Friday 13th May 2005 Brda lock to abv Biała Góra lock Nogat. 124 kms no locks

A cold night down to 2º C, but it was sunny - the break in the weather had arrived. Off at last! Mike was up at 5.30 a.m. to get ready for lock opening time at 7.00 a.m. At 6.45 a.m. a tug arrived, pushing a pan, and went into the lock, so we followed it in. Bill went off to pay for the lock and got back on board just before the keeper pulled the plug and we started to descend. We followed the commercial out of the lock

down the short channel to the Wisła. The gauge below the lock was registering another 5 cms drop in the water level. Once we reached the river Mike turned upstream, avoiding three fishermen in a small power boat, and checked to see how fast the river was flowing. He reckoned the flow rate was between five and six kph. We turned and ran downstream with revvs for 6.5 kph and did

11.5 kph over the bed. Started chasing bank markers, X’s on the left bank and crossing over to the +’s on the right bank. The pan and tug had turned and were heading back upstream to join up with the dredger, which was just above the bridge at Fordon. We crossed to the right by the dredger, then swung back to the left for the road bridge. A couple of waterways boats were

moored just downstream of the bridge on the left bank. There were lots of fishermen along the left hand bank and a couple of tiny sail boats moored on the right. I made a cup of soup to warm us up, the wind was bitterly cold, as we approached Chelmo, K802, the spires of the old town on the right bank and factory chimneys on the left. Under Chelmo road bridge at a few minutes before eleven o’clock. We passed a tug

pushing two pans, battling upstream against the current near Swiecie K811. There were cliffs along the left bank and a picnic area, which was occupied by a family, by the hills at KP815. The multi-coloured tower blocks on the hills of Grudziadz came into view. We zig-zgged back and forth across the river practically every kilometer. I made some coffee. Changed the film in the camera and took photos of the fortified town of Grudziadz as we went flying past it. The buttressed walls were topped with houses, it looked very impressive from the water. The wind picked up. A

parascender was attempting to take off on the right bank, the curled pink wing lifting into the air and descending again. On a wide stretch the waves started getting bigger, encouraged by the wind against the flow. A large hill on the right bank reached up to the giddy height of 87.8metres. A white tailed eagle was being persecuted by three brave crows as we passed the slopes of the big hill. The wind was very strong

right in our faces as we neared Nowe, where two tall churches stood on the hill. I took photos of some strangely formed flat-bottomed clouds. It was still windy as the river bends took us to the east with wooded hills on our left, we expected some shelter from the wind but got none. The anitquated ferry at Korzenieowo, KP 867, was out of action as the road on the left bank was under water. There appeared to be a smart

looking offline basin with boats moored in it just downstream of the ferry – maybe to be investigated on the way back! As we reached Lipianki the waves became more sploshy, but this eased off as we reared Gniew, another town perched on the hills on our left. This town had several interesting towers and a huge square building which was probably a monastery. Downstream of the town was another ferry,

Bill's photo of the boats moored on the Vistula
waiting for the stop planks to come out

also out of service as the road on the right bank was also submerged beneath the waters of the Wisła. It was 7 p.m. when we arrived at the junction with the river Nogat. Calamity! The lock was out of action, stop planks barred our way! We threw ropes around trees, called Rosy on to the inside and chucked a plank off the stern for the dog and Bill to get on and off. Bill went to have a look. He said they were doing maintenance

work. Mike went to investigate too but there was no one to ask when the stoppage would be over. We were very glad to be here but wondered how long we would have to wait for the lock repairs to be finished. Friday the 13^th!!