Just Cruisin'

We left Rheinsberg the next morning but as the weather wasn't very good decided to anchor in a small quiet lake of the main route. There was lovely light as thunder rolled in the distance. The next day it has lightened slightly so we decided to go up another series of lakes for 30km and see what we could see. Unfortunately 5 minutes into the trip, the motor spluttered and died. It was a fuel problem. We retired starting and it sort of went and then spluttered out. After 5 minutes of trying we got it going again and had no more problems. A bit of dirt in the fuel we thought. But to be sure we weren't 30km from nowhere with a boat that didn't go we stopped in another lovely lake (there are hundreds and hundreds of such lakes!!) about 1km from a major marina with a repair service. Sure enough the next morning after 5 minutes, the engine conked out again. Once again we restarted it after trying for 5 minutes and continued on our way through lake after lake to the town of Neustrelitz, where we had stayed on the way up.

The weather was clearing now after 2 weeks of grey weather and we stopped for two lovely days in Neustrelitz. We went for a bike ride in the woods, painted one side of the top part of the boat and generally relaxed in the lovely weather.

Neustrelitz is not an old town (1800's) but built in a very grand fashion with lovely (what we would call Georgian) houses. It has an air of prosperity unlike many of the other former East German towns.

The weather had broken clear now and day fater day it was becoming sunnier and hotter. Today it is 34c. Not a cloud in the sky and by late afternoon we are strarting to feel very hot. In this weather you experience what the Germans call FKK or freikorperkultur or literally free body culture or what we would call 'naturalism'. All along the lake sides in small boats and large, there are people relaxing, fishing, swimming, eating, chatting in the nude. Finding people with clothes on is a rarity. Mind you it so hot that it seems an inherently sensible attitude.
When the engine stopped again the next morning we decided we needed to get it sorted out and so we stopped at a hire boat base in Furstenberg. The base said they could help but decided in the early evening that they didn't have time so contacted another person who turned up about 8pm to help. We had figured by now that the most sensible strategy was to simply change the fuel filters (3 of them) before doing anything else. Our engineer tried to unscrew the filters but they wouldn't budge. So he agreed to come back the next morning - Saturday. In East Germany Saturday is pretty sacred unlike in West Germany, and generally everything is closed except for the odd large supermarket. Next morning he came back with the mother of all oil filter wrenches and quickly replaced the filters and started her up. The problem didn't re-occur and hasn't since so all is well.
Whilst we were in Furstenberg we visited Ravensbruck, the concentration camp where women and children were held and worse, during the war. It was a very moving experience. We were virtually the only people there. The actual camp was turned into a Soviet Army base after the war so there is very little of the actual camp left, but there are many exhibits and the area of the camp is preserved as a memorial. We were surprised to see plaques describing the role of Siemens in the camp as they used forced labour in their electrical factories which were situated next door. A statue by the entrance to the main camp caught our eye. Women who were considered uncooperative were given a yellow triangle to wear so that they would receive greater punishment. The statue has one of these triangles.
From Furstenberg we decided to spend the weekend anchored in the Grosser Lychensee. Lovely quiet calm moorings with boats coming and going and hot - very hot. We did some more painting and applied some teak restorer to the main deck but it was generally too hot to do anything. We have some ice cream in the freezer which we are fantasizing about for after dinner tonight. We will add some advocaat, stewed rhubarb and wild berries and make a refreshing sundae. The fridge is not coping well in this heat but we do have cold beer. We know of the bad storm in Auckland over the weekend. There couldn't be more of a contrast with the weather here now. It looks like it will last through this week at least.

Back Across the Muritz See again.

This week we continued along the Muritz Elde Wassstrasse stopping at some of the towns we didn't see on the way up. The weather was cloudy, reasonably warm with very little sun at all. We seem to have lost the golden early summer of June.
In Lubz we spent some time doing maintenance and Wendy cleaned the teak decks whilst David did some touch up painting where bits of rust were peering through the hull. But alas only the primer got on as the weather didn't allow anything more.
We hada lovely mooring at Plau and walked over to the Fish Smoking Sheds right on the banks of the Elde.

We bought a fillet and had a Salad Nicoise with it. It is one of the original spa towns of the 18th century and has a lot of character. From Plau we motored in the drizzle to Malchow to a newly opened marina in the centre of town. We stayed there two nights as the next day it rained most of the day. The weather lifted a bit the day after and we decided to cross the Muritz See whilst we had a good wind forecast. It was a long day but an easy passage with light seas. We moored in the southern arm of the Muritz See in a quiet remote anchorage and would you adam and eve it, another boat came and anchored 20 metres away when it had anywhere in a 2000m area to drop its anchor. We found this quite common as if we had found the best and only anchorage.

