This year’s adage is, ‘Take it easy!’ With that in mind, it was a slow relaxed start to the first day of our 2017 cruising year. On the advice of our friend, Ollie, heading north for 7km brought us to the Havel Kanal junction, where Bob turned Gratis left. How right our German friend was. […]
We depart for Holland in a short time.
We are still in Spandau, but that has given me a little more time to work out the details for the trip and ready more images. A bit tricky, as the internet data we purchase seems to disappear as quickly as a ‘click of the fingers’. Here is one for South Australians. In Meiningen, you […]
The old bikes were tossed. After receiving a dousing on the way to Gruissan, France, in 2015 they didn’t fare so well. As we intend to partake in numerous cycling trips over the coming months, the last few days had us walking the east side of Berlin in search for cheap second hand bikes. Taking time […]
Back to the oiling today, whilst Bob gets back finishing annual maintenance on the engine – one of his favourite jobs. In an aside, spring is truly here. At times the water and air is awash in white as seeds float upon the breeze from nearby trees. With each day that passes, an increasing variety […]
At last the readying of the engine is complete. Big Bertha is ready to roll! A flock of Egyptian geese have commenced paddling up the channel around 8:30 every morning, the lead male honking all the while, and the swans have returned with their days’ old cygnet. I had an interesting experience whilst doing the oiling today. The […]
It’s all happening. Bob readied the decks today. They have never looked so tidy!!!!! A big grin as he finishes. Now I can commence oiling the bowsprit. Skyline behind: a massive set of apartments going up. There is always something happening around Marina West. The ducks provide some good laughs. This fella was not at […]
Today Bob and I continued our journey through northern Thuringia. First stop, though, was the church. Mirror image, the outside was a little different to the norm. A quick snapshot of some slate covered buildings. Sighting three spires, a snap decision to make a stop in Bad Langensalza was made. This was a town of crooked rooves. […]
The coming week will see Bob and I journey by car to the Thuringianwald. This, our first day, took us to Halle (Saale). Situated on the Saale River, it was a town steeped in history. Arriving on the outskirts of the Alt Stadt, Bob and I exited the car, where upon our ears were […]
The 2017 season in Gratis will soon be underway for us. Connected to the tractor in preparation. Bob keeping an eye out as the crane is readied. Up she goes and the last of the supports is removed. Out over the water goes Gratis. Down she goes. Fully down.
Bob spent the day in the engine room readying Big Bertha. For me, it was scrubbing the cabin top and sides. It’s amazing how much grime collects on surfaces. Big G is set to return to the water tomorrow.
Preparations for placing the ‘Running G’ rig into winter storage are underway. We depart for Berlin at the unimaginable hour of 2am Monday morning. OUCH!!!!!
Well, here it is! With the aid of books by Tom Sommers (http://eurocanals.com/), the initial route planning options for our 2017 tour through northern Germany and the Netherlands is completed. By Car: Mecklenburg Lakes in first Gratis, then Little G2 Canal River Route Take 2 through the Netherlands. Take 3 Distances.
From Mittelland Kanal to Havel Canal through lake district to Potsdam in August, then Potsdam to Zehdenick, September. Car journeys Nancy, France to Germany, Austria, Switzerland and return Potsdam, Germany to Poland and Return
Preparing this year’s route from Spandau, Germany to Basel, Switzerland. We thought the mapping for last year was a bit tricky. Working out the best route through Holland and Belgium is even more difficult! It turns out, the shortest route is heading upstream via mostly rivers. Hmmmmmmm!!!!!!!! Maybe not the fastest after all. Need to […]
Brrrrr!!!!!! It’s freezing here in Berlin! Gratis has been winterised and is awaiting a lift from the water. We in the meantime are awaiting at Tegel Airport for our flight to Hong Kong. The 2016 journey has come to a close. Image: Sunset at Lehnitz
This morning saw Gratis make her last trip of the season as we took her to her winter mooring in Spandau in glorious weather. All that remains to do is the final cleaning, winterising the engine and packing for the trip to Oz.
