11th & 12th June 2005 Weekend off - below lock 9, Nakło Zachód

11th June 2005  Below lock 9, Nakło Zachód.

Moonlight at sunset

Day off. Milder 8.5º C overnight. Grey, cloudy and windy. Mike said the cruiser that had anchored in the middle overnight had gone past very quietly at 7 a.m. - lock opening time. I didn’t hear a thing. Mike had his breakfast then went down the engine room to investigate the problem with the air accumulator tank. Inside it was a large black rubber bag, which had split along one edge and was starting to perish on the inside. Needs a new one, so he ‘phoned a UK chandler. The chap he spoke to said at first that it was cheaper to buy a new unit as they were only twenty quid. Then, when Mike explained that we were in Poland, he told him he had some units in the workshop which had failed, they had pinholes in the welds, each one had a new bag inside. He said he would extract one and drop it round to Glyn’s for us (which was extremely

Moored on the quay below Naklo Zachod

nice of him). He only charged us a tenner for it. Meanwhile Mike put a cycle inner-tube patch on the bag and reassembled the accumulator. He refitted it back into the water system - bet it won’t hold until the replacement arrives! Salad in a bowl for lunch. Mike went for a siesta. Bill knocked. He asked if he could have copies of our photos from Bydgoszcz onwards as we had forgotten to do him a disc, he’d brought us four UK waterways magazines, one which contained his letter about the statue of three men in Berlin where he mentions he’s cruising with us and gets in a plug for his website billybubbles.

Sunday 12th June 2005  Below lock 9, Nakło Zachód.

Day off. 5.5º C overnight. Cold and windy with fast flying clouds, sunny spells. Mike

Paddle gear on the Notec

tried ringing Glyn to tell him about the man calling round to deliver a black rubber bag for us, but he was on the ‘net (anyone remember dial up??). Bill brought his laptop round to show us a programme called Irfan that he uses for organising photos. The details he gets for each photo come from the summary section on properties, which is a function available on XP, but not on our ancient Win98. Glyn called back ten minutes after Mike had rung and left a message. He told us that he now has a new hobby - he has started doing watercolours. Mike took some test photos using the tripod and various settings on the camera. Then he put the generator on and ran the PC. To check that the cloned copies of the Kodak programme ran OK, he

Flags fluttering.

uninstalled it off our hard drive and used the clone to reinstall it. The copies of the photos we’d got saved on CD had no captions!! Waah! All that work for nothing! Bill came round to have a look at what Mike was doing on the PC and loaned us a book, Mark Twain’s “Life on the Mississippi”. Mike tried various methods to keep captions with the photos, nothing worked, it didn’t even save the “tags” which mark chosen photos as favourites or the locks it can put on to prevent accidental deleting. Stir-fry for dinner. Mike started watching the Canadian Grand Prix on TF1 (French TV) at 6.30 p.m. but they took the racing off to show scenes of the homecoming of a female French journalist who had just been released by terrorists in Iraq. He gave up and turned it off.

Friday 10th June 2005 Osowa Góra to below lock 9, Nakło Zachód.

Summit level of Bydgoski canal

Really chilly night 1.3º C, we should have lit the fire! Sunny day, but with a cold wind blowing. Mike had to get up at 4.30 a.m. as the smoke detector started giving low beeps indicating the battery was on its way out. Bill set off on the dot at 8 a.m. We had a few extra items to sort out, pole and plank had to be brought back on board first. We set off at 8.10 a.m. along the 16 kms long summit pound of the canal Bydgoski. It was elevated on a small embankment to start off with, taking a more or less

Hrse drawn hay turner

straight course through farmland and meadows. The surface of the water was covered in a light layer of foam. We passed the junction with the canal which leads to the Warta via Posnan at 8.30 a.m. I had to take a photo of a young man driving a horse powered hay-turner in the field on our left. My mother used to drive one of those when she was in the Land Army during the war! Further on there were lots of men fishing around several pools on the left near the village of Gorzen. In the far distance

