Something has woken Jan up - maybe a jumping fish next to the boat, maybe a bird on land. But now it is quiet again, no sound penetrates. A sleepy glance at the clock tells him that it's only just after five in the morning. Our little cabin is still in deep shadow, but he squints out through the open companionway into the cockpit: a bright light blinds him - the sun is rising!
So he gets out of his sleeping bag and rolls off the bunk. Cold dew drips down his neck as he opens the tarpaulin and flips it aside. The sun has just risen above the trees on the eastern shore of Lake Woblitz and covers the landscape with a glistening gold colour. Reeds and gillnets rise up from the translucent veils of smoke hovering over the water.
The Wesenberg water hiking rest area lies in deep calm. There is no one on the two large charter houseboats, and even the tent of the sporty kayak family next to the jetty is still quiet. No wonder at such an early hour! But Jan is wide awake by now, he thinks we have to make the most of this unique atmosphere. We can also sleep when it rains again and have breakfast at anchor on the lake. We'll have to toast our toast in a pan on the gas cooker, but it will taste all the better!
So I am woken up immediately. Although the temptations of nature at such an ungodly hour don't immediately win me over, a quarter of an hour later we are chugging almost silently out onto the open lake with a few revolutions and the summery morning panorama of Mecklenburg unfolds before us in all its splendour, I can only nod happily with my face in the balmy breeze. On the road again, everything done right!
Water hiking is not a hobby where you have to limit yourself to toned upper arms or the power of the wind. Who says that a motor is taboo? The smaller the boat, the closer you are to the water and to nature. That alone is the decisive factor. Regardless of whether you're travelling by canoe, dinghy cruiser or cabin cruiser. Here's our little test: if you're sitting comfortably on the back seat in the cockpit and can dip your fingertips in with your outstretched arm outboard, you're definitely close enough.
When hiking, the route takes centre stage, even if there is nothing to stop you from looking forward to the day's destination. A lot of power at (or in) the rear is hardly required. A manageable amount of horsepower (with a correspondingly relaxed travelling speed) even has several advantages: The noise level remains low, the next visit to the petrol station becomes a distant memory and nerves are spared - not least because the possibility of painfully costly speeding is considerably reduced and "tunnel vision" only occurs in sections of canals and rivers completely covered by trees.
In this respect, we are even "licence-free": a Suzuki long-shaft outboard motor with just 15 hp hangs from the transom of our SBM 680, which is just under 7.50 metres long. And for engines up to this power limit, you no longer need a sports boat licence. The perfect combination for beginners to get a taste for it.
Although we're no longer that new to it, we still have to get used to the fact that we can not only barely hear our engine when looking astern, but also almost can't see it. It was no different for a seasoned holiday captain (with a white, gold-trimmed cap) right at the beginning in Waren: from the high bridge of his ship-like steel displacer, he only had to turn an "eagle eye" towards us to be able to tell his crew the next moment that there were "more and more electric boats".
We will be on the road for a total of ten days, covering 236 kilometres on the Müritz and Mecklenburg Kleinseenplatte. The weather? Very mixed. Right at the beginning there was a lot of rain. After a blood-red sunset in Röbel, a rough north-westerly pushed us across the grey, undulating Müritz - the boat lurched along its course. The rain pattered above, pots and bottles rattled and clinked below.
Fortunately, the latter remained intact, and so we were able to treat ourselves to a nice sip on the Zotzensee in the evening after the wind had almost fallen asleep. Meanwhile, our anchor light, rigged on the boat hook due to the lack of a mast, shone just as peacefully and contentedly into the night. Heat followed, with "forced" swimming stops at every other opportunity, fresh zander and smoked eel then directly at the jetty in Flecken Zechlin.
North of Priepert, we were caught in a deep black wall of cloud with squalls of rain that were more reminiscent of the Amazon and Orinoco than the Upper Havel. But the spook disappeared as quickly as it had arrived and said goodbye with a rainbow of brilliant colours. Our little boat took us to Wesenberg and its castle, whose keep has actually towered over the surrounding countryside since the Middle Ages. The stone defence structure looks rather plain. The lights of the rustic harbour bar in the shadow of its walls are all the more inviting: stew of the day at the bar, beer on tap and then a good night's sleep!
In the meantime, we have crossed Lake Woblitz on a north-easterly course, cleared up, ventilated below deck and put on water for the coffee - even if you have to hold the saucepan on the flame during the journey. Better safe than sorry! As we set off so early, we now have plenty of time for a nice "breakfast detour": instead of continuing straight away along the Kammerkanal towards Neustrelitz, we turn eastwards onto the Quassower Havel. The banks are lush green, and the shining white stars of the water lily blossoms cover the water on both sides of our bow.
At the rear, the 15cc engine purrs its song at medium speed, which is perfectly adequate for the permitted nine kilometres per hour. Even 12 km/h is still easily possible if you need more throttle - for example when overtaking paddlers and hire rafts. Even manoeuvring in harbours and locks still works well with a boat of our size, at least much better than we had hoped before the start of the trip. Although the power reserve is clearly limited at the top, we have no real problems on the comparatively sheltered waters of Mecklenburg, even in windy conditions, with the necessary caution and care.
This will not change on the second part of the journey. Our visit to the royal seat of Neustrelitz, which lost its castle during the war but not its magnificent gardens, marks the turning point of our trip. Afterwards, we will "hike" back to Waren without any hurry.
But now it's time for breakfast: we have reached the Großer Labussee, and in its southern section the "hook" goes overboard at a water depth of two metres. Engine off, silence. An osprey high above is probably as hungry as we are and looks down enviously: Toast Hawaii from the pan, delicious down to the last crumb. Flat screen TV and duvets? We stretch out on deck under the summer sky, close our eyes - and then we're off ...
