100 years ago: An adventurous summer – aboard the “Ingeborg 3”. Down the River Havel to Berlin

The report in which the “Schiffer Sala” (with the proud designations M.Y.C.v.D.-C.M.Y.-St.Y.C.-Kr.-Abt. d. D.S. Vb.) An account of the adventures of the “Ingeborg 3” in the summer of 1926 appeared in our sister magazine, YACHT, that very same year. We are reprinting it here in its original form, with the spelling as it was at the time. A glance at the archives reveals that some things were different 100 years ago – but many others were not. In the fourth part, the Backdecker follows the Lower Havel to Berlin – though not without a few mishaps.

​Text: Schiffer Sala – M.Y.C.v.D.-C.M.Y.-St.Y.C.-Kr. Branch of the D.S. Vb.

• Part 1 of the journey can be found here.
• ​Part 2 of the journey can be found here.
• You can find Part 3 of the journey here.

Fate strikes

It was not until midday on Easter Sunday that the rising tide carried us out of Havelberg harbour, and we continued at full speed. Whilst the guide posts had almost always protected us from running aground during our journey up the Elbe, they now came to an end, and we ran aground so firmly that we did not think we could get clear of the shallows without the help of a tugboat.

As it later transpired, the propeller had been damaged and, to make matters worse, had become entangled in a steel cable 5 metres long and 18 to 20 millimetres in diameter, which had probably been left there as a memento of a previous stranding.

With great force over the shallows

Since there was nothing left to lose, there was no dinghy on board for landing, and the prospect of assistance from a tug was slim, the engine had to do the job. After an hour’s effort using the leeward side and poles, the indestructible power of the engine, combined with the first-class, never-failing clutch, pushed the boat – weighing almost 10 tonnes – over the shallows in forward gear, despite the towline caught in the propeller – and, securely moored, we arrived half an hour later, after a most cautious journey, in the old, very interesting town of Havelberg.

A frozen deck in the morning

As maternal and domestic duties were calling her home, the owner left us here, as did the helmsman’s guest for work reasons, leaving the two owners to make up the rest of the crew, along with a friend who, in the meantime, had acquired valuable skills as a boatswain and dishwasher.

The next day found us out on the completely frozen deck at dawn. There was an incredible fog, which, fortunately, lay so low that the rooftops and treetops remained visible. We cast off and continued upstream at the slowest possible speed. The only way to make out the course was by the tree tops faintly visible to the side, and so we made our way forward slowly.

In the middle of nowhere

Even as the air cleared, we were none the better for it, for we found ourselves in a vast floodplain from which only trees and bushes were visible, without, however, the bed of the Havel becoming discernible.

After hours of feeling our way, the kilometre markers finally came into view, so we were able to pick up the pace a little. However, it soon became clear that even at full throttle it was impossible to go any faster, and that the propeller would first have to undergo a thorough inspection.

The wire has to go

The water was freezing cold and therefore unsuitable for diving, so the wire sling had to be removed by turning the propeller forwards and backwards from inside the boat and using the boat hook from outside. It was a laborious task, which, fortunately, was successfully completed thanks to previous experience and caused a delay of just over half an hour.

At last – Berlin!

We then continued at a brisk pace to Brandenburg, where we moored at the Havelterrassen restaurant. As it was still early in the season, the floating jetty had not yet been put in place, so we had to moor directly against the building’s walls. Who can describe the horrified expressions on the faces of the skittles players when the windows of the skittles alley were opened from the outside and the ghostly sailors made use of this unusual entrance to the restaurant?

We arrived here five minutes after the locks closed, so it was not until the following day that we reached our mooring at the M.Y.C.v.D. in Wannsee, via Werder and Potsdam.

• ​Part 1 of the journey can be found here.
• Part 2 of the journey can be found here.
• You can find Part 3 of the journey here.

Part five is coming soon!