Wednesday 28th August 2013 Kremmen to Alt Ruppin. 29.5kms 1 lock

The marked channel through Butzsee

Grey and overcast, then cloudy with a few sunny spells, torrential rain and distant thunder after lunch. Mike went to Netto in the car to get some bread buns before we set off at 10.20 am with the plate in to run the gennie and do some washing. I made a cuppa and sat out to drink it as we went through the nature reserve, passing islands with loads of yellow owl notices “Naturschutzgebiet”. There were no boats moored anywhere but there was one fisherman in a little boat, didn’t think that was allowed in a nature reserve. 

The waiting area below Altefriesack lock

Took photos of some big mushrooms growing on trees around KP18. A self-built shed on a pontoon went past and a Bungalow Boat, then some canoes and nude men swimming. Two cruisers went past and Mike shouted for help as he was having a cleg attack – dozens of them – probably the result of a tractor doing something in a field beyond the trees out of sight but within hearing distance. Paused briefly next to some stumps and Mike slung a rope around one while he took the plate out, a cruiser overtook us and went past without speaking. I made some sandwiches for lunch and we ate them as we went across the Bützsee. 

Fungus growing on trees

Our chart says this lake is a “sog” (couldn’t find a sensible translation for that) and to keep within the marked channel. There was no depth marked on the chart but it seemed to be around 3.5m deep in the channel. Past a big island at the end of the lake where a large white floating shed had been stooging around until we got closer then they took off towards the back of the island, well out of the marked channel. We left the lake on a short canal leading to Altefriesack lock (a staircase whose bottom chamber is only used when boats have a draught greater than 90cm) at KP29. It was 1 pm. 

Altefriesack lock

The cruiser which had overtaken us while we had paused to take the plate out was waiting on the lock waiting area. Mike went to check the lock opening times and found that the lock keeper has lunch from 12 until 2 pm. Another hour of waiting time for a lock. I did some crochet and Mike cleaned some dirty marks off the white paint, them he went to take some photos of the lock and suddenly realised it was a staircase, he’d forgotten! The lock emptied at 2 pm and we followed the cruiser straight into the top chamber. Bollards were in awkward places and we ended up doing fore and aft ropes and they weren’t quite far enough apart, good thing it was only a metre rise. 

Altefriesack lock

The lock keeper (a middle aged bloke) opened the liftbridge above the lock and then stood chatting with the skipper off the cruiser while the lock filled. It took twenty minutes to fill and the water level in the lock was lower the marks on the chamber walls – was this a result of the dry weather we’d had lately, we wondered. A short section of canal ran between smart bungalows with very neat gardens and then we were at the southern end of the Ruppinersee, a 14 kms long, wide, deep, winding lake. 

Carved tree above Altefriesack lock

Not long after we’d started up the lake it started to rain quite heavily, but it didn’t last long. Mike got the brolly out but didn’t put it up as the rain stopped and the parasol started to dry out again. Two floating sheds went past heading slowly down the lake towards Altefriesack. Several small cruisers and sailing boats were anchored around the edges of the lake. A small open speedboat came down the lake towards us doing about 40kph – what 25kph speed limit! On the big bend before Neuruppin a yacht came towards us sailing gently down the lake so we went left to keep well out of his way in case he needed to turn or tack. A trip boat, Kronprinz Friedrich, came out from the corner also heading our way, plus a small cruiser. The sun came out again, but only briefly, as we sailed past the town of Neuruppin stretched out along the lake on our left. A WSA speedboat went past heading down the lake. 

Neuruppin along the banks of the Ruppinersee
between the downpours of rain

The giant modern art sculpture best described as a tin man with a boat and a whirlygig on his head was still there, but the quay wall had gone (as the bloke who moored there when we were there last had said, they’d demolished it to build a large hotel) Beyond that was another building where there were nudists, some of whom were going into the lake down some steps to swim. The road crossing the lake was on a causeway with two bridges, one for uphill traffic and one for downhill, we went to the far right as the wind started to pick up and after we’d gone under the bridge the rain started to bucket down again. We’d got the brolly up but were still getting soaked with sideways blown rain so I went in and fetched two waterproofs. Thankfully the last section of the lake was not very long and it stopped raining as we entered the narrow channel at Alt Ruppin. There was a fisherman, fishing right where we needed to stop to get the satellite (due to trees on the opposite bank!) We tried mooring before where he was, couldn’t get to the bank for vegetation, so we slowly went a bit further along the wooden edged bank 20 metres beyond the guy, Mike banged a couple of pins in while we packed up and checked out the satellite. The fisherman didn’t speak, he packed up and went off in a huff, swearing in Mike’s direction as he rode his bike down the track into town. He probably hadn’t caught anything all day and it was all our fault! We moved the boat back to where he’d been fishing and moved the mooring pins. TV perfect. It was 5.45 pm.

