Even in the towns, if you can call them towns at all, things are cosy: Ueckermünde, Usedom, Anklam, Loitz, Demmin, Malchin ... Even in the high season, no-one is put off their stride here. The typical Pomeranian serenity is omnipresent. And the flat countryside between the small and larger settlements is largely characterised by nature, where foxes and hares still say goodnight to each other. If you are looking for peace and quiet and want to unwind, you will certainly find it relaxing here.
The exception on this trip is Szczecin. The seventh largest city in Poland with more than 400,000 inhabitants is lively and also very attractive for boat tourists. The city's water sports centre begins on the Dębska Struga, branching off from the Ostoder, with the Marina Pogoń and extends from here with several marinas and club harbours along the entire southern shore of the Little Dam Lake: Marina Hotele, Jachtclub AZS, Sailing Centre Szczecin, Camping Marina PTTK.
All facilities offer guest berths, sanitary facilities and, in some cases, technical service. The last remaining petrol and diesel station in Szczecin is located in the Hotele Marina, directly at the mouth of the Dębska Struga into the Little Dam Lake, 800 m from the Ostoder. Disadvantage of this water sports centre: The distance to the city centre is relatively long, at least around 30 minutes by bus and changing to the tram.
Close to the city centre, it is located on the west bank of the West Oder in the immediate vicinity of the famous Hakenterrasse. However, the long quay wall is mainly reserved for excursion boats and passenger ships. The designated sports boat mooring is located directly below the huge motorway bridge around 400 m to the south. Lots of noise, nothing else: a berth that should only be used for a short shopping trip, but not for the night.
Around one kilometre down the valley, just below the "Porto Grande" restaurant, which can be seen from afar, is the floating dock of the "Baltic Marina". A tremendous name for this inconspicuous facility, where boats up to a maximum length of 9 metres can moor on the two short floating jetties with finger piers. Just enough for "Troll" ...
At least there is water and electricity and a dilapidated sanitary container. The kicker is the proximity to the town centre. At the Hakenterrasse, just 500 metres away, you should follow the "city hiking trail", which is marked with a red dotted line on the pavement and leads to 42 important sights and monuments over a distance of seven kilometres. Restaurants of all price categories are located along the way. The city walk also offers an impressive view of Szczecin's German history.
From the aforementioned motorway bridge, the West Oder is part of the Swinemünde-Stettin shipping route with its own kilometre marker (km 66.4). From here, it is another 30 kilometres or so until the ever-widening West Oder flows into the south-eastern tip of the Szczecin Lagoon at Trzebiez (Ziegenort).
Gone are the days when the Trzebiez marina had to be used as a port of entry or exit to complete border formalities between Germany and Poland. Today, the harbour offers a pleasant stopover, especially if you need to fill up with diesel or petrol at the petrol station.
We leave Trzebiez to the left because the Szczecin Lagoon is quite friendly with a light to moderate breeze from the NNW and bright sunshine and we want to take advantage of this favour to get to Ueckermünde as quietly as possible.
We keep to the buoyed fairway, which can be easily recognised by the huge lighthouses "Brama Torowa" 3 and 2 and initially leads in a north-westerly direction exactly towards the Kaiserfahrt (Kanał Piastowski) between Usedom and Wolin. At Brama Torowa 2, the fairway to the Little Lagoon branches off in a west-north-westerly direction. At the transition between the Great and Small Lagoon, we pass the German-Polish border north of Altwarp.
What surprises us: despite the good weather, the lagoon is eerily empty on 29 June. The only thing we see is a Polish navy ship - obviously heading for Szczecin. No pleasure craft far and wide. Only before Ueckermünde do two sailing boats cross in front of the Uecker estuary, which we enter after 24 nautical miles and just under four hours sailing along the lagoon since Trzebiez. Life has got us back!
In the marina Lagunenstadt Ueckermünde (the first harbour on the eastern bank of the Uecker), which has finally been completed after much toing and froing, we moor at the petrol station to stock up on diesel. We don't want to moor here because the harbour is too far away from the town. We drive up the Uecker to the town harbour at the Old and New Bulwarks, which offers fine moorings on both banks of the river. There is water and electricity and a toilet block on the Old Bulwark (west bank).
The pretty little town with its many restaurants and good shopping facilities is just a few steps away. And a special tip is located directly on the Old Bulwark: the "Roter Butt" restaurant in the "PommernYacht" hotel. The hospitality of SV Köhnscher Kanal, where "Troll" found a safe berth for a one-week break from sailing, deserves a special mention. Thank you for that ...
