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

Monday 28th April 2014 Schmöckwitz to Treptow 29.4kms no locksM

Entrance to Gosener kanal

10.8°C Sunny and warm when sheltered from strong breeze. Mike decided not to bother getting any bread as we had enough to last us several days. Set off at 9 am with pins in and the Markon generator running to do some washing and ironing. The new washing machine wouldn’t start; up came error code E5 again. Mike had the engine revvs set to produce 230v, must be too much for it, so he lowered it to 220v and then it worked OK. The Seddinsee was empty except for us. The guy with the cruiser

Cheeky garden ornament. Muggelspree.
(FKK = naturist) 

had moved back into the old basin. He must oscillate between the two moorings, there and Schmöckwitz. Into the Gosener kanal with forest on both banks, the little town of Gosen off to the right in an area marked on the map as marshland. We emerged from the canal into the southern end of the Dämeritzsee, didn’t take the first left – the Alter Spreearm – as it was winding, narrow and had low bridges that needed the mast lowering and at generating speed we didn’t want to do that, so we did a left in the corner of the lake and joined the little river Müggelspree. A big charter

Neu Vendig - New Venice

boat went past us, all the crew were waving. The banks of the river were lined throughout with smart expensive houses – gardeners were at work (and an automatic lawn mower at one house with a large expanse of lawn) – and lots of wooden bungalows. Took photos of the junctions with the many little canals between the houses in an area named Neu Vendig (New Venice) - all were for the residents use only. Nearer the lake there was a fisherman’s mooring with an old tug boat and piles of fishing posts and nets, looking very out of place now among all its posh new neighbours. Through the buoyed channel of the Kleine Müggelsee and out

Church in Neu Vendig - New Venice

into the Groβe Müggelsee, a cruiser passed us and then we paused while Mike took the pins out. In the few minutes it took to restore normal drive the strong wind blew the boat round until it was facing the north bank as a windsurfer went past us. On our way again. On our right two medium-sized trip boats were doing a circuit around the lake. Into the next river reach at Friedrichshagen and we started looking for a tap to refill our water tank as we were down to 200 litres. Paused at Windrose restaurant and moored on their guest mooring. There was a coin operated water tap with a long, long hose. The charter boat was back and he also wanted water, he went on to another mooring, then two men came round to see how long we would be and asked how much water we needed, only about 400 litres. The charter boat was hovering as we left. On through Friedrichshagen and into Köpernick where some old mills had been converted into flats and were surrounded with new-built blocks of flats. A new footbridge had been built across the end of the Baumgarten insel for easy access to the town

Tug at fishing dock Neu Vendig. Muggelspree

from the new flats. A big tripper called Mark Brandenburg went past with lots of passengers sitting out in the sunshine. A large masted klipper, called Ars Vivendi, was moored in Köpernick, it was advertising forthcoming events on banners. At the junction with the Dahme, to our left was the wide river, here called the Langersee, which lead back to Schmöckwitz; we continued on the Spree into Neider (left) and Obere (right) Schöneweide. Spotted a moored narrowboat! A short one called Warwick, which was now German registered and flagged. The camera wouldn’t focus, had trouble taking photos of it. A hired floating shed went past 

A bit choppy. Friedrichshagen from Grosse Muggelsee

heading upriver, its cabin full of young men with beer! There was a lot of singing and shouting going on. Hope the steerer remains sober. Just past the junction with the Britzer Zweigkanal there is a large police station with several WSP patrol boats moored in boathouses facing on to the river. Beyond it a new ferryboat was winding (on the right bank) and heading back to the Treptow (left) bank just downstream of the police station. In front we could see the chimneys of the Berlin C

Berlin Burger Brau at Friedrichshagen

oncrete Works and a power station (Klingenberg) where there were lots of moored pans of brown coal and empty pans. We’d just seen two tugs heading upriver, one with a pair of empty pans. A tripper went to the back of a small island and a large one, Ernst Reuter, overtook us followed by a wedge shaped cruiser. There was a mooring for the trip boats at the back of the island and a new basin had been excavated where several were now moored. Round a left hand bend, a police boat was following the cruiser that had just overtaken us up the Rummelsburgersee to our right and 

A hired floating shed, men, beer and sunshine

we went behind the Insel der Jugend  passing lots of moored boats, a big cafe with masses of people sitting outside and a parked sea plane, which does tours. We moored downstream of a cruiser at 2.20 pm by Treptower Park, only about fifteen minutes’ walk from the shopping centre we went to by car last week. There was enough room in front of us for maybe one small cruiser and then there was a place hiring out little day boats and pedaloes, beyond that was another café with people sitting out. 