Below lock 7 Josefinki

we could see a low down band of cloud. The weather forecast of the previous night showed rain to the west of us and also a band of rain to the east, while we were in a corridor of cloud-free space. How long before we get wet? The top lock, No 7 Jósefinki, was ready for us, full with top end gate open. We went in, Bill brought Rosy alongside and Mike held the string. A pleasant quiet young man worked the lock. A man with two small yappy dogs worked lock 8, Nakło Wschód lock. This time Bill had gone in first, so we tied on the outside

The town of Naklo nad Notecia

of Rosy while we descended. Three workmen off the waterways tug and pan moored below the lock came to chat to Bill. They wanted to know where we’d come from and where we were going. We motored down the river (now on the Notec) to the waterways yard at Nakło. No one around, it was midday. Tied to one of the old boats moored there. Bill brought Rosy alongside and we had some lunch. Mike got a list together of things he needed to do at the Internet café and took two birthday cards to post.

Below lock 8 Naklo Wschod

Then he almost forgot to take his carefully written out list with him. The gate was locked, so they had to find the alternative way out. The Belgian hotel boat, tjalk “Archimedes”, went past heading downhill (same way as us) at 2.20 p.m. When the men returned from their expedition into Nakło, we set off again at 2.50 p.m. following Rosy down to lock 9, Nakło Zachód, which was empty when we got there. Strange as a trip boat had not long come uphill. The keeper, today a young man dressed in

Junction with the River Notec

camouflage gear, came from the house on the far side of the weir on the right hand bank and refilled the lock for us to go down. The top end gate lowered and we went in. We paid but Bill stepped off to give them the cash, 56,80 Zł, for the five locks (7 to 11). He said there were two other blokes in the little lock cabin and they had already got the paperwork done and ready for him. He’d also asked them if we could moor on the quay below the lock again for the weekend. It was 3.50 p.m. when we tied up alongside Rosy

Trip boat above lk 9

on the quay. During the evening it rained, heavily at times. A very smart looking cruiser arrived and anchored in the middle, where it stayed all night although there was enough room behind us on the quay for it to moor. There was nothing to tie to - we had had to improvise (what’s new?).

Above lock 9 Naklo Zachod

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.

Wednesday 8th June 2005 Bydgoszcz.

Leaving Brda lock on the 9th

9.3º C Cloudy, sunny spells, cold and windy. Bill went shopping and bought a new TFT computer monitor from Auchan. He said there was a special offer on, buy one and get a voucher to spend in the store giving 30% of the value of the purchase off your next lot of shopping. Bill said he couldn’t use it, so he gave it to the salesman, who almost had tears in his eyes when he told Bill it was equivalent to a week’s money for him. We had lunch then borrowed Bill’s bike (to carry our groceries back on)

Crossing Regata lake on the Brda on the 9th

and went to Auchan to restock the cupboards and the freezer for the trip back to Germany. As we went through the garden area around the lock Mike got on the bike and rode it. He stopped and fell over, landing full length on the tarmac. He must have misjudged the distance to the floor (Bill is taller) and his foot didn’t reach. He had an audience too. The security guard had just gone to meet a group of schoolkids who were on a visit to the lock! At Auchan, Mike finally got his

Log rafts on the river Brda

new varilux specs from Vision Express. Then he posted our last print film off to the UK. Then, besides the normal groceries, I bought a couple of tee-shirts (19Zł and 11 Zł) and Mike had two packs of 10 CD-RWs for 20 Złotys each. It was 4.30 p.m. when we got back, luckily the gate was still unlocked. It took ages to pack everything away, put the washer on and do two loads of washing and cook chops for dinner. My legs were aching. Bill called to say he’d lost his Nationwide card and the security guard on duty wouldn’t let him out. Mike went with

4 man rowing skiff going into Bydgoszcz

him to tell the guy it was important for Bill to get back to Auchan as he’d lost his credit card in the shop. He’d already cancelled it by ‘phone. They had got it in Auchan. Mike had almost done the same thing in Vision Express - went away leaving his card in the machine! Bill said a new one was already on its way to his address in Britain. 