Saturday 24th August 2013 Bischofswerder lk – Kremmen Ruppiner kanal. 48kms 5 locks

Below Liebenwalde lock

Clear skies first thing, white clouds later, sunny and warm. There was a chilly mist over the canal when we set off at 6.15 am, winding quietly so as not to wake the crew on the small cruiser that had stayed overnight on the end of the lock waiting area opposite. We’d set off early to get down to the first lock for its opening time of 7 am. Luckily for us Liebenwalde lock was already full so the gates opened as we turned the green bar to start the lock activation. Just us to go down, about 2m. Below there was one small yacht to come up. There were five more cruisers that had stayed overnight on the lock waiting area and one little yacht had bravely moored on the old quay, now taken over by WSA for storing the piles of rock they are currently using to edge the canals to prevent erosion caused by all the wash from the huge number of fast speedboats that now inhabit the region. 

Yacht moored on the former lock waiting area
below Liebenwalde lock

Two pans had been loaded with rocks, one by the quay and one on the dolphins, ready for moving on Monday morning. Turned right on to the Oder-Havel Kanal (OHK) at 7.20 am. Nothing moving, but we could see a commercial way off in the distance behind us. Hoped that we would get to Lehnitz before or shortly after him in case we could lock through with him. The forests lining both banks of the OHK were silent; the only movement was a single jay flying across the canal. We arrived at Lehnitz at nine as four cruisers that had just come up the lock and were heading towards us at full speed. 

Waiting above Lehnitz lock

We tied on the waiting area and found the intercom was broken and there was a notice with a phone number. Mike rang the number and got two recorded messages in German. No idea what they said. However, next to the red traffic light (put there especially for sport boats) there was an electronic message board that said next locking for sport boats and 10.00 am appeared. Then it changed to 9.45 am. The commercial behind us arrived at 9.45 am – a Polish Bizon tug pushing two pans of coal. He went slowly into the lock and, even though there would have been ample room for us behind it, the gates closed. 

Cruisers going into Lehnitz lock to go up

The board changed to 10.30 am. A cruiser arrived and moored behind us. The crew spoke good English and explained the situation in Berlin to Mike while I made tea and toast. You have to have Marine VHF to call Mühledamm lock. Also the Landwehr kanal works one way, but they weren’t sure which way, as one of their books on Berlin said one way and another book said the opposite. They had just finished their holiday in the lakes and were returning to their mooring in Potsdam. Queues at Lehnitz were common, they said, and two hours waiting time was not unusual. Another Polish tug and empty pan came up the lock and the time changed to 11.00 am.

Below Tiergarten lock. Ruppiner kanal 

Meanwhile another five cruisers and three canoes had arrived to join us at the waiting area. We did actually get in the lock for 11.00 am. I baked some buns in the oven for lunch while we dropped down 6m slowly. (The crew on the cruiser told us there IS a lock keeper in the cabin here, same at Spandau.) Exited Lehnitz lock at 11.15 am on to Lehnitzsee. An impressive number of cruisers had gathered on the waiting area below the lock. Noted that there was still a mooring area at the upstream end of the lock waiting area, so it is still possible to moor there and pay a visit to the nearby WWII War memorial at Sachsenhausen. The edges of the lake contained many anchored boats. 

Navigable width markers!

An osprey flew over as the cruisers gradually disappeared into the distance. Back into the narrower channel of the OHK and on through the outskirts of Oranienburg with lots of holiday homes along both banks of the navigation. A nude man went swimming past us as I went indoors to make lunch. At 12.30 pm we turned off the OHK at Borgsdorf on to the Oranienburger kanal. Not far up the canal was a smart floating shed (private) with a shingled sloping roof. Another wait, this time below the lock at Pinnow. We moored behind a small cruiser to wait for the lock to be operated (by a lock keeper) on the full hour (this is another new thing) during his opening time (8 am til 18.30 pm at weekends during the summer, shorter hours during the week). At 1 pm the lock keeper let a cruiser from above down first then we went up with the small cruiser that had been waiting with us. The lock was 43.2m wide by 9.6m wide and lifted us 2.4m, press-button operated by a very thin elderly man in shorts. The guy in the cruiser and his young daughter held on to the bars in the lock wall using short boat shafts with plastic hooks. 