Entertainments at Treptow Park

Mooring at Treptow Park

Sea plane at Treptow

Berlin Concrete works and power station
+ brown coal waiting to be unloaded

Saturday 19th April 2014 Füstenwalde – Schmöckwitz 31.5kms 2 locks

Under the footbridge over the weirstream at Fustenwalde

2.6°C Cold night, glad we kept the coal fire going. Grey, chilly start, sun coming out and clouds gone by 10.15 am. Up early as Mike wanted to get some bread (and eggs) from the shops at the far end of the shopping street in the town. He went to a little supermarket which was the only place open. He used the new VHF radio to call the keeper at Füstenwalde lock on channel 22, got a reply from him and he was getting the gates open on the (usual) left hand chamber as we arrived. Mike took photos of a hooded crow that had snatched a dead fish from the surface of the water in the lock then ate

And into Fustenwalde lock

  it on the lockside. I put the centre rope round a bollard set in the brick-walled chamber and we dropped down about a metre, then carried on down the last of the canalised river Spree. This lock is the last one with an electric mule system for hauling pans in and out of the chamber (we saw it in use last year). Just before we got to Groβe Tranke we noted how much damage had been done to the trees by beaver – and a lot of the trees had red rusty coloured trunks. The river was pouring over the weir at Groβe Tranke and an empty pan had been left on the one 

Hooded crow enjoying a dead fish

remaining wall of the old paired flood locks that used to be here. Mike took photos of a buzzard. A sign we’re back in an area where there is commercial traffic – wagtails started landing on the boat roof looking for bugs and spiders! I made a cuppa. Four buzzards and a white-tailed eagle were soaring on thermals to our left just past Braunsdorf. The sun came out and the clouds went mid-morning. A pair of crows were chasing a big bird of prey through the edge of the forest, the big bird (another eagle) landed in the top of a tree and still the crows dived at it. A cruiser went past at KP59 keeping so close to the bank Mike had to take a photo of it.

Rear end of a Bizon tug on the Oder-Spree-Kanal

Another overtook us just before the A10 autobahn bridge. A commercial was coming towards us round the next bend, two loaded pans being pushed by a Bizon tug from Wrocław (pronounced vrots/waf) in Poland. Had a short wait for Werndorf lock. The cruiser was tied to the waiting area for sport boots. The lock gates opened (the right hand side one of the two locks had been modernised) and the lights changed to green but the cruiser had its own traffic light and had to wait a while for that to change to green. We followed it into the lock

The weir at Grosse Tranke on to the Muggelspree

chamber. I dropped our centre rope round a big bollard on the lockside. The cruiser was having problems, they’d attached a line from their stern but there was nothing for the lady of the vessel to put her rope on, so she stayed on the lockside after chatting with the keeper who came out from his posh new cabin to help. (We think he also works Kersdorf lock from this cabin, Werndorf also has cameras so that might not be the case when we next come through this lock). I transferred our rope down on to the bollard recessed in the concrete wall as the drop was close on 5m. I didn’t transfer down any further as the walls and bollards were very muddy. Another short wait while sir picked madam up below the lock, then they turned left into the Krossinsee. Another cruiser

The Langersee side of the Weidewall

and two canoes were waiting to come up. Water was thundering over the weir between the two lock chambers and racing out from the section of Krossinsee to our right. There were fishermen everywhere and shooting was going on (maybe some sort of range) somewhere in the forest to our right. We carried on down the last of the Oder-Spree-Kanal. A small open speedboat came out of the lake and overtook us slowly (slowly for one of that type of boat) as an un-marked police boat went past heading towards the lock. The crew smiled and waved. In the distance we could see lots of sailing boats zipping around on the Seddingsee. When we reached the lake we turned left with sailing boats going every which way and headed for the islands at the end

