Friday 27th May 2005 Elblag to jnc Nogat/Jagielloński canal.

Typical shop in Elblag - Wikimedia photo by Albertyanks

15.5º C overnight – getting warmer. Sunny with hazy clouds. Mike was up first at 7.30 a.m. and we all went into town on foot. Bill took his bike to carry some beer. First we went in the little sklep by the mooring and bought bread and tomatoes. Bill cycled a bit further down the street to get some beer in cans then took all the heavy stuff back to the boat. We walked on across the footbridge into the town, most off which was flattened by the Ruskies at the end of WWII because the Nazis built U-boats there. Most of the buildings are post-war “jerry”-built! We went to the Post Office and sent off two bags containing four films to be developed and five postcards in envelopes. Calculating how much the postage costs is a nightmare. From the tariffs we’d reckoned 2,80 Zł each for the postcards and 3,90 Zł each for the films – but she charged us 16,40 Zł - cheaper than what we thought the rate was. Give up. We went in the internet café, checked e-mails (got none), had printouts of the WWT phone bill and wrote down details from the bank statements as there hadn’t been many transactions. Mike didn’t notice that Bill had come in and was sitting behind us on the far

E7 road bridge in Elblag - Wikimedis photo by Aktron

side of the room – he went to look for him while I did a bit of surfing. He got the guy from the Tourist Info Office looking for him when he was already in the café! Paid 5 Zl for the hour plus and 1 Zł (there were 6 Zł  to the pound) for the two printouts. Next stop a top-up for the ‘phone, which will expire next week when the two months from when we bought it are up. We found the Idea shop. What a setup. A smart young man stood at a small reception desk. He spoke a little English, so he told us to go to the cash desk (a window at the back of the room) and he would tell the young lady what we wanted. We bought a top-up, valid for a month, for 25 Zł and took it back to him and he charged our ‘phone with it for us as we couldn’t understand the Polish instructions. I asked if he could change the language to English, he tried but couldn’t. There were lots of people in the shop, sitting on chairs waiting for someone who was at a desk behind screens. The only ‘phones on display were behind locked glass panels on the one wall. We went back to the other end of the main street to a small supermarket

Tram in Elblag - Wikimedia photo by Francuz-el

and bought a few more groceries: milk, coffee, eggs, butter, coffee-creamer, cheese, Mike asked for some boiled ham this time, lettuce and a treat - a packet of chocolate coated biscuits and a bottle of Fanta orangeade!  Loaded up the rucksacks as armed guards (Polish version of Securicor) were collecting or delivering cash. Walked back to the boats through a park (where the U-boats dry docks were?). I unloaded the groceries. Bill had got some decaff coffee that he doesn’t drink anymore. I said it was a pity he didn’t drink tea any more either (he drinks beer or bottled water) as I could do him a swop. He said he really could do with some Bonjella as he had a sore gum, which looked like an abcess. I thought we had some, but after a fruitless search the only thing I could think of to ease the pain of a gumboil was Veganin tablets. He said he’d try nitric acid if it took the pain away! I started making a salad for lunch as we cruised on to the yacht club to get some drinking water. They knew we were coming as the purple hosepipe was out along the wooden landing stage and there were no other boats moored there, which made life easier. Two teenage girls were sitting on the grass at the end of the landing, so I asked them if we could have some water. They giggled and said tak (yes) and one of them went off to the tap to turn it on for me. Bill brought Rosy alongside and he topped up too. The hydrofoil went past and instead of coming up the canal at a slow cruising pace, the steerer kept bringing it up on to the plane and then slowing off, which was sending big waves up the cut. Prat, he knew what he was doing. It was 2 p.m. before we finished filling up and set off again, waving bye, bye to the few locals who were by the basin. We turned left into the Jagielloński canal, if we’d taken the route straight on it goes out on to the lagoon – the way the hydrofoil goes to Kaliningrad in Russia. It was getting hotter. For the first time this year I made some ice cubes and we had cold drinks instead of tea. At 3 p.m. a small yacht went past heading for Elblag, followed by a lone paddler. Just before we got to the junction with the Nogat, the wind picked up and turned over the front section of our big blue sun canopy. Mike had to put it on the front deck and sort its bent legs out later. It was 3.30 p.m. as we arrived at the junction, where we had moored in the pouring rain on the 17^th, the weather couldn’t have been more extreme (apart

Brewery in Elblag - Wikimedia photo by  Michiel1972

from a blizzard!) We moored in front of Rosy on the piling. Crowds of local kids wearing knickers and vests (no posh cossies here) were swimming in the canal (which was a murky shade of khaki) or the river by the bridge. A woman was washing clothes in the cut at a set of steps by the house on the opposite bank. The kids decided because we didn’t speak Polish we must be German and kept saying Guten tag! Dumpkofs! Mike went back to taking the 35mm camera apart. I did the callback phone bill calculations. Our rate per minute had gone up because we’re in Poland. It was 38$c (20p) a minute in Germany, now it’s 42$c (22p) a minute (fixed ‘phone rate). Someone swimming in the cut knocked on our boat hull and said hello in English. It was an Irishman! Originally from near Athlone, he was an English teacher and had been living in Elblag for twelve years, running his own private English school (called Speak Easy) he was married to a Polish lady and they had a young daughter. He said he was very happy to live here, Poland is a wonderful country. He warned us to be careful as this was a very poor area, as there is no form of social security some people would steal anything to sell it that wasn’t nailed down. He told Bill to keep a close eye on Fanny, they’d steal the dog and sell it to the local Chinese restaurant! Remind me never to try Chinese food in Poland. We chatted for about twenty minutes while he trod water – he must be a good swimmer. This was the first time he’d been to his favourite swimming place this year and had been astounded to find us moored there. I did egg and chips for dinner (with all the chatting I’d forgotten to defrost any meat from the freezer!). Watched “Corrie” and the weather. Another fine day tomorrow. Bill came round to check on the route on his maps for where we were going over the next few days. I had the PC on again, still three days behind with the log entries. Will I ever catch up? Mike carried on working on the 35mm camera and lost a tiny, tiny screw which had flicked out of the container he was using to keep them in and gone into hiding. He searched the floor, the cushions, his clothing and still couldn’t find it. He asked Bill if he had any old clocks he could steal a tiny screw from. Bill told him that Rosy was a modern boat and there were no clockwork items on board! And this is a bloke with a collection of hurricane lamps in his engine room?!