It is only 15 nautical miles from Ueckermünde to the small town of Usedom. Tucked away at the northern tip of Lake Usedom, even the approach via the narrow fairway through the seemingly unspoilt Usedom Lake is a special attraction. Here you should never leave the buoyed channel (target depth 1.50 m), as the lake is very silted up.
If there is no more berth available between the stern dolphins of the Usedom Sailing Club, you can moor alongside the quay wall in the municipal harbour. Water and electricity on the pier, toilet in the container. It is around 600 m from the harbour to the centre of the picturesque little town. At the market square, the stately St Mary's Church and the town hall bear witness to the town's former economic importance for the island of Usedom.
Out of Lake Usedom, into the Peenestrom, and immediately stop again: the Kamp-Karnin railway bridge, destroyed in the Second World War, or rather its widely visible fragment, the preserved lifting section, attracts more than just our attention. We head for Karnin Marina, which is just 200 metres north of the ruined bridge.
Two solid floating jetties with stern dolphins, water and electricity. Harbour master's office (bread roll service!) and solid sanitary facilities at the municipal harbour (customs harbour) a good 100 m away. There is also a kiosk here with tasty fish sandwiches and freshly tapped beer. Within walking distance (700 metres) is the legendary "Haffschänke", better known as "Vadder Gentz" (closed on Mondays).
The chequered history of this inn, which has now been in the family for five generations, is reflected in guest books with entries dating back to 1900. The inn also has a simple harbour, which is difficult to approach due to the shallow water. On the slope above the inn stands the 22 metre high "pilot tower", which today offers an exclusive holiday home.
The ruined bridge behind us, the Peenestrom below us, the Peene in front of us: two nautical miles north-west of Karnin, the buoyed directional ditch leads into the Peene. A kilometre sign on the right bank reads "104", so we know that we have 104 river kilometres to the end of the navigable Peene in Malchin.
When you say "river", you also think of "flow", i.e. current. But you can safely forget that on the Peene: Although the Peene officially "flows" from Malchin towards the Peenestrom, the gradient of the river is so low (24 cm over 104 km) that a high water level in the Peenestrom actually causes the water in the Peene to flow uphill.
This was one of the reasons why a 500 to 700 metre wide flooded moor was able to develop on both banks of the Peene, where peat was mainly extracted in the 19th and 20th centuries. This resulted in countless peat ditches, which today are the refuge of many water birds. Attentive observers of nature will be lucky enough to spot kingfishers, but will certainly spot grey herons and cormorants.
Anklam, around ten kilometres from the Peene River, is our first destination. There are plenty of guest moorings here. We tested two ourselves on the outward and return journeys: the Yacht Club Peene Anklam (km 94.5 RU) directly below the railway bridge (see info box) and the Anklam water hiking rest area (km 94.0 RU).
The Yacht Club is close to the shopping centre (250 m) with a supermarket and discount store, while the water hiking rest area has well-kept surroundings including swimming pontoons, sanitary facilities with a washing machine and dryer, and a bread roll service. Water and electricity for the boat are available in both harbours.
The old Hanseatic city is definitely worth a visit: two churches (St. Marien and St. Nikolai), the mighty stone gate (15th century), the well-preserved Gothic gabled house (15th century) and the market square with its centuries-old ribbons and magnificent town houses. Not forgetting the Lilienthal family home, where the engineer and aviation pioneer Otto Lilienthal lived from 1852 to 1864 and spent his childhood.
The banks of the Peene appear to be unspoilt: Thatch, pond roses, bushes, gnarled deadwood between narrow belts of trees and, time and again, bright carpets of flowers from grasses and wetland plants. In between, peat trenches and open views of the countryside.
Stolpe, just 10 river kilometres from Anklam, is the next pearl on the Peene. It is a neatly spruced-up village with an equally neat waterside rest area (water, electricity, WC, shower, bread roll service). What makes it special, however, is the listed "Stolper Fährkrug", a 300-year-old excursion restaurant serving Mecklenburg specialities, where the local poet Fritz Reuter was a regular in the mid-19th century (it is located right next to the water hiking rest area), and the "Gutshaus Stolpe", a fine hotel with a gourmet restaurant. The kitchens of both establishments are run by Michelin-starred chef André Münch. For the history of Stolpe and the manor house, see www.gutshaeuser.de and www.gutshaus-stolpe.de
The Jarmen bulwark (km 68.3 RU) with its sports boat mooring is so uninviting that we pay no attention to the town either.
