Sunday 5th June 2005 KP860 nr Grabowo to Grudziadz.

A bank marker lying on the river bank

11.9º C overnight. Fast flying clouds, windy, sunny spells and a torrential downpour and thunderstorm mid-afternoon. Mike was up at 7 am. and we were away for 8 am. Bill held the two boats stationery against the flow using Rosy’s engine, while Mike fetched the front pole in, then I reeled in the head rope. We’d tied up with all the mooring ropes around trees or stumps to be able to just reel them back in without getting off as it’s easier to get the plank in first. The countryside surrounding us was very beautiful, low hills on the right bank covered with forest, flood plain wilderness on the left and not a soul in sight. Mike did

The riverside town of Nowe

a slight change in tactics after watching the tug going downstream yesterday. He started off across the river before we came to the markers and aimed to reach the bank further upstream than the markers. Each crossing of the river, from channels that were anything from five to nine metres deep, into depths of less than two metres - after yesterday’s brush with disaster - was a bit nerve racking to say the least. Before long we could see the church tower at Nowe, up on its hill. An aeroplane (the same one as at Biała Góra

Gathering storm clouds

perhaps?) came flying low over us as he went following the course of the river. We waved and he replied with a waggle of the wings! Sadly, he’d gone too quickly to get a photo. The downstream marker cross downriver of Nowe, just upstream of KP854, was still missing - we saw it lying flat on the water’s edge, probably not in the correct place and no signs of the square that should accompany it. It was chilly, the wind was cold, so at 11 am. I made us a cup of soup. By midday we’d done 14.5 kms, speed averaging 3.7 kph. Took

A cruiser from Bydgoszcz heading downriver

photos of Nowe on its hill. We could see the towers of Grudziadz appearing in the far distance. A cruiser from Bydgoszcz came flying downriver. We waved, they waved back. I took photos. On our left a parascender had taken off from the big hill (87m) and was catching the updraught from the very strong south westerly wind. As we came level with the hill we could see the big gap in the trees where he had taken off from where there were a few people sitting. We ate lunch (salad in bowls) sat out on the

A parascender who had just taken off from the hills to our left

stern at 12.45 pm, I ate my lunch first, then steered while Mike ate his. At the speed we were going and with the force of the changing currents, the tiller was pushing too much for him to steer as he normally does when he needs two hands free for eating, leaning with his back on the handle and steering by moving bodily side to side. You almost needed two hands on the tiller to steer. As we got closer to Grudziadz, perched on its hill, the clouds became blacker and the wind picked up speed from strong to very, very strong. The rain started to fall in penny sized drops and distant lightning flashes caused crackles on the VHF radio

Dark clouds beyond the fortified town of Grudziadz

. Typical, it waits until we’re almost at our destination before it buckets down! Luckily it stopped before we reached the mooring place, an old arm where there was a sand quay on one bank and rough ground and a low quay wall on the other side. Mike dropped me off on the muddy bank (it had been under water until very recently and the thin layer of mud on concrete was extremely slippery) and I held the bow rope (just in case) as he winded the boat just out of the current in the entrance to the arm. It was 4 pm. Bill did likewise and

More dark clouds beyond the fortified town of Grudziadz

moored Rosy - with assistance from Mike - just in front of us in slack water. After I’d got all the wet things sorted out, I put the PC on to do the log and Mike went off for a walk round the local area. A few minutes later Bill gave a shout to see if Mike wanted to go on an exploration, so I told him he’d just gone and he could catch him if he hurried. The local population had turned out to watch us come into the arm - but they were on the far bank - a little later the local kids turned up to look at the funny boats from the side we’d

Moored at Grudziadz in an arm off the river

moored on. Mike returned having taken a few photos of the boats. Bill had gone on into the town to take photos of Grudziadz’s fortifications from the inside.