Friday 1st - Sunday 3rd July 2005 Long weekend at Schmergow.

Friday 1st July 2005  Schmergow.

16ºC overnight. Grey and raining. Mike went in the car to Werder again to the Post Office in Edeka, still no package from Glyn. The lady in the Post Office said to try again in the morning and, if nothing had arrived, she would make a phonecall for us. Spent most of the day on the PC. Mike transformed Bill’s precious audio tapes into CDs for him and I embroidered a lilac top with zig-zag edging and pearl flowers.

Saturday 2nd July 2005  Schmergow.

14.6º C Hazy sunshine, warm. I went with Mike in the car to Werder to the Post Office. Hooray! It had arrived. Mike got some bread buns and we went to Kaufland on the southern edge of town. Bought a cake of 50 CD-Rs for 9.99€ (£6.66). Looked at their CD players.

Cheating, a recent photo of the basin at Schmergow,
hadn't changed much.

They had a mini hi-fi for 29,99€ and a boom box for the same price, neither looked much good. Decided to complete the circle, instead of backtracking through Werder and Phöben, we went back to the boat by going west via the village of Groß Kreutz. The latter was closed to through traffic, as half the road had been dug up and the other half had been reduced to its foundation layer of sand. We ignored the signs and went through the town to find our turnoff to Deetz and Schmergow. Around Deetz there were lots of cherry orchards and most of the houses had tables outside with boxes of cherries or strawberries for sale - put the money in a jar. When we got back Mike connected the Markon up and ran the engine. Did two loads of washing. Lunch, then Mike finished off Bill’s tapes, which he was very pleased with. Then he set to work sorting out the post we’d had from Glyn. A monster package with two months’ worth of bank statements, etc. I had two more birthday cards - a month late. The letter from our surveyor had arrived at last, our insurers will be pleased. Several things had gone beyond their due date - I had a MORI pole survey on amateur radio licensing which should have been returned before 30th June. Also a declaration should have been signed and returned to Lloyds offshore allowing them to disclose our investment income to the GB tax authorities, again due by 30th June. The spare battery for the camera had come, as had the new rubber bag for the air accumulator. A mixed group of twenty-something year olds arrived in cars and set up on our side of the bank, drinking, playing loud music and letting off fireworks. Noisy, but they didn’t interfere with the boats. The laughing and screaming went on until the early hours. 

Sunday 3rd July 2005  Schmergow.

12.7º C Sunny with white fluffy clouds. Hot and humid. The bank alongside us was devoid of bodies and debris when we got up, surprisingly they’d all gone home. At 12.30 p.m. Mike drove into Werder to get a stamp and post the forms back to Lloyds. He posted a couple of packets for Bill too while he was there. We had a late lunch. Mike put the other satellite dish

Recent photo of the basin with view out across the lake

up (French satellite TV) and watched the French Formula One Grand Prix from Magny Cours. Alonso started first and finished first. Mike said he was getting fed up with the racing as it was becoming a procession of cars with little scope for overtaking. A small cruiser came into the arm with a nude lady on the bows and two men in the stern with swimming trunks on. It backed off and moored behind us, where a group of motorcyclists were swimming, using the strap hanging from the tree to drop into the water. A blue car that had been parked by our stern since just after we arrived, was theirs. She put some clothes on and joined one of the men to ask Mike and Bill whether we’d made it to Poland. (They must have read the paper and recognised the boat – or seen Bill on TV – we ought to have asked). I started some new embroidery.