Bydgoscz or Bromberg as the Prussians called the city

Tuesday 7th June 2005 Chełmno to Bydgoszcz.

Moored on the quay at Chelmno with the river rushing past

9º C Sunny at first with a mackerel sky, soon changing to grey flying clouds, cold and windy. We set off early at 7.10 am, with our coats and scarves on, to do the 35 kms to Bydgoszcz. The water level had risen overnight by 7cms. We passed the first exposed tip of a sandbank by KP 803 and the next at KP 804, the latter was bigger and covered with birds and extended underwater quite a way up river. Groynes on the right bank made the water speed up and made us slow down to a complete stop. The boat was doing great speed

Bill and Fanny, moored at Chelmno

through the water, but making no forward progress over the bed for a few minutes. Extra revs were applied for a few minutes until the boat started to move again, there weren’t many revs left to add on. Over to the left again at KP 802 and our speed through the water picked up again so we could lower the engine revs a little. We went through a cloud of swallows, hundreds of them, diving and darting over the river eating flies. I went in to make us a warming cup of soup and some toast to go with it. At

Lashed securely to the quay at Chelmno

11.10 am we passed KP 792, 20kms to go. Back and forth, zig-zagging across the river. Another fast flowing patch in the river caused Mike to increase revs to almost full throttle to get the boat moving. Lunch at 12.45 pm was sandwiches, taken in turns as steering was not easy with the engine running at such high speed. Mike had increased the revs to see if we could improve on the average speed for the day. At 1.25 pm we passed KP 782, 10kms left to do. One side of the river to other, searching through binoculars for marker posts hidden in the trees, not visible until the last second. Under Bydgoszcz bridge at 3 pm, taking photos of all the old tugs and pans moored in the small basin downstream of the bridge and the sandbanks piling up behind each pier of the road bridge. As we passed under the right hand arch, I spotted an old dredger moored on the left side of the river, anchored in the middle. Beyond the bridge close to the left bank there was a large sandbank, where upwards of fifty swans (the only ones we’d seen on the river) were

Sand barges at Bydgoszcz

competing for standing room. Another sand dredger was moored in the middle of the river not far upstream of the right turn into the Brda, no signs of life on board. We left the Wisła at 3.45 pm. Our speed increased to 9 kph as we entered the slack water of the lock cut, stopped to moor next to a twenty foot high dolphin. Mike climbed the ladder, forcing his way past a dozen or more years’ accumulation of spider webs only to find there was no walkway across to the bank. We moved upriver to a

Sandbanks under the bridge at Bydgoszcz

set of dolphins closer to the lock and this time there was a passarelle to the bank. Mike went up to see the keeper. The lock started emptying as he climbed back down the ladder. The 4m rise was easily accomplished with the aid of floating bollards to tie to. The water level of the Wisła had gone down 1.5m since we were here last. Bill went in the lock office to pay for the lock. The charges had doubled as we were beyond normal working hours, i.e. after 3 p.m. We tied up to the piling above the lock.

Digging out the sand

Glad to be out of the fast flowing water and the force of the wind. It was 4.30 pm. The average speed had risen from 3.7 kph to 4.2 kph by increasing the engine revs, even though the speed had varied wildly during the day. As soon as we’d tied up and packed all the gear away we both went to sleep, absolutely shattered. So glad that was over.

How many swans can you get on one sandbank??

Monday 6th June 2005 Grudziadz to Chełmno.