Moored at last on the old quay at Kremmen

They let go as the lock gates started opening and the light wind blew them alongside us, causing the keeper to tell them that they mustn’t let go until the gates were fully open. He waved them on as the gates were almost fully open. 6kph speed limit on the canal above. We were doing our usual 5-6 kph but the cruiser was soon way ahead of us. Just beyond the Kaufland supermarket, and at the closest point to the town centre of Oranienburg, there was a newly rebuilt quay, which looked like an ideal stop for us. No boats were moored on it, one campervan was parked there and we slowed to take a look to see if there were mooring charges. No, but the signs gave limiting sizes and weights for vessels mooring at the quay. (What! It’s concrete, with massive bollards and ladders; it was once a commercial quay.) We were too long as the max length allowed was 12.5m! Rats! We pushed on. The narrow canal was tree lined with houses beyond, the banks were edged with rocks and reeds and waterlilies. We passed the three canoes, (just pulling into the bank to have lunch no doubt) that had come down Lehnitz lock with us – they must have taken the shorter route via the Oranienburger Havel, portaging their canoes and camping gear around the weir. The crews waved as we went by. At the crossroads where the Havel runs off to the right, we turned left on to the Ruppiner kanal. A sign at the beginning of the canal warned that it was only 1m deep. For the first 2kms it was nearly 2m deep and still tree lined with rocks, reeds and waterlilies all along the banks. Again the lock working times had been restricted to on the full hour during the keeper’s working times. We stopped on the waiting area below Tiergarten lock and waited until 3 pm. The chamber was smaller than Pinnow at 41.2m long x 6.8m wide and had a lift of just 0.8m. Another elderly man worked the lock, pressing buttons to open the gates to let a cruiser and a canoe out before we went up. He was chatty, but spoke no English. He warned us to be careful and stay in the middle, as there were still trees in the canal from the freak storm we had at the beginning of the month. He was right, there was much more tree damage here than on the Voss canal. He said the Ruppiner had been closed for three days to clear the felled trees. We looked at the wooden edged quay just above his lock, but we would have had no TV there due to the height of the trees and the quay was occupied by fishermen anyway. We pushed on again, noting that many of the trees along the canal had been brought down by the storm. We took photos of a bridge that was lastkahn sized (ie just the width of the working boats that used these canals) that had EU regulation markers for the navigable width of the bridge – all of it!! We’d left Tiergarten at 3.20 pm and didn’t expect to do the 5kms to Hohenbruch and get there before 4 pm. Below the lock was a WSA tug (small sized) and a pan full of cut up trees. To our surprise the lock gates opened as we arrived and a middle-aged man worked the lock from a cabin by his house. We rose 0.7m and Mike managed to follow most of what the keeper said. As we left I said to Mike that I remembered mooring above that lock on the waiting area when we came here in 1999, we’d managed to moor either side of the waiting area, either us or Pensax backing into the weirstream.  A bit further on another place that we’d moored was now overgrown and no TV due to height of the trees. Tree debris was everywhere, trees had blown down and toppled others so a row of them were down along the bank. We passed a digger on a pontoon. A forestry house had had a near miss when a very large tree had come down not many yards from it, now lying parallel to the end walls. We thanked our lucky stars that we hadn’t been here rather than in the shelter of Lehnitz lock chamber when the freak wind struck. To have seen all these trees falling would have been very frightening indeed. The 3.5kms section of canal above Hohenbruch was dead straight and in the heart of the forest. As we approached the small town of Kremmen the trees thinned out. A camper van was parked on a track on the left between trees, the family was fishing. A small boat went past heading downhill as we reached the quay. All along the edges of the cabin high quay concrete quay were loops of rebar sticking out which were ideal to tie to. It was 5.45 pm, we’d been going for 11.5 hours, 2.5 hours of that had been spent waiting for locks. Mike decided to leave collecting the car from Burgwall until the next day. He trimmed off the vegetation growing out of the wall to minimise the number of invading insects (we get lots of spiders and sometimes ants) and we went indoors to collapse in a heap!

