz.

Tuesday 5th October 2004 Groß Köris to Schmöckwitz.

Klein Korisersee - Wikimedia photo by Botaurus

9° C Sunny start, clouding over during the morning, then clear skies and hot in the afternoon. Set off at 8 a.m. as the lady bridge keeper came to look to see if she had any boats waiting. Next time we’ll moor on the other side of the bridge where there was a large grassy area with no fences. As we ran back north through the chain of lakes no one else was moving and the two big lakes, Kleinkörisersee and Hölzenersee, were smooth as silk and as vivid blue as the sky. The air was clear and crisp. I’d been doing some washing so the pins came out at 9.45 a.m. as we wound along the long thin Schmöldesee and arrived at the Dahme near Prieros. Several long narrow open fishing boats were buzzing about at high speed, stopping to inspect the contents of nets slung between poles. A red squirrel showed off his acrobatic talents running up a tree near Dolgenbrodt. At

Church at Prieros - Wikimedia photo by Clemensfranz

the top end of the Dolgensee we called at a boatyard in Gussow to get some water. They were closed for the winter Mike was informed rather brusquely. Well, there were signs such as bags over the electricity posts and the fuel pump! We followed Rosy along the narrow winding channel of the Dahme and paused at Bindow at a boatyard where a couple of lads were busy cleaning down boats which had been lifted out for winter storage. Bill managed to get Rosy into their guest mooring with only about 2m sticking out into the channel and arranged some drinking water for 1 Euro for 100 litres. We tied across the posts which their small boats had their sterns tied to and were within range of the hosepipe. It was slow but at least we refilled the tanks. I did some chores while the tank filled. Mike was busy mopping up

Fire station at Dolgenbrodt - Wikimedia photo by Clemensfranz

several bucketfuls of water from the engine room bilges. He’d left the brass tap on the drain pipe from the manifold cooler turned on overnight to drip and, for some as yet unknown reason, it had overflowed the bucket. I made lunch and we ate it sitting on the stern in the sunshine as we crossed the Krüpelsee. Down the Krimnicksee and into the Stabbe at Neue Mühle to wait for the lock, where we were joined by four skiffs and a powered cruiser. Below there were two cruisers waiting to go up. It was almost 2 p.m. as we ran down the Dahme past the coal truck unloading place on the corner of the Notte kanal (which we noticed had a sign to say there was a mooring on the canal at Königs Wusterhausen. Made a mental note that we must find time to explore that one of the days. A policeboat, N° 31, went past towing a green marker buoy - we were tempted to ask where

Dolgensee - Wikimedia photo by Lienhard Schultz

they’d stolen it from but hadn’t got the German words to make jokes like that. The crew leaned out and shouted something which we didn’t understand. Then Bill said on VHF that they’d asked if we’d come from England and he’d said yes. When they passed us they had asked Mike “which way?” which at the time hadn’t made any sense! The afternoon sunshine was warm as we followed Rosy into the Möllenzugsee and into the long lake called the Zeuthenersee with the Großer Zug off to its right. We did a diversion along the latter and the Krossinsee which lead to the Oder Spree Kanal and the Seddingsee and back to Schmöckwitz. We tied up side by side in the corner, with us on the inside under the trees. The rest of the quay was empty. Mike went off at 5 p.m. on the moped to collect the car from Philadelphia. Lots of little power boats and cruisers were out on the lake enjoying the autumn sunshine. Tugs were moving pans of brown coal from the loading place at Königs Wusterhausen to the coal fired power station by the Siemens factory at Spandau. I made Thai fried rice (Thai instead of Indonesian for a change) for dinner. Mike returned with the car as I was halfway through preparing it. Paused to help load the moped back on the roof.

Wednesday 6th October 2004 Schmöckwitz.

