The summer of 2018 wantedNo end in the north either take. Even at the beginning of October, it was still pleasantly warm. The first harbingers of autumn could only be seen on the damp upper deck of our boat early in the morning. We are in Plau am See, more precisely in the "fishing harbour by the lighthouse" in the Yacht charter Schulz hiswesternmost charter base operates. Twelve boats from 10.20 to 12.20 metres in length are available here in 2019.
A real "experience harbour", by the way, which invites you to enjoy local specialities from "A" like eel to "Z" like pike-perch in its fisherman's yard.
It also attracts with itsLighthouse and observation tower at the top of the dam between the harbour and the Elde River attracts tourists in droves. However, anyone expecting a traditional fishing harbour is completely wrong. We are talking abouta modern marina with water, electricity and comfortable sanitary facilities. On the north side of the harbour is a chic holiday home development, which is marketed with the slogan "Closer to the fish - holiday flats right on the water".
Since bunkering is always the first step when chartering, it should be noted thatthree discounters and a supermarketjust one kilometre from the harbour at the B 103/B 191 junction: what more could you want?
After bunkering, there is little point in going on the route. As we learn from base manager Wolfgang Fritz, the Bobzin lock, 18 kilometres west of Plau, is undergoing maintenance work and only locks twice a day, at 12 noon and 3 pm.So we stay in Plau For our evening fish supper, we take a look at the fisherman's house 600 metres from the harbour, in front of which there are also moorings on the long side "An der Metow".
Engine on, cast off: off to the Metow! But we didn't count on the landlord:It's packed,and so we move to the Plau waterway rest area, which is located opposite the promenade below the B 103 road bridge. The harbour facilities include water and electricity connections, sanitary facilities and a suction station. Cross the bridge to the other bank and after 300 metres you will reach the fisherman's house.
18 kilometres to Bobzin, plus a lift bridge and two locks: that's at least three hours' travel time. So the next morning, shortly before 9 a.m., we are at the registration point for the lift bridge, which is located at the harbour exit on the south bank of the Elde, directly below the road bridge. A small cabin cruiser is already in position.
At 9 o'clock on the dot, the alarm bell sounds at the lift bridge, barriers block traffic on both sides of the access road to the bridge, which is only 13 metres long, and the road, including the small wheelhouse, begins its breathtakingly slow journey upwards. Built in 1916, renovated in 1991/92 and equipped with new drive technology and remote control in 2000, the steel"blue wonders" an important technical monument of the city and indispensable for us pleasure boaters to pass through this bottleneck:
Only 2.50 metres above the waterline when closed, the bridge can be raised up to 1.86 metres, allowing boats up to 4.36 metres high to travel on the Müritz-Elde waterway.
When it opens, the next lock, Plau, is also ready and waiting for us to continue our journey westwards. On this trip, Plau is not the "Gateway to the Lake District" this time, but the gateway to the Müritz-Elde and Stör waterways, which will take us over 90 kilometres to Schwerin. Together with the cabin cruiser, we will continue down to the valley through the Barkow lock at 10 a.m. in self-service mode.
Five kilometres below Barkow, we then pass the Kuppentin water hiking rest area, a campsite with a jetty that is known in the region among pleasure boaters as the"Bermuda Triangle" and where not only the water boils in the high season! But now, at the beginning of September, despite the good weather, there are no more boats on the paved shore and the place makes a closed impression.
At 11.30 a.m. we reach the Bobzin lock at kilometre 104: we were probably a bit too fast after all: 18 kilometres in 2.5 hours is not compatible with a maximum permitted speed of six kilometres per hour. But nobody cares. The electronic display at the lock signals "maintenance operation",which for us means: waiting!
The chamber only releases us at 1 p.m. after an astonishing 6.80 metres downstream. There is no greater lift at the MEW!
Below the lock and far beyond the small town of Lübz, the waterway is unspoilt. Wide belts of reeds and reed beds, some of which reach right up to the fairway, give it the character of an unregulated river. Only the current is missing.
Below the town of Lübz, spherical bell sounds suddenly reach our ears. There is no doubt that they come from the reeds near the shore, sometimes as a single bright tone, sometimes as a polyphonic bell sound. It is as if a loudspeaker system is hidden in the reeds, trying to encourage us to linger in the small town of Lübz with this sound. Only on the way back will the harbour master of Lübz reveal the solution to the riddle ...
The slow chugging remains relaxed, and the view sweeps over meadows, stretches of forest and withered fields, whose harvest fell victim to the drought this year. The Elde carries us in wide loops through sun-baked countryside from Lübz to Parchim. Below the Neuburg lock (km 83), the southern bank becomes hilly and, west of Slate, reaches the most hilly area in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.astonishing height of 108.80 metres above sea level. Fifty kilometres and five locks on the first day of the trip: a lot of wood! But if things go well and the weather is right, eight hours on the water can be a lot of fun.
The buoyed entrance to the "Fischerdamm" waterway rest area in Parchim is a little tricky: the old Elde arm, where the harbour is located, runs parallel to the MEW, which is why we are not "in" at this junction, but still "out". So the red buoys have to stay to starboard. This is the only way to avoid the shallow water on the south bank of the junction. About 600 metres behind the entrance, the paved bank begins on starboard, which offers perfect moorings alongside in a slight right-hand bend over 175 metres. The further you sail into the oxbow lake, the closer you are to the sanitary facilities and, of course, the town. There are water and electricity machines on the shore and shower tokens at the toilet block.