Friday 23rd August 2013 Burgwall – below Bischofswerder lk Voss kanal. 20.5kms 2 locks

Moorings empty for a while. Burgwall

Warm and sunny with a light breeze. Got up late and did a few chores. There was only one small cruiser left on the moorings when we set off and winded at 11.20 am. All the staff from the Gästhaus (including the proprietor) were sitting outside in the beergarden, having a well-deserved rest after the morning trade, they all waved and wished us a “Gute Fahrt” (a good journey) as we went past. A small fast open speedboat overtook us and a WSA tug went past heading upriver, all crews smiling and waving. 

Zuhr Fahre. Burgwall

The stretch of river down to Zehdenick is surrounded by lots of little lakes on both sides that are most likely former sand and gravel extraction pits, several have moorings for small boats in them and the one nearest Zehdenick is often used for anchoring. The little boat whose skipper got told off for speeding the evening before, was moored (on its home mooring by the look of it) not far downriver from Burgwall. 

Portulaca - Moss rose - new flowers for the boat roof.

Past the Alter Hafen, lots of moored boats in an old arm, the Ziegelei Park, where a lastkahn (evquivalent of a péniche or spits) called Ucker Fritz was moored and then the arm where the Free Campers came from, beyond that was a canoe station, a stopping place for canoes. A canoe went past paddling upriver. A hired day boat from the Alter Hafen was moored next to the WSA craneboat by a quay piled up with rocks for bank edging – they were fishing. 

Footbridge abv Zehdenick lock

We paused under the old railway bridge for Mike to adjust the trim tab on the rudder as the boat, for some inexplicable reason, had started to have a tendency to turn to the right. A canoe paddled past overtaking us and another day hire boat went past heading towards Burgwall. There had been no other boats about since leaving Burgwall until we were 1.5kms from Zehdenick lock when a wedge shaped cruiser overtook us and went on to the lock waiting area. One small cruiser came up the lock and when the gates opened left the chamber. 

Old boats (for a change) at Zehdenick boatyard

The fast cruiser went in on the right, despite the flashing information board saying that small boats should enter last and moor on the left! – the control rods were on the left – so we went left and operated the lock. Left Mike in charge of the rope and I made some lunch. As we followed the cruiser through the lift bridge we spotted that there was another lock waiting area upstream of the liftbridge - which we could have used when we got shut out going uphill had there been no more uphill traffic to activate the lock for us. 

Leaving Bischofswerder lock

There was a small yacht on the lock waiting area on the other side of the liftbridge. They’d stopped short of the rods that activate the lock and one of the crew was trying to move the bar with a boat shaft instead of moving the boat forward by about a metre. They took so long that the liftbridge and the lock gates closed! The Havel went over a weir and then followed a very tortuous course alongside the Voss kanal. The cruiser was very soon out of sight especially as we were going slower than usual, about 5 kph, as we were in no rush and going for maximum battery charging. 

Common frogbit

The Voss canal was equally as quiet as the Havel until we got to the next lock. Two fishermen in an open motorboat went past waving around KP10 and one small cruiser went past at KP7. The lock was at KP4.3 and we were overtaken by a smart cruiser at KP6 (a Pedro (Dutch) Donky – not seen one like it before). There were boats coming up in Bischofswerder lock, so the cruiser was on the waiting area. We tagged on behind. There were four canoes in front of the cruiser and another cruiser arrived just before the gates opened and two cruisers came out. The two big cruisers went on the left hand wall (neither of them stopped next to one of the two sets of rods – the lady off the second cruiser turned the bar) and the paddlers came in behind us on the right. 

Moored below Bischofswerder lock

Mike held the rope, moving down a succession of bollards in the piled lock wall while I got ropes and mooring pins ready as we were tying up immediately below the lock. After the cruisers and canoes had gone and the solitary little yacht that had been waiting to go up had gone into the 85m long chamber, we winded and moored next to the high piled wall below the lock where we’d had to wait at the beginning of the month while the WSA cleared all the wind-felled trees out of the canal. It was 4 pm. Mike checked the Internet and put the antenna up on the mast so he could print a copy of the RAINWAT Procedure for ships sailing the flag of non-RAINWAT countries, which should be kept with our VHF radio (which we now discover is out of date, therefore we need a new Marine VHF radio with ATIS, the “squawk” identifier, so no more trying to talk to lock keepers via VHF until we get one – we thought, wrongly, that ATIS was only for commercials). 