Having crossed the Muritz See we headed south towards the next highlight of our trip, the Schloss at Rheinsberg. Set right on a lake we could sail right past it and admire it. We went inside but as it was used as a former 'clinic' in GDR times it was poorly preserved. As if to make sixpence out of a farthing, the audio commentary was the longest and most boring of any of the ones we have listened to. Still whilst the inside was disappointing, the outside and the setting were superb. It was the early home of King Frederick the Great of Prussia.
Today the weather brightened a bit and we have found a glorious secluded anchorage not far from the schloss in a lake (about the size of the Blue Lake in Rotorua for you kiwis). The forecast is looking better for the end of the coming week so here's hoping for some sunnier and warmer weather for a while.

The Golden Towers of Schwerin

This week we have been heading along the Muritz-Elde-Wasserstrasse. Through small towns interconnected by the canalised River Elde. On Tuesday we arrived at Garwitz where we decided to clean out the weed filter that filters water going into cool the engine. This was done and we left the next morning thinking that the engine was a bit noisier than usual and that the temperature gauge was much hotter than usual. We checked for water coming out of the exhaust (as it should) and there was none there. Oh dear! We stopped before we could do more damage as running oin no cooling water is a potential huge problem if the engine overheats.
There was nowhere to tie up to so we stopped by some reeds and surveyed the situation. We had'nt gone far so we decided to return but we couldn't use the engine. Fortunately a knight in shiny armour came along in the form of a Dutch boat heading back the way we came. They gave us a tow and soon we were tied up alongside. The harbour master came on board and we checked the water pump impeller which was what we expected the problem was. But that was fine. We mentioned that we had checked the weed filter the night before and we quickly realised that there was an air lock in the system. A bit of water to prime the system and off we went again, shaken but not too stirred.

3 hours later the majestic turrets of the Schloss at Schwerin emerged from the sides of the huge Schweriner See, the third biggest lake in Germany. We tied up and attempted to get electricity using our extension cable which we hadn't done before. Nothing would make it work. Eventually the problem was tracked down (Actually three different problems that all needed to be rectified) and we could relax after a more than average harrowing day.
The next day was Wendy's birthday. So after a late breakfast we headed to the schloss and bought our tickets for the audio tour of the royal apartments. The Grand Dukes of Mecklenburg-Schwerin have lived here since 1140. They fell into disrepair during the time of the GDR and are now only slowly being restored to their great glory. This is true of much of the old 'East Germany' or GDR as it was called (German Democratic Republic). Many buildings that were badly bombed in WWII were in West Germany restored to their former appearance, but in the GDR, they were normally just cleared away and concrete monstrosities built to replace them in keeping with the GDR philosophy of not romanticizing the past and keeping things cheap and functional.

After visiting the Schloss we has lunch in the old town and visited the 12c Dom (Cathedral) and the old remaining buildings in the Old Town. In the evening we celebrated Wendy's birthday with a lovely dinner in town at two restaurants and watching the sun set from the boat when we got back.

The weather this week has been poor. Cloudy in the morning and showers (frequently very heavy) in the afternoon. It has improved a bit now but still a lot of cloud. It always seems to pour down when we wanted to tie up and had to go outside.

After spending three days at Schwerin on Saturday we left to head back to Berlin and more adventures. This will take some three weeks and twe will visit many of the towns that we missed on the way up.

The Muritz See

Lakes and more lakes this week. We passed through a dozen or so, some large and some small and eventually reached the southern edge of the Muritzsee and stayed at place called Rechlin. It turned out to be the most expensive we have stayed in any marina, costing 18 euros or NZD36 for a night. They had the audacity to charge us a euro for rubbish disposal (which had never been done before) and when we said no thanks we don't have any, they said all boats have to pay it.

The weather next day was perfect for the first part of our crossing of the Muritzsee - Northerly Force 1. There was hardly any wind at all as we headed out into the open waters of the lake towards a lovely harbour on the west bank called Robel. It has beautiful scandinavian style thatched boat houses on stilts around the inner harbour. We anchored there for the night and watched the constant succession of boats going in and out of the narrow harbour entrance.

Next morning the wind has picked up to an Easterly Force 3 but it was no problem and we made good time to finish the crossing of the Muritz See arriving early afternoon in Waren. This is the best town and the prettiest town in the area and very popular. All berths had gone by mid afternoon and there was a constant stream of boats coming in, looking around and then going elsewhere. Waren is like a mediterannean seaside town. Lovely pinks and oranges, cobbled streets and a very nautical town with lots of restaurants and eiscafes around the edge. We stayed two nights there and ate out the second night in a charming restaurant on the edge of the harbour. First fish for a while – local zander whatever that is caught in the Muritz See. It was very hot in Waren. At one point the temperature in the cockpit was 39c and slightly cooler at 35c inside the boat.

On Friday morning we left Waren and headed through a narrow canal and entered a chain of very large lakes culminating in the Plauer See where we are now. Having followed the Havel River most of the way up here from Berlin, we are now following the Elde river towards our turning point at Schwerin where we will be later this week. We have been moored in a quiet spot for a couple of days soaking in the sun. The weather has been great this week but its looks a bit unsettled for the coming week. The lakes are very clear and unpolluted which is great and surprisingly warm too. There are many boats out and about now, and lots of hire boats but there is enough room for everyone. Especially busy in the weekends which we try and stay put for. All in all boating heaven on earth.