Bounded by the Baltic in the North, the Oder in the East, the Elbe in the West, the lower Havel in the South West and the Spree-Oder Canal in the South East, this region is probably one of the largest cruising areas in Europe. Plenty of motor yachts and sailing yachts to see. Well over 2,700 km of interconnected lakes, rivers and canals form an inexhaustible, dense network of navigable waterways of differing sizes. These waters are excellent for discovering on a motoryacht.
The cruising route is lined with big cities such as Berlin and Hamburg, as well as medium-sized towns such as Lübeck, Rostock, Stettin, Oranienburg, Potsdam, Brandenburg and Magdeburg. Art lovers seeking cultural diversity will feel right at home here. Take Potsdam as an example, where the influence of the Dutch and Russian colonies is particularly in evidence, even today. If you are interested in history, you need only follow in the tracks of Humbolt or “Old Fritz” (Frederick the Great) to Sanssouci palace. This has continued into most recent German history, as witness the Potsdam Conference in Cecilienhof Palace or Templin, the municipality in which the current German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, was married.
Those interested in literature are warmly invited to visit Theodor Fontane or Kurt Tucholsky. But it’s not only these luminaries of German literature who can be found here.
Museums, art galleries and major collections give way to small art studios, so that you can for example watch an artisan blacksmith or string instrument maker at work in the citadel in Spandau. There are also many aspects of regional history, which children and young people in particular find especially different and interesting. Examples include the inland waterway museum in Zehdenick and the Ziegeleipark industrial museum in Mildenberg.
Now 80 years old, the Niederfinow boat lift is a special technical miracle of German engineering and has to be experienced.
By contrast, you will find large expanses of unspoilt nature, where you can see herons, cormorants, ospreys, cranes, storks, ducks and great crested grebes, as well as kingfishers, in their natural habitat. Besides the large number of birds, you may also catch sight of rarer animals, such as beavers, otters, muskrats, bison, frogs, etc. Also worth a visit, especially for children and young people, is the Müritzeum in Waren, an excellent visitor centre featuring native fauna and flora.
You can go for a dip or while away the time in dreamlike, tranquil anchorages. The canals and rivers are lined by a variety of small towns, where you can stroll, shop and stop off for a while. An impressive range of restaurants have become established in this area, which treat customers with local dishes. Of course, Berlin also offers a wide diversity of cultural, historical and natural features.
We set forth in our Linssen yacht from this fantastic landscape to explore new shores. We had investigated the Lake District after many years and the same applied to Berlin. We now wanted to test Category B on our Linssen 43.9AC “La Cabaña and visit the Baltic. We covered the route from Zehdenick along the Mälzer canal and the Voss canal to Berlin in a few hours and then headed east to the boat lift. We found a nice spot at Marienwerder Marina with Sabine and Lutz Biller when Lutz probably wanted to see whether the crew of La Cabaña could actually control the boat and allocated us a very nice spot right at the back corner. He then watched the manoeuvre very closely with a benevolent eye. As he didn’t say anything more, we think he was probably happy. We also thought that we had performed our task well. So we treated ourselves at the marina’s bistro. After a wonderfully peaceful night and a hearty breakfast on board, we set off for the boat lift. The passage was uncomplicated but, as so often, a great experience. We shared the lock with two passenger vessels, which didn’t cause any problems in the large basin. The temperature had risen mercilessly and it felt like 40°C under the tarpaulin, but we couldn’t escape it in the scorching sun. So we opened all the windows we could and we stepped on the gas to produce an air flow. In Oderberg that evening, the neighbours must have thought us a strange crew as we were all below deck in the saloon. Of course, they couldn’t have known that we had an excellent air-conditioning system down there. This cooled the two cabins as well as the saloon, which was very important in ensuring a refreshing sleep. A number of bigger vessels were moored with us in Oderberg, all of which - except one - gradually sailed out the following morning. Finally, we were ready, with the water tank full and batteries charged, everything OK. Temperatures promised to be high that day as well.
The water level reports for the Oder were giving rise to concern in the dry summer, which is why we decided to use the Hohensaartener-Friedrichtaler canal. Considering it’s a canal, the journey is surprisingly attractive. There are low embankments to the right and left of the canal, which allow a view of the countryside beyond, with the floodplains of the Oder on the east side and farmland and forest on the west side.
There we discovered large tobacco plantations, which surprised us a lot, a little industry, both old and new, and small but inviting villages. Our destination was Schwedt, which we reached in about four hours. On offer were a small sport marina, which was not deep enough for us, and a bigger pleasure craft marina, which provided a fine mooring. It was any easy choice. This marina was another surprise. It was really well cared-for and housed ultra-clean toilets and showers in an architecturally humorous building and had another nice bistro with a very pleasant all-rounder in charge. Besides the bistro, she was also responsible for the caravan park, the marina, selling shower coins, etc. She was cheerful and helpful despite being very busy. The usual, informative talk on the landing with Oder travellers did provide us with some information which we were able to use later in our trip. However, my desire to obtain a Polish flag as the host country flag remained unfulfilled. We again had to cool the boat to a level that allowed comfortable sleep.
After a delicious dinner and a glass of good red wine, we were ready for bed.