Rosy leaving the arm at Grudziadz

11.5º C overnight. Cold and breezy with grey scudding clouds and occasional bright spells. The water level in the Wisła had dropped another 5 cms overnight. Rosy went out of the arm first, turning right heading downstream with the flow to turn upstream out in the river. Mike powered gently round the corner, turning left into the flow, out of the mucky hole we’d tied in overnight. I made a cup of tea as we went upriver. The local authorities had been busy building new concrete capped groynes both

Sand quay at Grudziadz

up- and down-stream of Grudziadz. A pair of goosanders were using one as a diving platform until we passed them, then they flew off. Criss-crossing the river started again. Not long after we set off another little yacht came flying down the river with the flow. A sandbank was showing its head above water at KP 829.5. Two swans and a load of gulls were sitting on it. At KP 828 we caught the edge of another sandbank, so I warned Bill on VHF to keep off to our left and Mike backed off it, sending up

Bridge over the Vistula at Grudziadz

clouds of sand, into deeper water. We had been in direct line with the markers. Another one nearly caught us between KP 826/827, where we had to back off yet again and cross further downstream than the bank markers. It looked like the sandbanks had moved further downriver than the markers. Learning to “read” the river, we could see there was “flat” water over the sand and the wind was picking up bigger ripples where the water was deeper. We’d also noticed that, when we were coming up to a submerged

New tower blocks at Grudziadz

sandbar, the boat’s speed increased dramatically as it found slack water, increasing from 2 kph to 6 kph in no time. We backed off and tip-toed very gingerly across the river to the left hand side, downstream of the right hand markers on a right hand bend! As we crossed back to the left side, we could see the clearly defined downstream edge of the sand bar where the water cascaded over it. Then a team of three men in a fast boat that looked a bit like a dug-out canoe with a large outboard was coming down river crossing from side

Little yacht whizzing past heading downstream

to side. They were changing the bank markers!! Hopefully we will now miss the ends of the sandbanks! I took photos of them moving the goal posts. We were right! The sand was moving, rolling downstream, being churned along like sand dunes in a water covered desert. The wind started picking up at 11.45 a.m. I went in to make sandwiches for lunch at 12.30 p.m. Mike needed a spotter, so I left the sandwich making while we crossed back across the river. I finished making the

Exposed top of sand bank near Chelmno

sandwiches and we ate lunch whilst zig-zagging back and forth across the Wisła. A large bunch of mallard drakes and goosanders took off from a sandy beach, disturbed by our passage. Between KP 815/814 the bank markers had changed completely from when we came downriver. The channel had been routed along the other side of the river, right over on the left hand side at the start of a long left hand bend, downstream of Swiecie, a town practically invisible from the river. Mike’s charts of bank

Waterways lengthsmen changing the bank markers!

markers would have to be amended, which meant they would be of little use should we ever come here again. Upstream of the town there was a big sweeping right hand bend with a large sandbank on the inside. At 2.45 p.m. we could see the church towers of Chełmno in the distance. On the inside of the next big bend they had built four new stone groynes. More seagulls were standing on sand in mid-river at KP 811. Across the river, under the high girder road bridge at Chełmno and back

Speeding off to change more bank markers
to match the ever moving channel

across the river again to moor against a concrete capped piled quay that was higher than our cabin roofs. It was 4 pm when we tied at the upstream end.  Several car loads of people had come to watch. Mike gave Bill a hand to tie up behind us. A strange looking vessel set off from the waterways basin opposite and came steaming past us twice, then moored behind and an old chap came to chat to Bill, who was giving Fanny some grief and a bath as she’d found something smelly to roll in within seconds of tying up. Bad dog! Strange how

Chelmno and another sand bank

humans have no liking for eau-de-poisson-mort (perfume of dead rotting fish). Mike went to talk to the old chap. He told them that the return journey via the Warta from Bydgoszcz was prettier than the Notec and had fewer locks. 

Our visitor from across the river at Chelmno

Mike waiting with boat shaft to catch Bill's ropes

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.