But Loitz (pronounced Löötz) with its perfectly developed sports boat marina. A harbour basin away from the river with 17 berths in front of stern dolphins. Of course, there is water and electricity and a nice toilet block. Harbour master Harald Möller provides the morning bread rolls. There are further berths on the bulwark above the harbour entrance.
Here, however, you should keep clear of the warehouse, because swallows (or are they swifts?) nesting there are a real nuisance to the boats moored here. At the edge of the harbour is a neat little station house, like something out of a miniature wonderland. Inside is the highly recommended restaurant "Korl Loitz". It takes around ten minutes to walk from here to the supermarkets on Marktstraße on the western edge of the town.
The Demmin leisure centre (km 36.7 RU) in a Peenearm above the railway bridge is a run-down facility where it is better not to stray. For a stroll through the town, you can moor at Bollwerk Demmin (km 33.3 RU) below the Kahlden Bridge (see info box). For longer stays, we recommend the Demmin water hiking rest area (km 32.4 LU in an old arm of the Peene),
which is managed by the Demminer Segelclub Blau-Weiß. (electricity, shower, WC).
A stroll through the Hanseatic town of Demmin is not to be missed. The St Bartholomew's Church with its brick tower and the Luisentor gate with its powder tower are particularly worth seeing.
Cast off in Demmin. On the way to Lake Kummerow, the Trittelwitz water hiking rest area (km 24.9 RU) offers unserviced moorings close to nature. The "Landhof" restaurant is 300 metres away.
Just a few hundred metres before you reach Lake Kummerow, the Verchen water hiking rest area (km 15.1 RU) is an enticing place to stay. There are 14 moorings on the floating jetty with accessible jetties, water and electricity, a toilet block and a fish snack bar, which is only open at weekends. On other days, the "Aalbude" restaurant on the opposite bank provides refreshments. You can go alongside the pier belonging to the house or cross over from the waterway rest area with harbour master and ferryman Karl-Heinz Kastorf. A thoroughly cosy spot!
Lake Kummerow stretches a good ten kilometres in a north-south direction. On the western shore is the Gravelotte harbour (km 13.0 RU) with a large campsite. The harbour is extremely susceptible to winds from the west to north-west. Even the breakwaters do not really protect against this. The moorings on the floating jetties with outriggers are suitable for boats up to a maximum length of 7 metres, with 8 metres ("Troll") only possible on the head jetty. There is electricity at the jetty and spacious sanitary facilities with washing machine and tumble dryer on the campsite. There is a snack bar near the harbour. "You'd better leave here tomorrow," advised site and harbour warden Ralf Rehberg when we registered. "The weather forecast for tomorrow is for shifty weather with a strong westerly wind."
Of course, we take such warnings seriously, leave Gravelotte early and head for Neukalen on the western shore of the lake in a moderate west-north-westerly wind. More precisely: the Teterower Peene, which flows into the middle of Lake Kummerow and on which Neukalen lies a good two kilometres above the estuary.
In the friendly harbour run by the town, we moor alongside the stone jetty with a view of the "Semannsstübchen" and the "Am Hafen" restaurant. Water and electricity, sanitary facilities via the rear entrance of the Seemannsstübchen. A stroll through the alleyways of the small town offers nothing spectacular, but is very cosy. The market square with church, town hall and Edeka supermarket is around 400 m from the harbour.
The Kummerow rest area on the south-west shore of the lake is just as susceptible to wind as Gravelotte. With a fresh wind from the north-northeast, there was such a heavy swell in front of the pier jutting into the lake that we gladly decided not to visit Kummerow.
At the southern end of Lake Kummerow, the 4.5 kilometre-long Peene Canal marks the navigable end or (depending on how you look at it) the navigable beginning of the Peene. The famous "Moorbauer" (kilometre 3.2) is (or rather: was) a lonely, world-forgotten inn in the middle of nowhere, which was no longer in operation last year. Now the little witch's cottage is probably doomed to decay, unless a buyer can be found quickly ...
Malchin: Start and end point of the navigable Peene with the Koesters Eck marina. Actually just a paved bank of the Peene where you can moor alongside. Power columns on the bank. Two water taps. Perfect sanitary block with washing machine and tumble dryer. The harbour is run by the town and managed by the canoe club. Harbour master Maik Werbel can be found in the clubhouse. The nearest supermarket (Netto) is only 300 metres away.
