Thursday 9th June 2005 Bydgoszcz to summit above lock 6 Osowa Góra.

Statue of a high wire artist above the canal in Bydgoszcz

Cold 4.4º C overnight. Clear blue skies, sunny although cold with the north wind blowing, clouding over after lunch. Mike was up at 6.30 a.m. having had more thoughts on repairing the video camera. We left at 8 a.m. A four man rowing skiff came through the railway bridge at the end of the regatta lake. It followed us through the bridge and overtook us. Crossed the next small 

Rosy. River Brda old granary in Bydgoszcz 

lake and went under a pipe bridge and another rail bridge. Two men came running down to the river’s edge, one of them fending off a dog. They ran along the bank under the trees, up to no good we were sure. Minutes later a man appeared with the dog, chasing after them. We wondered what they’d done. The water in the river Brda was so clear we could see all the weeds on the bottom. Six 

Double railway bridge

goosanders, all in a row, were swimming along the edge under the overhanging trees. As we drew level with them they dived under the water one after the other, like synchronised swimmers. The tower blocks of the city centre came into view at 9.10 a.m. A crocodile of schoolkids crossing the road bridge by Tesco’s depot were mouthy and impolite. Even though they spoke no English

Power station Bydgoszcz

we could be sure they were being rude, especially as one stuck up two fingers. Not the British two fingered salute, this was index and little finger. We motored on, still going against the flow, on into the city centre. Took photos of the boats and statues. A tightrope walker balanced above the river made a pretty picture, an unusual statue. The barge Bill 

Lock 3 Okole Bydgoski kanal

had seen go through the lock was moored in the centre, it was a Belgian flagged Dutch tjalk called Archimedes. On board were lots of bikes and a few passengers, it appeared to be a hotel boat that did cycling tours. We wondered whether it had come up or down the Wisła. Lock 2, Bydgoszcz, was ready for us. We went in and put ropes on bollards in the wall, while Bill brought Rosy in alongside. Ground 

Lock 4 Czyzkowko Bydgoski kanal

paddles kept the boats glued to the wall. There was not much need for ropes and the fenders were in danger of being pancaked. When the lock was full we refilled our water tanks and Bill paid for the lock plus the next one. A trip boat was waiting below for the lock as we left the top. This lock and the next two are all modern locks, electrically powered, which replaced five old locks dating back to upgrading of the canal

Old lock house lock 5 Prady Bydgoski kanal

by the Prussians in the 1870s. Up the first deep lock, no 3 Okole, on the right hand wall, flattening the poor fenders again. No need to pay, money collected at the next lock. A short pound, with rocks along both banks which showed that filling the deep lock had drawn off about half a metre’s depth of water, and we were at lock 4, Czyżkówko, where the lock cabin was on the left. We set up the ropes 

Temujin & Rosy  lock 5 Prady Bydgoski kanal

to go on the left hand wall and were sent on to the right hand wall by the keeper. The boat pulled off the wall to start off with, but was OK when the second side pond started filling the lock. Bill gave me a hand with the rope, putting a loop of the rope on to the bollard higher up the wall, ready for when we reached it. Mike paid the middle aged couple who were running the lock. It was midday as we went along the mucky pound to the last two locks up on to the summit. Bill stayed back until we

Moored above lock 6 Osowa Gora Bydgoski kanal

were a couple of hundred metres in front. He said he could see all the bubbles and muck our prop had thrown up off the bottom starting to subside. We said we’d go along the right hand side of the pound and if he kept to the left of the channel he should miss most of the rubbish. The last two locks were old locks, manually operated, but with drop down top end gates. Lock Prądy was ready with both gates open. We were directed by the keeper to go up to the front of the lock on the left hand wall. Not too happy about being so close to the gate but, after a bit of a strain on the rope to

A visitor on the mooring

start off with, it was OK. And we rose another 3.4m. A man with a little yacht was waiting to descend. We motored on to the last lock No 6, Osowa Góra, where a middle aged couple worked the lock and took the money. Bill paid. This time we stayed at the back of the chamber and it was much better, no strain on the ropes. The keepers came to ask questions about the boats, but with no English or German it was difficult to understand what they were asking. We asked if we could moor above the lock, yes OK on the left. We’d been hoping we could stay on the nice concrete quay on the right, but the path along the bank lead to a house, while

A very strange looking scarecrow goat?

the old sloping concrete bank on the left backed on to a field where a tractor was working and two cows were grazing. Bill moored under the trees. I’d walked up from the lock, so I caught a rope for him. Mike brought our boat along the bank further on and tied to a stump in the canal at the stern, threw a pole out at the bows as we were on the bottom and a plank out for me to get back on. It was 1.30 p.m. the earliest we’d stopped for ages. Made a salad for lunch. Mike went to sort out why air was getting into the cooling water system when he turned the engine off. He re-sealed a 

Trip boat heading for lock 6 Osowa Gora

pipe. Bill came round to say that he’d had a text from our friend Hans to say the maps he’d sent to us poste restante at Malbork had finally come back to him from Poland, marked unclaimed!! Bill had a look at our new Kodak digital camera. He said his was getting old and hadn’t enough pixel power. Mike went to look at “the big red thing in the engine room” (a note to that effect had been written on the whiteboard in the cabin for ages as a reminder for one of his jobs to do). There was water in the air accumulator where there should be air, so maybe the membrane has a leak. Further investigation needed. I made a chicken stirfry for dinner. The night was very dark and starry. Getting cold again.