Thursday 22nd August 2013 KP31 Havel to Burgwall. 6.2 kms 0 locks

Moonlight on river mist. KP31 Havel

Grey overcast start, sunny spells with mackerel skies. First boat past was a yacht at 8.00 am who went by very gently. Set off 9.15 am as another boat went past so we had to wait before winding as the river is only just wide enough. Markon running to do more washing en route. A young couple with a canoe and tent were camped at KP28.5, they waved as we went past. A large Locaboat and a cruiser went past heading upriver, then a Dawncraft cruiser went past with a British couple on board. “Back again!” they said, and went on to say that they live here now. 

An edible green frog KP31 Havel

(We must have seen them before, but couldn’t slow down because the gennie was running and we didn’t get the name of their boat either - if you read this please get in touch!) Three more cruisers went past heading uphill before we arrived at Burgwall an hour after we set off. There were several small boats moored along the section of mooring upriver of the Gästhaus so we went for water first. A cruiser moored right by the Gästhaus was wanting water too, but said he was staying so he had all day, no rush. There was a Colorado beetle on the bench seat so I took photos before Mike despatched it. 

Bush cricket - short-winged conehead. KP31

The washing finished and we refilled the tank, by which time the moorings were empty so we moved to the far upstream end (best place for satellite TV) and tied up. Once we’d set up the TV, etc, we went shopping at Edeka in Fürstenburg again. Bought 15€ top-ups for the phone and Internet from the garage opposite, then headed back home. Moorings were starting to fill up with Free Campers due back at base (Mildenberg, 3kms downriver) next day probably. After lunch we went out in the car to check a mooring on the Ruppinerkanal at Kremmen, it was still there, unaltered and disused, a concrete topped quay with rings along the edge for mooring. Suit us fine. Back via Zehdenick. Saw signs on the road for otter crossing places – maybe it was an otter Mike saw the night before that was swimming across the river? 

Dwarfed by a Bungalow Boat. Burgwall

The moorings were getting well and truly full with three floating bungalows moored behind us and a Free Camper squeezed in front. One of the Bungalow Boats we estimated to be around 12m long by about 4m wide. 

About 12m long by 4m wide. Bungalow Boats

No licence is required to pilot one of these monsters, only a couple of hours tuition. We know they have a restricted area they can navigate, but, it’s not a level playing field is it? We watched Deal then went in the Zur Fähre’s restaurant and had a superb meal. As we went in we noted a police car parked outside the restaurant, then we saw two police officers outside flag down a speeding cruiser and (presumably) tell him to slow down through moorings. Later three officers came back from the far end of the moorings back to their car. We wondered what had happened, but hadn’t enough German to ask the waitress. I had schnitzel mit Jäger mushrooms, chips and salad; Mike had pork medallions with liver, fried potatoes and salad. And a Radebeger beer each to wash it down. We gave in to ice cream; he had his with Advocaat egg liqueur and I had mine with nuts. Surprised that the restaurant wasn’t full with the number of moored boats, we were all alone until about 8 pm when two couples came in. The beer garden was busy. A lovely red sunset as we walked back down the moorings.
Here's alink to see the Free Camper website:-
http://www.freecamper.de/blaues-paradies/
and this is the site for the Bungalow Boat hire
http://www.bunbo.de/home.html

Tuesday 20th August 2013 Templin to top of the lakes & back. KP31 Havel. 34.7kms 3 locks

Tripper moored below Templin lock
where we moored in 1999 when the lock was derelict.

Overcast and raining first thing, more rain later. Several boats had gone past heading downhill before we set off at 9 am. Five minutes later we were on the lock waiting area below Templin lock, which was derelict when we were there in 1999 and hadn’t been restored by 2004 either. Turned the green bar and the electronic sign said “Wait for next locking”. 