With its well-preserved town gates (Steintor, Kalensches Tor), an old defence tower, the defiant St. John's Church, the classicist town hall and many carefully renovated town houses, Malchin is a town well worth seeing. The most beautiful view of the old town is from the 67 metre high church tower of St. John's Church.
After two weeks in nature, characterised by the quiet rhythm of the tranquil villages and small towns on the lagoon, Peenestrom and Peene, it will be really hard to get used to the hustle and bustle of a big city again.
WHAT SKIPPERS NEED TO KNOW
Driving licence The Oder below Szczecin, the Great and Small Lagoon and the Peene River are maritime waterways. Accordingly, a recreational boating licence is required to navigate these waters. German licences are recognised in Poland. The Peene is an inland waterway from the confluence of the Richtgraben and the Peenestrom to Malchin. An inland navigation licence is required here. Charter guests may use the Peene inland waterway with a "charter licence".
Travelling speedsSzczecin-Swinemünde waterway: 12 kn (22.2 km/h) or 8 kn/14.8 km/h on the following sections: Port of Szczecin to Inski Nurt; Radun rear light to Krepa; pair of buoys 13/14 at Trzebiez to northern tip of Chelminek Island; Brama Torowa 1 to pair of buoys 7/8. On the Great and Small Lagoon: no restriction. Peenestrom: 10 kn (18.5 km/h) from buoy PN Süd/H1 to the junction with the Richtgraben. Peene from the confluence with the Peenestrom to Malchin: 12 km/h. Kumme-rower See: 25 km/h outside of the protective strip near the shore (100 m).
Boat refuelling stations Szczecin: Marina Hotele. Trzebiez (goat village): Fishing harbour. Ueckermünde: Marina Lagunenstadt Ueckermünde.
Movable bridgesThere are three movable bridges on the Peene, whose clearance height (DFH) is only sufficient for very small boats when closed:
- Anklam railway bridge, DFH 2.40 m. Opening times (20 minutes each) until 31 October 2012: Mondays to Fridays 6.10, 7.55, 9.55, 13.55, 16.10, 18.00; 20.30 to 20.45. Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays 7.55, 10.05, 12.00, 16.10, 18.00, 19.20 (except public holidays); 20.30 to 20.45. Tel. 03971-29 37 22.
- Loitz Peene Bridge, DFH 1.75 m. Opening times (10 minutes each): daily 7.00, 11.00, 15.30, 19.00. Attention construction site! Changes possible. For information call 0151-55 10 36 12.
- Demminer Kahldenbrücke, DFH 1.98 m. Opening hours daily 9.00, 12.50, 17.10, 20.20. Tel. 03998-43 36 33.
Cruising guide and charts
- Jörn Heinrich: Coastal Handbook Poland and Lithuania. Szczecin Lagoon, Polish Baltic Sea coast, Bay of Gdansk, Vistula Lagoon, Curonian Lagoon. Edition Maritim, Hamburg, ISBN 978-3-89225-511-6.
- Michael Brandenburg: Mecklenburg-Vorpommern coastal handbook. Travemünde to Ueckermünde - with Rügen and Bodden waters. Edition Maritim, Hamburg, ISBN 978-3-89225-655-7.
- N.V. Sportschifffahrtskarten Binnen 3: Die nördliche Oder und die Peene. Nautische Veröffent-lichung Verlagsgesellschaft, Arnis, ISBN 978-3-92637-613-8.
- Cruise planner Peene, Oder and Bodden. Quick Maritim Medien, Rechlin, ISBN 978-3-9806720-1-6.
- Delius Klasing-Sportbootkarten Satz 2: Mecklenburg-Vorpommern - Bornholm - Mit Lübecker Bucht und Stettiner Haff. Delius Klasing Verlag, Bielefeld, 978-3-7688-3402-5. The chart is also available as a DVD-ROM including the navigation software Vistanaut Light; ISBN 978-3-7688-9832-4.
Cruise stages
- Szczecin - Ueckermünde 80 km
- Ueckermünde - Usedom 28 km
- Usedom - Karnin 10 km
- Karnin - Anklam 14 km
- Anklam - Stolpe 10 km
- Stolpe - Loitz 37 km
- Loitz - Demmin - Gravelotte 38 km
- Gravelotte - Neukalen 9 km
- Neukalen - Kummerow - Malchin 16 km
Total 242 km
