Theo, the harbour master, stands in front of the "Späte Liebe" and shakes his head in disbelief. "What are you doing?" he asks Sven. He gasps, one hand hanging from the railing and one leg in the air: "I can't get on the boat! It's too high." Theo can't believe it. "You've got access from the side and you're on a finger jetty. So why don't you just get on the centre of the boat instead of doing pull-ups on the bow?" Sven obviously doesn't understand what Theo means. A finger jetty, what's that supposed to be?
Theo, who is now starting to get a bit fed up, spares himself the explanation. Without a word, he grabs Sven by the legs and pushes him up along the hull until he can support himself on the wieling with both knees. From there, he manages to climb over the railing and aboard the Linssen Classic Sturdy on his own.
"Where's your wife? Oh, there she is. Hello," Anni, who is pulling a harbour trolley behind her, is now greeted by Theo. She beams at him: "We're so excited now that the boat is on the water!"
"In the water," Theo improves.
"Ah, okay. We haven't got the water language down yet," says Anni cheerfully. "That will come with time, I'm sure. And I'm sure everyone here is nice and helpful. If I ..."
The first jetty neighbours
"Hellouuuuuu!" is the prompt sound from the end of the jetty. A blonde-haired woman comes, no, prances over. "Uuuuuuuh, you're the new ones, aren't you? So nice. I've already told Schnupsi, Schnupsi, I said they're from Berlin and he's supposed to be a dentist. That's wonderful, in case someone's tooth falls out, the nice dentist is there and anything will be fine."
"I didn't really want to ... in my free time," Sven begins, but doesn't have a chance. "Why don't you come and have a drink with us on our boat later? We own the 'Windhexe' over there, you see, over there, the motorboat." Anni is about to interject that there are motorboats everywhere, but her neighbour on the jetty waves her off: "I will show you. Just call for me, okay?"
"Yes, I'd love to, and what's your name?" Anni holds out her hand. "I'm Anni." - "I know that until weeks," cheers the blonde. "I'm Wochenändi - because of the weekend! Anni looks at her uncomprehendingly. "Her name is actually Andrea," Anni and Sven are told by Theo. "And she was recently in London for a weekend and can't get to grips with the German language any more." - "Sure, it's not always easy," warbles Wochenändi. "So, come and join Schnupsi and me at the 'Hexe' for a sundowner. See you there!" She skips off.
A loop on the bollard
The harbour master reassures the two newcomers: "Don't worry, not everyone here is like that. Just some of them." He wants to add something else, but his gaze falls on the bollard. "What's that?" he rumbles off. Sven's face turns red. "I was supposed to tie the boat to it when you brought it to the berth here."
Theo gasps for breath. "But not with a bow! A mooring line like that should be tied up properly!" Sven again doesn't understand a word, so the harbour master takes action himself. Then he waddles off in his overalls.
"How long are you going to leave me standing there, come on!" complains Sven, and it annoys him that Anni goes straight to the hatch at the side. She climbs over onto the boat with ease. "Here," she presses two full bags into Sven's hand. "We have to empty the barrow, then make the beds and everything."
"Hellouuuuuu! There you are. Schnupsi, have a look at Anni and Sven, they're our new dock neighbours." Schnupsi waves to them. He is two metres tall and wears a T-shirt that says "Before you ask: No!". Wochenändi pushes her guests in front of her. "I've invited a few others, it's going to be a nice round. These are Siegfried and Wanda, they have a converted cutter, and here are Bea and Stefan, we've been lying next to them for so long. Hihihi. And this is Lenni, the son."
Need for action!
Anni nods to the group with a smile. "We already know Lenni." He asks seriously: "Have you painted the underwater hull?" That's right, he told them that in winter. "Er, no," Anni has to admit. "Have you thought about the rust?" Lenni asks again. "Er, no."
The ten-year-old doesn't let up: "When a boat rusts, it's a progressive corrosion process that jeopardises the structural integrity of the vessel and, in the worst case, can lead to it sinking. Rust, or iron oxide, occurs when steel or iron reacts with oxygen and water, especially salt water. Although we don't have salt water here on the Müritz, we do have water. This means that there is a fundamental need for action!"
Anni and Sven look at Lenni. Everyone else looks at Anni and Sven. Then Bea says: "How nice that you're here! Everything will work out. And now let's have a glass of rum and coke and look forward to the season."
"Exactly," says Stefan and looks at Sven. "And you're a dentist?" Sven nods. "I ..." Wochenändi cheers. "I thought you could do dental cleanings here, right? Then that's done."
Sven looks at her with wide eyes: "Well, I ..." He doesn't get any further, Siegfried interrupts him: "I need to have a molar crowned. Can you give me a percentage? We help each other in the community. I could look after your engine in return."
"Oh, it's lovely!" cheers his wife Wanda. "One hand washes the other." She raises her glass. "To our health! And welcome to our beautiful harbour!" And Wochenändi cheers: "There's a harbour party next weekend to open the season, so you can really get to know everyone!" To Sven's ears, that sounds like a threat. "Here's to Hedy," says Siegfried.
Hedy was the aunt from whom Anni inherited "Late Love". "Let's hope she wasn't right about everything!" continues Siegfried. "What do you mean?" asks Sven in consternation. "Well, she always said that Anni's husband is a real wimp. He's just moaning and even ran away from a toad once," explains Siegfried. Sven says angrily: "It was a frog!"
Suddenly the loudspeakers on the jetties crackle. "Attention," Theo's voice can be heard throughout the harbour. "From tomorrow, there will be an emergency dental service on the 'Späte Liebe' on a trial basis. Because of all the enquiries." Wanda beams at Sven: "That kind of thing goes round here like wildfire. As soon as you think something, everyone knows about it."
For the first time, Sven thinks about whether he shouldn't be a wimp and go straight home.
To be continued
About the author: Steffi von Wolff
The journalist and author lives and works in Hamburg. In summer, she loves to spend her weekends on the Baltic Sea.
"There is magic in every beginning", Hermann Hesse once wrote. Sometimes such a beginning comes unexpectedly. As in Steffi von Wolff's story about a married couple, which starts here and which she will continue in future issues. It is a fictional story, written in Steffi von Wolff's typical glossy style, as we know it from her books. "Whispers on board" and "Harbour cinema" knows. And yet, despite some exaggerations or even seemingly hair-raising anecdotes, it tells of events that could perhaps not be written in exactly the same way, but in a very similar way. "Only those who are ready to set out and travel may escape paralysing habituation," Hesse continues in his famous poem. For von Wolff's protagonist Anni and her husband Sven, this is exactly what it's all about. Their new travelling companion is - how could it be otherwise - a motorboat.
