Wednesday 29th & Thursday 30th September 2004 Hermsdorfer Mühler to Philadelphia.

Wednesday 29th September 2004 Hermsdorfer Mühler to Philadelphia.

Much milder night at 13.1° C Wet. Pouring with rain most of the night and when we looked outside first thing. The bedroom window above my head had started to leak and Mike had a

Lock at Kummersdorf

look to see where the wet was getting in. Have to get the hopper out when (if!) the weather dries up. At ten the rain eased off. The blonde lady keeper at Prieros confirmed that the local locks would be closed after the 3rd October, but could be put on call out by making a telephone call the day before. We dropped back down the lock and continued downstream along the Dahme to the crossroads where we went north east on the Storkower Gewasser, along the Langer See then into a winding canal linking with the large round lake called the Wolziger See, a deep lake (over 10m) which we entered at the south west edge and crossed to exit at the north east side, near the town of Wolzig, hidden from view in among the trees. The rain poured down. Last time we crossed the lake it was windy - at least we hadn’t got both today. I made some lunch as we carried on up the

Above Kummersdorf lock. Storkowergewasse 

Storkow canal. The rain stopped as we followed the curving channel, with 2m of deep clear water. A Kuhnle hireboat came past us heading downhill, then we passed another moored under the trees. We rose about a metre in the lock at Kummersdorf. I asked the lady keeper when her lock shuts (she spoke no English but we managed) and she said not until 31st of next month. We said we’d see her next week and she nodded and waved as we left. Followed Rosy on along the canal to moor at 2.30 p.m. at the wooden edged low quay at Philadelphia, under the trees. Mike staked the satellite dish on the sloping bank next to

Kummersdorf lock in 2013

the boat. It poured with rain again. Mike ‘phoned Hans-D and said we’d be at EHS next day by car. We had to go and collect MBK spares from Spandau in the morning, so we’d see him around 1.30 p.m. He said he’d meet us at the Mielenzhafen. I got on with the chores, then helped Mike unload the moped off the boat down the plank. He went to get the car from Schmöckwitz and I got on with catching up with the log entries. He was back just after six, I helped run the moped back on to the roof up the plank in the wet and get it covered. Made pasta carbonara for dinner. Bill was having troubles with his 12v system, he was not getting a full charge from a good day’s engine running. There was only enough power to run just the fridge for three or four hours by then the voltage had dropped to ten volts. It needs looking at, but Bill’s convinced it just requires three new replacement batteries. Mike thought that there may be other problems with his system!

Thursday 30th September 2004 Philadelphia.

Moored at Philadelphia in 2013

10.1° C Showers in the morning and sunny spells in the afternoon. Mike and I went to Spandau to get the bits he’d ordered for the moped from the MBK shop. On the way we called at Neue Mühler lock in Königs-Wusterhausen, where Mike went to find out if the lock was due to close within the next few days. The keeper was busy, he didn’t speak English and wasn’t doing too well with Mike’s attempts at German. He wrote down the opening times for the lock for October and the ‘phone number - so the lock wasn’t in imminent danger of closing and only being available on call out. (We think). We got on the A100 Berlin inner ring and off at Spandauer Dam. Mike went in the MBK shop and bought the bits he’d ordered, a new chain and a sprocket wheel for the moped, then we went across the road to fill the car’s tank up with diesel before returning to the A100. Took the autoroute south, A115, to join the A10 Berliner outer ring running east, then the A12 which took us all the way to Frankfurt where we got off and

Track by the mooring at Philadelphia in 2013

headed south (on new roads) into Eisenhuttenstadt. We were late. We’d told Hans we would be there at 1.30 p.m. and it was 1.50 p.m. There was another one of the members there as Christian (the boss) was laid up with a bad knee (he’d been working too hard!). The club’s boats were due to come out of the water on the 22nd of next month, so we said as there was enough space anyway for the two boats along the wall - where they’d installed new metal gangways - that we’d like to arrive around the 15th. The guy had only come down to the club for an hour and had to leave and lock up. Hans was on his bike, so we said thanks and “Bis bald” - see you soon - and followed Hans back to his house to see Marianne. We stayed for coffee and a chat. Hans showed us photos of their son’s new house and their two grandchildren, Hannah (aged 3) and Karl (aged 5), who are growing up really fast. Before heading back to the boat we did some shopping at the Real hypermarket. Took the 246 scenic route back through Beeskow and Storkow to Philadelphia, a very pleasant ride. Bill had been to Storkow on his bike to do a bit of shopping. Later Bill and Fanny came over to have a planning meeting for the next few days’ travels.