The harbour master comes by in the early evening and collects 13 euros in harbour dues for our 11.50 m boat. We are and will remain the guest boat today. "Where are you going?" he asks us. "To Schwerin!" - "Oh, that could be difficult! The Stör Canal has no more water above Banzkow lock as far as the lake. Have a look at 'ELWIS'." And indeed: "The Stör Canal above the Banzkow lock may only be navigated with a maximum draught of one metre."
An anxious look at the boat papers: draught: 1.00 m. So we'll give it a go. But we don't let this bad news spoil our visit to Parchim. The old town centre around the historic "Schuhmarkt" and "Alter Markt" is just a ten-minute walk up a gentle hill. Brick and half-timbered buildings everywhere. TheGothic town hall from the 14th centurythe even older parish church of St Georgen, but also the building of the former imperial post office are stone witnesses to the town's former prosperity.
Count Helmuth von Moltke, Prussian Field Marshal General, who was born in Parchim in 1800, is one of the historically significant figures in the town's more recent history. His birthplace at Lange Straße 28 can be visited.
After so much history, thephysical well-being should not be missing. Two tips: The Restaurant Viete in the former post office, Schuhmarkt 5 ( www.postamt-parchim.de ) and the Stadtkrug, Apothekenstraße 11 ( www.stadtkrug-parchim.de ).
A three-hour journey from Parchim to the Elde-Dreieck, the junction with the Stör Canal: This will take us to Lake Schwerin. The route goes "dead straight" for ten kilometres. There used to be huge poplars along the towpath, but they have long since been felled. What remains are gnarled oaks and loose mixed forest. Boredom sets in. The striking footbridge at kilometre 6.8 is a real excitement.
A fewDinghy cruiser come towards us with their masts down, probably returning from a weekend regatta on Lake Schwerin. The fact that there are no larger motor yachts doesn't improve our mood.
After an hour and a half, the Banzkow lock lies ahead of us. As soon as we've tied up to the chamber wall, the lock keeper comes and asks: "How much draught?" - "One metre." - "And how long do you want to stay in Schwerin?" - "One or two days," I say. He warns: "Oh, oh, less water every day!" - "We want to try anyway." - "As you wish," he replies, "but without a guarantee from the waterway authorities."
After 400 metres of hesitant driving, we are stuck in the soft mud. That's it for Schwerin and the castle! At least we manage to get the boat afloat again without any help and sneak back: "We couldn't!" we confess to the lock master, who makes no bones about it: "Well, that's how it is..."
Travelling through the Stör Canal twice in one day is a tough test of concentration. Fortunately, the port of Matzlow-Garwitz (MEW-km 60.5) is only five kilometres east of the Eldedreieck, and so our unplanned destination for the day is reached after 15 kilometres ( www.hafen-matzlow-garwitz.de ).
The harbour is located in a sheltered bay away from the canal and offers 50 berths, 35 of which are for guests. There are water and electricity connections on the solid floating pontoons with side jetties; in the sanitary building there are showers and toilets as well as a washing machine and tumble dryer. Next to the petrol and diesel filling station is a sewage extraction system. There is also a morning bread roll service, bike hire and engine service. We pay 18 euros for the night. Incidentally, there is a public outdoor pool around 400 metres from the harbour next to the Garwitz lock.
In passing, harbour manager Hans Ahrendt explains that the season was a nightmare for him: "The Elbe was without water early on this time, and not a single boat came up the Elde from Dömitz. And now Lake Schwerin too ..." So it's no wonder that only one other guest berth is occupied today. Matzlow-Garwitz is not the centre of the world.
When an honourable resident celebrates his eightieth birthday, the"Restaurant to the lock" closed in the evening because there was a big party during the day. And so we have a snack on board in the evening. Because we enjoyed our first visit so much, we moor up in Parchim again the next day and enjoy another stroll through the old town.
We are eager to get to Lübz, especially to see whether the spherical sound of the bells that amazed us so much on the way there will greet us again. And indeed! The bells and chimes ring out again from the reeds. And so we ask the harbour master in the city harbour whether he knows this sound and where it comes from. "Of course," he says and smiles, "it's the empty bells that the anglers have thrown into the water. They get caught in the reeds and hit each other in the waves caused by the boats." I would never have dreamed of that!
The Lübz town marina is located in an oxbow lake of the River Elde away from the main canal. The narrow access road is easy to overlook. The harbour offers guest berths with water and electricity, showers, WC, waste disposal station, washing machine and tumble dryer. The nearby town centre with shopping facilities is just over 300 metres away.
The Old Office Tower is not only theLandmark of the citybut also the name of a highly recommended restaurant. And don't be surprised if the building looks somehow familiar: it adorns the label and crown cap of every bottle containing the town's most famous drink: Lübzer Pils.
Four more locks and 20 kilometres of canal back to Plau. Before we finally moor in our home harbour, we use the jetty on Strandstraße between the lock and the lift bridge for a stopover: it is only a few steps from here to the old town with its beautiful half-timbered houses and Plau Castle with a small museum of local history.
Even though the title promised "Eight locks to the castle" and for well-known reasons nothing came of the castle even after 16 locks, the positive conclusion remains:
A late summer cruise could hardly be more relaxing than on the Elde - even without a castle.