13.9° C Sunny, clouding over in the afternoon and rain from 6 p.m. through the night. Bill went by bike to get groceries from the Extra just up the road. Later Mike and I went shopping at Real in Treptower Park, calling in at Lutz’s boatyard to drop off a length of hose that Bill hadn’t used. Mike asked where he could get a sparking plug for our gennie. Lutz said if he hadn’t got one he could order one and it would be there the next day. He put one on order. We were home at 2 p.m. for a late lunch. Mike did his engine room checks. I spent the afternoon putting all the groceries away then cooking a kingsized stew with some cubed beef,

Kablow church on the Krupelsee - Wikimedia photo by Lokilech

onions, carrots, swede and parsnips to which I added some pearl barley and cooked it for an hour in the pressure cooker. Mike chatted to an old chap who told him he owned the spit of land south of the mooring which separates the little bay from the rest of the Zeuthenersee. He said he was at school in Schmöckwitz during the war, learning English by day and being bombed by the English at night! But there was no animosity to the English he said. German soldiers arrived and fought the Russians who were on the opposite bank. (They’d blown up the bridge, an old wood and metal arched one, to stop the Russian advance). At the time his uncle owned the narrow spit of land and the Germans commandeered it to fire a big gun at the Russians. His uncle pleaded with them not to do it as the Russians’ return fire would destroy his bit of land. He gave them food and vodka as bribes. Next day the Russians had succeeded in crossing the lake so his land was saved and the soldiers left.

Thursday 7th October 2004 Schmöckwitz.

9.1° C Sunny and warm all day. Mike went to find the cause of his engine room flood. He discovered the source of the problem when he found that the shut off tap wasn’t closing completely as the valve was damaged, probably from having debris stuck in it when he’d closed it. Must change it ASAP but in the meantime, until we can get a new one, he found he could turn it off successfully by closing it then backing it off a fraction. Took Bill with us out in the car to an Internet Café I’d spotted when we went shopping the day before. We called in

View from Schmockwitz bridge of spit of land - trees on right
Wikimedia photo by Orderinchaos

at Lutz’s boatyard, getting mislaid in an Umleitung (diversion) without any road signs on the way there, and picked up the new sparkplug for the Honda, at 3,71 EU (about £2.50) Mike thought it was a good buy - he’d expected to pay twice that price. Score one! We went on towards Treptow and found the Internet Café. Bill and I went to investigate. Signs on the door said the Internet Café was no more. We went in the computer shop next door to ask if there was another in the vicinity. The lad who came to the desk said no. Bill asked if there was one in the area of Schmöckwitz and he reeled off a string of directions which Bill wrote down. Back at the car Mike said get him to mark it on the A-Z and I went back. It dawned on me as he turned the pages of the Berlin A-Z that he was sorting out directions to Schmöckwitz! There’s an Internet Café there? I asked, er, no! Give up! Back to the boat for lunch. It was a pleasant afternoon so Mike and I went out in the car. First to Neuhaus lock to find out when they close down. Mike was

Another view from Schmockwitz bridge of spit of land
Wikimedia photo by Orderinchaos

pleased to find that they don’t close until the end of October and neither does Beeskow’s automatic lock. We went on into EHS to have a look for the Internet Café. The one by the hospital had gone, so I went in a papershop and was told there was a Spiel Casino in Linden Allee which we found easily right at the end of the main street directly opposite the City Center shopping complex. Parked opposite the cybercafé and went in. Nice modern computers and there were two separate rooms so the kids playing games didn’t annoy the adults and students using the ‘net. The only drawback was that it was a bit pricey at 2€ an hour. The first computer we used wouldn’t do a printout so the lady attendant asked if we’d like to move to another which worked OK. Did the bank statements and the phone bills for August and September. Checked our E-mails. We went to have a look at the river Oder and then went home. Took the scenic route back to the A12 via Pohlitz and Reißen into Mullrose. There was a long queue of traffic, including lots of lorries, heading towards Poland. Took the wrong turning off the motorway and went back through Zeuthen and Eichwald where there was one diversion after another due to roadworks. It was 8.30 p.m. by the time we got home.