Moored on the quay at Schmockwitz

of the lake called the Weiden Wall. Turned left on to the north end of the Zeuthenersee, a lake on the river Dahme which is a tributary of the Spree. Under the road bridge and turned right – a choice of where to moor on the quay at Schmöckwitz, so we tucked the stern into the left hand end of the quay by the trees and lashed fore and aft to the wooden  stumps driven into the lake bed which were provided for this purpose and Mike hung tyres on them. It was 1.45 pm. More lies on depth signboards, this one said max 0.7m when the depth was actually twice that at 1.4m. The wash of passing boats caused a constant rocking, but a fairly gentle one. Had lunch then Mike decided to collect the car from Müllrose. I helped unload the bike off the roof – we had an audience as a speedboat and a cruiser had tied up in front of us. He left around 3pm and sent me a text from Müllrose to say that the green card had arrived today! Hooray for that. Thank you Ralf and Matthias, hope your canoe hire business does really well.

Wednesday 16th April 2014 S of Beeskow to Müllrose. 26.8kms 2 locksSpies

Painted house facade in Beeskow

2.8°C Sunny, but cold with a strong breeze. It was 9°C outside but felt more like 4°C. We got up early and set off at 8.20 am after Mike had heaved the little anchors back on board and cleaned the mud off and I undid the bow rope from around our sturdy dead tree. Mike said he saw three large dark coloured animals suddenly dive for cover in the reeds by where we moored last time; we came to the conclusion that they must have been wild piggies. On downriver into Beeskow. The marina berths were almost empty, as were the rest of the moorings for small

New marina - no boats yet

boats on the way to the lock. The concrete quay where we moored when we first came here in 1999 was occupied by a single story café, so the moorings there were no longer free. We wondered how anyone could stop to shop in the town. Mike rotated the blue pole and the lock gates opened. We dropped down 1m to the river level below. Noted that the new offline marina was also empty as we flew past at 8kph (revs for 6kph assisted by a 2kph flow) and on past the large factory which makes wooden panels, it had two chimneys belching out great clouds of steam. A buzzard sat on a milepost as we went past and didn’t move. I took two photos but

Factory at Beeskow busy making wooden panels

the new camera wouldn’t focus. At the end of the kilometre long straight between KP112 and 111 there was a newly built house with windows facing downriver – it looked empty. A stork flew over. Through the last lake, Wergensee, and we waited below Neuhaus lock while Mike found the keeper. Another young man (a different one to last week’s and the one from last year) worked the lock from the booths at either end of the chamber. Two young ladies in full combat gear were mowing the lockside grass. We hung on fore and aft ropes round the vertical bars in the brick wall while the boat rose a metre. The lad pressed the buttons to drop the road barriers

Needle weir and tiny (12mx3m) Wergensee lock  

and lift the wooden liftbridge whilst opening the top end gates. We bid him tschüs and set off on the Spiesekanal at 11 am. I made tea and buttered currant buns. Half an hour later we were turning right on the Oder Spree Kanal. More sheltered from the wind by tall trees and banks either side of the canal it felt pleasanter although the scenery was not quite so magnificent as the Spree. A pair of goldeneye ducks flew up the old section of canal at KP102. Shortly after a white-tailed eagle flew over, too fast to get the camera turned on. The WSA were still working on the bank protection at

Below Neuhaus lock

KP103 just before the start of the houses at Müllrose. Crane boat Jaguar was offloading rocks from a pan and dumping them along the edge of the bank, with WSA tug Seeotter being used as a pusher. (Noted that the tug had Wasserschutspolitzei on it. Being re-used as a work tug?) Two young men from the canoe club came on to the quay at Müllrose to lend a hand with ropes. It was 12.40 pm as we tied up. Made some lunch then, after we’d eaten, I gave Mike a hand to unload the moped off

Spiesekanal.
Tree protected from attack by beaver

the roof. He went to collect the car from EHS. When he came back he was very annoyed as the woman in the Tabak had told him they do not have postlagernd deliveries and our post had been sent back. We went shopping in Frankfurt at Real. Laid out differently to the one in EHS we had to search for things but got everything (except I forgot to get any eggs) and went home. Mike was still seething. He’d seen Christian when he collected the car and he said the first letter from France hadn’t turned up either. Is it DHL losing stuff? I beat Mike at cribbage in two straight games. Just before bedtime he lit the central heating as the temperature was dropping and he hadn’t relit the coal fire earlier.