Below Templin lock

We expected the lock to be empty, but someone had beaten us to it and turned the bar above the lock to fill it! At 9.15 am it started to empty, one cruiser came out ten minutes later, then we had to wait until we got a green light before entering the chamber. The rods were halfway along the chamber on the right hand wall. I had a vertical bar to thread my side rope around and Mike had bollards recessed into the concrete wall for his stern rope. I turned the green bar in the wall and we started the lock sequence off. Slowly the boat rose 4m in the refurbished lock. At 25m long x 4.9m wide there wasn’t much room left. Two WSV workmen were cutting the grass around the lock and one stopped to chat to Mike as the lock was filling.

In Templin's new lock chamber.

Didn’t have much time for talking as the gates opened, we got a green light and had to leave. There were three cruisers waiting for the lock. There were lots of boat club moorings above the lock and more as we went on towards the lake, all designed for the smaller boat nothing suitable for anything over 10m! We went under a covered wooden bridge and past more boathouses before entering the Templinersee. We hadn’t gone far when the familiar shape of a Free Camper appeared behind us – we were being followed again! Another deep lake, over 8m, dropping down to 6m as we reached the narrows turning southeast into a much smaller lake called the Bruchsee. 

Boats waiting above to go down Templin

The exit was at a sharp angle to the left under two bridges, a disused railway and a road bridge, and then suddenly there was only 1.8m depth of water under the boat. Metal posts either side of the access to the channel under the bridges made sure boats that were too wide couldn’t try to pass. On the other side was a restaurant with empty moorings at the start of the Fährsee, a long, wide S-shaped lake, which seemed deserted except for one floating shed that was anchored, fishing, and a cruiser anchored in a gap in the reed beds. 

Covered wooden bridge. Templin

No signs of the campervan afloat. The shed started moving, slowly in the same direction as us. Our echo sounder started giving readings of 0.7m in the middle of a lake that was supposed to be on average 8m deep. Mike attached a rope to a windlass to check it. It was 6m deep – must be something the echo sounder doesn’t like, usually it’s what’s called a “foul” bottom. Continuing southeast to the end of the lake there was a large island covered with trees. We went to the left of it. 

Bridges between Templinersee and Fahrsee

Behind it there were big reed beds and water lilies then more open water with and some moored boats in the distance at the village of Seehof. There was a channel between the water lilies and reeds to get back into the big lake via the other side of the island. We went through it slowly in case the depth changed suddenly, it didn’t (but it was only 0.8m under the bottom) and we were back in the Fährsee. Heading northwest the wind was now in our faces and getting chilly. 

Between the island and bank at south end of Fahrsee

The trip boat, Uckerperle, that had been moored below Templin lock was now heading down the lake towards us loaded with passengers. There was a little cruiser coming through the bridges when we got there, he cleared and we headed North up the Bruchsee then Northeast under a little footbridge into the pretty Gleuensee lake, bordered with trees but fewer reed beds. 

The other direction, in the narrow channel at the end of Fahrsee

At the end there was a little beach with bench seats and several moored boats, small ones with covers over them. We winded and set off back south down the lake. I made some lunch. Turned right back into Templinersee. Another Free Camper was moored by the trip boat stop at the top end of the lake. Mike went round the island then under the wooden footbridge and we waited for the lock behind a large hireboat cruiser. 

Boathouses in Templin

No room in the lock for both of us, so we had to wait. One boat came up, the hireboat went down. Nothing else to come up, the lock refilled and we went down. No one else waiting to go down, but there wasn’t much spare room anyway. It started to rain. Below the lock the yellow Bungalow Boat we’d seen in Wentowsee was waiting to go up the lock. On down the canal, emerging into the Röddlinsee, meeting one cruiser coming the other way by the last bridge. 

Sloping side lock chamber. Kannenburg

Noted the moorings halfway along the left hand side of the lake at the village of Hindenburg contained a whole row of floating sheds, must be one of their bases. The tripper went past again followed by another Kuhnle hireboat. Two more cruisers went past before we went into the channel leading to the Lankensee. As we entered the lake a canoe went by, filled with camping gear, paddled by a young couple with a small blonde-haired daughter sitting at the front and not looking too impressed with the voyage so far. Two cruisers were anchored in the small round lake. 

Canoe stop at KP31 River Havel.

As we headed for the empty lock waiting area above Kanneburg lock two cruisers appeared from out of the reeds and moored there! Where did they come from! A Free Camper came up the lock and the keeper called us in behind the two cruisers. We didn’t think there was enough room and the guy on the cruiser in front started shouting “Stop, stop!” but there was just enough room. The keeper knows his lock better than us! Today he had no helper and had to walk all around the chamber to shut the gates but when the lock was empty he kicked the far side gate open (just like I used to do with UK bottom end gates – in a former life). 

