Tuesday 29th April 2014 Treptow to Spandau south. 22.2kms 3 locks.

Treptower Park, moored trippers  

7.6°C Sunny and getting warmer. Woken very early by loud noises outside. The charter boat had left early. We set off at 8.45 am. The farthest end of the park was full of moored trippers and houseboats; a Shell bunker boat was making his rounds between them doing some refuelling. Then the trippers started moving. Under the S-Bahn railway bridge and road bridge. Coming into view was the giant statue called Molecule Man on the site of Wall and beyond that the Oberbaumbrücke, famous for being a border bridge between East and West Berlin, the far side was Allied-held West Berlin, where we were was Soviet controlled East Berlin. The

Bunker boat refuelling trippers. R Spree

entrance to the Landwehr kanal was just past the statue on our left. Two trip boats were overtaking us so we stooged slowly up the right hand side of the Spree, then a slow cruiser came past the opposite way heading upriver. Mike called the lock control on Ch78, as usual no reply. However, the top end gate lowered (one of the type that drop down to lie flat on the canal bed) and the lock lights changed to green. I took a photo of a large commercial being unloaded on the left just before the lock. As we attached to a bollard a tripper came up behind us so we moved right so that he could come into the chamber as it was an old square one that formerly had

Anything that floats - as long as it's less than 15m long!!!!!

offset gates but now had in line ones on the left. The tripper stopped outside the lock and its skipper came shouting at us in German. He changed to English. We weren’t allowed in the lock before 11.15 am, police rules and we had to leave the lock and wait. How stupid. Whoever invented that regulation? It’s bad enough that the Landwehr is now one way, but now it’s time-restricted for sportboots too. Trip boats rule! We backed out and tied to the dolphins above the lock. I said the next thing will be “you’re not allowed to moor there!” The tripper went down the lock and I caught up with the blog from the day before. Mike made a cuppa and sat out on the stern

Old crane by flats R Spree

reading the Kindle. At eleven o’clock someone arrived at the lock and started shouting. Mike wandered down to the lock side to see what he was shouting about. You’re not allowed to moor there, police regulations – and you’ve come past a red light, you should be on the sport boat waiting area. We hadn’t seen it, or the red light, it was on the on the far side corner by where the big boat had been unloading. Can’t we just wait there for another ten minutes? No, Police regulations! Another tripper was heading for the

One of the remaining sections of the Berlin Wall
see link to Wiki

lock. Meanwhile the bloke was having a right old slanging match with two guys in a canoe who’d come up in the lock – they’d passed a red light and they were going the wrong way on a one way canal!! We gave up and backed off to the sport waiting place and as soon as we got there the red light (specially for that waiting area) changed to green. The two lads in the canoe spoke English, as they came past us I said did you have a telling off too. One replied yeah, the guy’s a complete asshole! Much spluttering from us as we followed the tripper into the lock and shoved over to the right again. No sign of the lock-keeper or whoever he was. Mast off while we went under the

Molecule man, on site of the Wall on R Spree

low bridge just beyond the tail end of the lock. When we first came here in 1999 there was a hippy peace camp on the left bank of the canal where the Berlin Wall was – left bank East Berlin, right bank West Berlin, the peace camp was still there or at least the hippies were. A short distance and we passed mooring no 10 (we’d stayed there a few times over the years, now it had a time restriction – no mooring between 13.00 and 14.00hrs) The Wall turned left roughly following the Neukoliner kanal, we turned right staying on the Landwehr. A long street market was in full swing along the left bank and some mouth–watering smells were coming from several stalls. Past mooring no 9 on the wide Urbanhafen (no mooring 12.00-13.00hrs). A few trippers and restaurant boats were moored there, but it was so busy with passers-by and overlooked by high-rise flats that we’d never fancied staying there. The tripper in front was pulling away, we were doing the speed limit of 6kph so he must have been speeding. Another was soon catching us up. Herons were so tame they stood by the

Molecule man and Treptowers R Spree

banks or in trees and watched us go past without flying off and there were many swans and ducks about. Under a succession of bridges close together, an X bridge with a crossroads on top (and a hippy shop next to it) and then an elevated section of the U-bahn railway was right next to the canal and I took photos of a train in Möckenbrücke station, round a right hand bend then the Deutsches Technik Museum was on our left with an American Liberator aeroplane hanging from its roof. Mike took photos of bullet holes in a wall alongside the right bank of the canal then photos of the plane.