Tuesday 15th April 2014 Kossenblatt to S of Beeskow 22.4 kms no locks

The new weir, lock and old lockhouse (old lock has been infilled)

3.8°C Sunny spells, lots of grey clouds but no rain until late afternoon, still breezy which made it feel cold. Set off at 9.30 a.m. backing through the last pair of red and green channel marker buoys, then winding where the weir stream joined the Spree. We set off downstream doing 7.5kph with revs for 5kph which meant the river was flowing well at 2.5kph. In a big field near KP141.5 there were cranes and deer – until the deer started running and the cranes flew off! At KP141 we took a photo of

The weir running well. Kossenblatt. R Spree

the sign that said the depth was only 0.5m. That is disgraceful, making the sign read a metre less than it should to deter boats from doing the last three kilometres to Kossenblatt. Over that 3kms our echo sounder never read any lower than 1.5m. Onwards downriver, meandering gently. Near Briescht there was a herd of cows in a field, all lying down until one spotted the boat, then they all stood up one by one to get a better view. Nosey lot! In the next field there was a flock of black sheep with little black

Must be a lady ostrich?

lambs, all racing around - and a strange big bird, maybe a female ostrich? We wondered, as we went through the wooden liftbridge at Trebatsch, how often it gets lifted, if ever. I made a cuppa as we went through the village and put some baguettes in the oven to cook for Mike’s lunch. As we ran down the last river section before the lake we spotted the canoeist we’d seen the day before, a young man with two small children. We overtook them shortly after we entered Glowersee, which at around 2m deep was shallower than most of the river (3 to 5m deep in places) and now we’d lost the assistance of the flow Mike had to increase revs to keep up an average of 6.5 kph. Followed the buoyed course around the lake, where the canoe could just paddle straight across.

The top end gates of the disused lock at Trebatsch

The wind was stronger out in the open, crossing the lake, but nowhere near as bad as the day before. Through the narrows and into Leissnitzsee, again following a circuitous buoyed channel. There were lots of grebe on the left hand side, fishing by the reed beds and a pair of terns were hunting for lunch along the lake. At the northern end there was a large black-hulled cruiser called Morgendamerung (Dawn) anchored a few metres from the bank. A little further on there was a small cable ferry at Leissnitz on the right bank for taking people (max 10) and bicycles across to the far side. A convenient Imbiss (snack bar) was located by the ferry. The

What a bit of artwork!

lake narrowed and we continued following its buoyed channel north, taking photos of the first goslings we’d seen this year. Mike tried taking photos of the many birds prey that we saw soaring on thermals, but all were too far away for a decent photo. After the village of Kummerow, whose houses had long gardens sloping down to the river, the river became narrower and wilder. We kept our eyes open for a different wild mooring. Tried the east bank but the boat was on the bottom at least a metre from the tree stumps we were aiming for. Carried on

Foot passenger ferry at Leissnitz

downstream until we were within 300m of where we moored last time and found a very large dead tree, lying horizontally across the river, ideal to tie our bows to. We were sheltered from the wind, so Mike slung two anchors off the stern towards the bank and we finished tying up. It was 1.30 pm. There were many wooden stumps just below water level between the boat and the bank, which was a good two metres away – maybe the remains of a former landing stage (had to drop a tyre over one stump that was right next to the side doors) – and the

First goslings this year.

rusting remains of an old engine in the herbage on the bank. In the distance we could hear a tractor, but all other noises were made by birds. Peaceful in the sunshine. Lunch. Showers returned around 4 pm.

Moored with bows tied to another dead tree.