Moored at KP31 R. Havel

Out on to the Grosser Kuhwallsee and Mike counted seventeen cruisers anchored around the edges of the little lake. On into the narrow winding channel leading back to the Havel and we met two boats on the first bend, neither of which slowed down, the second was a large Locaboat. A couple of bends before the junction we went past the two boats that we’d locked down Kannenburg with. The first one had stopped to do some fishing and the second one was drifting along waiting for the other to catch up. At the junction with the Havel we saw two roe deer right by the water’s edge in the forest. Magic! First deer we’ve seen in Germany. Nothing moving on the river until we needed to wind to moor then a large (new futuristic design) Kuhnle hireboat went upriver followed by another cruiser, we winded and I’d just got a rope on one of the log stumps when a procession of eight boats went past heading downriver towards Burgwall. It was 4.45 pm. Mike got off and knocked four pins into the bank and we tied up in a canoe stopping place where they haul their boats out and camp out in the forest.

Monday 19th August 2013 N end Wentowsee to below Templin lock. 27.7kms 2 locks

Looking south Wentowsee

Grey and overcast, rain later. Up early. Mike lifted the mudweight and anchors (it took about 15 minutes to do this) and I untied the bows from round the tree. We set off back down the lake at 8.20 am. There was hardly a ripple on the surface. About 400m beyond where we’d moored there were four chalets afloat, moored permanently to the bank, we were surprised we’d moored so close to them. Three grebe and a cormorant were fishing in the lake. 

Looking north Wentowsee

A bright yellow Bungalow Boat was anchored (they have wind-down legs) near Ringsleben, where a row of red-sheeted log cabin rafts were moored behind the reeds (must be day-hire for fishing, we’d seen several over the weekend). It was very quiet as we cleared the last of the lake, but the wind started to pick up and was chilly so we put fleeces on for the first time in a long time. Down the narrow channel to Marienthal lock. The lady keeper came out and filled the lock and then we dropped back down 1.9m on to the river Havel. It was 9.55 am. Nothing coming as we turned right and ran the short distance down to Burgwall. Two cruisers and a Free Camper were on the restaurant moorings. The Free Camper set off as we arrived and went downriver towards Spandau. The crew of the cruiser, moored by the first tap, told us there was no water, it was broken. 

Red sheeted log cabins moored at Ringsleben

Mike said what both taps? They’d only seen the one – which now had tape over the money slot. The other one worked OK 1€/80 litres, which is about all we needed. Mike moved the car up the street beyond the white house again. At 10.30 am we passed the junction with the Wentow kanal, heading upstream on the Havel again. Numerous cruisers went past and a yacht. The latter was having trouble with weed as he stopped his outboard and lifted it just after we’d passed him. 

Boat houses abv Marienthal lock. Wentow kanal. 

Just after we’d passed our wild mooring place at KP28.5 we were overtaken by a large Kuhnle hire boat. 11.45 am we turned right on to the Trempliner Gewässer, which was just as winding as the Havel. As we turned two boats were approaching that had just come down the next uphill lock on the Havel, one went straight on towards Burgwall, the other followed us and within minutes had overtaken us at speed. Minutes later we passed a large cruiser coming the opposite way. Out into the first lake, Grosser Kuhwallsee (7m deep in the middle), with a large hireboat behind us, which overtook and moored in the middle of the lock waiting area below Kannenburg lock, leaving just enough space for us behind him. 

Hireboat below Kannenburg lock. Templiner kanal

A Free Camper was going up in the lock, which was sloping sided (44.5m long x 5.3m wide with a lift of 1.4m) and manually operated by two men. Several cruisers came down then we followed the hireboat into the lock. The keeper had to tell him to keep going up the chamber until our stern had cleared the gates. Looped fore and aft ropes around yellow painted poles and rose gently as the lock filled. As we left Mike asked the keepers if Templin lock was still closed – no, it had re-opened six years earlier and was now automatic. 