Oberbaumbrucke, former East-West crossing
See info on Wiki

Potsdamer Platz was off to our right with many tall buildings, the National Gallery, the Statsbibliotek, the Kultur-Forum. We slowed down for the tripper to overtake us in a wide section. Good thing we did as Belvedere was a wide as most of the bridges (NOW we see why the canal is now one way – two like that would have a hard time finding passing places) The tripper crawled through the next arched bridge on a bend. All the top hotels were lined up on our left as we passed the Tiergarten on our right and under the twin Lichtenstein

Following tripper out of Obereschleuse - mast down for that bridge!

footbridges in the park. Kids on bikes were crossing as well as many pedestrians. The next lock, Unterschleuse, could be called on Ch81 – but not by us as that channel is missing from our new VHF Marine radio (still no message from the seller or Yaesu). The big tripper was squeezing into the lock, no room for us, so we hung ropes on the fence and waited in the designated area. Cameras everywhere, like the Obereschleuse, making this a remotely operated lock so the keeper

Bullet holes in stonework of bridge. Landwehr kanal

could be anywhere. The next tripper was a slimline one, Spree Prinzses, so we followed him in and dropped down 1.3m. Below the lock there was a WSA workboat (flourescent green!) waiting to go up the lock. We passed the moored houseboats in the weirstream below the lock, right next to Charlottenburgtor (gate). One of the guys who lived there asked us when we came here first if we’d like to moor alongside his boat for the winter and keep an eye on it for him. We declined as we’d already booked our winter mooring at MYCEH. It was 1 pm and

Elevated section of U-bahn next to Landwehr kanal

getting much warmer. Lots of people were picknicking or sunbathing along the sloping grassy canal banks under the trees as we ran down to the crossroads junction with the Spree and the Charlottenburg Verbindungskanal (the latter went straight ahead). We turned left heading downstream on the Spree after a tripper had gone past left to right on the Spree. Tripper Belvedere was on its way back into the city on the Spree. Under the Röntgen-Darwinbrücke there were beds laid out where the homeless were camped – first ones we’d seen in Berlin.  A little further on the little Dutch barge (belonging to the father of a young

Deutches Technikmuseum

man who we met at Burgwall) was still tied on the mooring area, all alone. At the next bridge there was a 24hr mooring and there were a couple of boats on it, a Pénichette called Ruddelin and a catamaran called Catfish of Chester with a red ensign on the back – but no one home! Probably sight-seeing round Charlottenburg schloss. There were gates and fences under the bridge leading into the palace grounds, must be locked at night. A Le Boat hireboat went past heading upstream, followed by a cruiser. We were overtaken by tripper Spreekrone, who winded by the weir taking up the whole of the canal to do so and causing Mike to go into reverse.

Following tripper Belvedere

Trippers rule! The Westhafenkanal went off to the right and we turned left for Charlottenburg schleuse. A cruiser was sitting on the corner, not tied up or anchored and a couple were standing on its bows talking. Wonder what that was about? Green lights for the big lock, just us and no lock keeper, all operated by someone at a desk somewhere. We dropped down just over a metre and left the lock free for loaded 80m tanker Regina W who was waiting below. 5kms left of the Spree to the junction with the Havel. I made some sandwiches for lunch so it would be ready when we tied up. Past the power station serving a big industrial complex and Siemens Stadt to the north. Noted there were coal boats – but not brown coal.

Waiting "fence" abv Unterschleuse. Landwehr kanal

Nothing moving and no boats about, the moorings were empty at Spandau south, mooring no 12(and no sign to say no mooring between 12.00 – 1300hrs). Secured the boat between the dolphins and Mike went to take a photo from the bridge as a tripper went storming past causing the boat to rock quite a bit. Lunch. I started work on the log and blog while Mike checked e-mails etc. Around 6 pm a passing loaded commercial made the boat bang against the piling so we went out and tightened up the ropes, using a sheeting knot to make them as tight as possible.

Below Untershleuse - Charlottenburgtor

Leaving Charlottenburg schleuse

Junction R Spree & R Havel Spandau lock to left out of view

Mooring at Spandau R Havel