Sloping sided chamber. Kannebnurg lock

Great. A new waterway for us! It was 1.00 pm as we passed the canalside café above the lock. The hireboat soon disappeared from sight as we went into the first lake, a little round one called Lankensee. The Free Camper was stooging around the edges, then it decided to follow us as we went into the large lake called Roddelinsee, which was wide and very deep, over 20m but most of it around 18 to 20m deep. The camper overtook us before the entrance to the Templiner kanal. As we took the tight right hand bend at the entrance there was a small cruiser coming out who’d been about to cut the corner! We missed! 

Moored outskirts of Templin. Templiner kanal.

Again, although this was a canal it was more winding than the Havel and was bordered by reeds and water lilies, white and yellow ones. As we neared the town of Templin we decided to stop and tie to the towpath which was edged with a double row of logs supporting bunches of long branches laid horizontal, put there as wash prevention bank edging and now overgrown with vegetation. It was 2.40 pm and it had started to rain. We put the TV dish up and couldn’t get a satellite TV station to work – must be the weather! Within ten minutes it was pouring down. Glad we decided to stop below the lock. Looking forward to new waters tomorrow.

Friday 16th August 2013 Burgwall to N end Wentowsee. 8.4kms 1 lock

Below Marienthal lock. Wentow kanal

Sunny with hazy cloud. Breezy. The Snails went for water around ten and as we didn’t really need any we didn’t follow with the boat, so Mike and I took a walk over to chat while they filled up. The crew off the DB were packing up ready to move too, they were going to Himmelpfort. A couple from Berlin who were cycling and had been staying in the Gästhaus - they had helped with the menu in the restaurant as he spoke very good English - came over to chat and were most interested in the Snails predicament. 

Wentow kanal

Waved au’revoir as the Snails set off to hopefully moor below Lehnitz lock. Anne had just had confirmation of a mooring in North Freisland, organised by some Dutch friends. We set off at 10.50 am and went upriver to the junction with the Wentow kanal, about 300m. Threw a rope around a stump below Marienthal lock and Mike went to find the keeper. A woman in her thirties operated the lock, which was press button electric. Fore and aft ropes round inset bollards in the steel piled wall of the little lock chamber (44m x 5.3m) and we rose 1.9m. 

The reeds close in - Wentow kanal.

Said “Bis bald” (“see you soon” - as the lake is a dead end) to the keeper and set off up a very narrow canal lined each side with reed beds and white water lilies. The grassy banks were sloping and the houses of the village of Marienthal spread out along the bank on the left until we reached the road bridge. A railway bridge marked on the chart as a feldbahnbrücke had long gone - just the abutments remained. The reeds crowded in on the channel as we approached the junction with the lake and a few more houses peeped over the reeds as we turned left with a big island called Ratz in front of us. 

Ratz island at the start of Wentowsee

There were wooden cabins along the left bank among the reeds which looked like converted boat houses, new ones had been added and on the right hand side there was a mooring for small boats and lots of floating chalet-type holiday houses attached the bank at their sterns, also among the reeds. The first part of the lake was the widest and deepest, 3m according to the chart and there was another boat mooring for small craft on the left as we headed for the first narrows. Half a dozen small yachts were on a mooring on the right. The water was turning olive green with floating algae (he guy off the little DB had said not to swim in it as the algae makes people ill). More houses among the trees on the left, the village of Wentow and on the right the hamlet of Ringsleben. 

Lakeside cabins. Wentowsee

Then the lake became more remote, no more houses or moored boats, a curlew (we think) went yodelling overhead as we went on through the next narrows, heading just west of north up the last stretch of lake. On the left there were several floating sheds (mobile, they left mid-afternoon) moored under the trees with people fishing. As there had been yellow marker buoys all along the left hand bank we though that meant it was a nature reserve and there was no access. Hmm, we could see cars parked among the trees and the loud revving of some off-road vehicle as it went through the forest. Not a nature reserve then. 

Bows tied to a fallen tree and anchors out from the stern.
Wentowsee

Wonder what the yellow markers were for? It took us a while to find a spot to moor along the right hand bank as there were lots of old rotten trees plus the wind had picked up and was blowing quite hard from the south. Eventually we found two recently-downed, substantial alder trees and I slung a bow rope round the (almost) horizontal trunk and tied it, then helped Mike heave two folding grapple anchors out off the stern towards the middle of the lake to stop it trying to blow the boat bodily sideways towards the bank. It was 1.25 pm. Later Mike threw a mud weight out from the stern towards the bank in case the wind decided to change direction.