Baltic Sea 2020 Part 4

Trip Report 2020

Baltic Sea and more.

Fourth part: From Stralsund to Stettin Lagoon.

July 8. The plan for today: We leave the beautiful old Hanseatic city of Stralsund and continue to Greifswald. From one Hanseatic city to another. The weather is not good to us: rain, rain, rain. It's not far to Greifswald, just down the Strelasund to the Greifswald Bodden, around 21 nautical miles, almost four hours. We wait and see. Eventually, the rain must stop. And right: around noon the rain stops and we set sail. We are not alone: a fleet of sailboats takes advantage of the favorable wind and sails down the Strelasund with us. Gradually, we pass one after the other. Around four o'clock in the afternoon, we pass the pier and sail up the river Ryck, which leads us to Greifswald. At 4.45 pm we moor in the marina at Ryck, a former shipyard site, at beautiful old wooden piers, a bit tight but cozy. The city center is only a short walk of 5-10 minutes away. - Greifswald, Greifswald... Wasn't there something? Right! Caspar David Friedrich was born and lived here. I remember this when I stand in front of his monument. Greifswald also has a beautiful, large marketplace, similar to Stralsund. And a museum harbor where traditional sailing boats can dock. - Later in the afternoon, I arrive just in time for an organ concert in St. Nikolai. Very nice! You also have to recharge your cultural batteries from time to time. ;-)

July 9 Greifswald - Lassan. Lassan? Never heard of it? Me neither. But we need an intermediate destination. After all, we want to go to the Stettin Lagoon, the destination port is Trzebiez (Ziegenort) at the mouth of the Oder. Before that, Ueckermünde is also on the plan. It's almost 50 nautical miles from Greifswald to Ueckermünde, which would be another 9 to 10 hours of sailing; we won't do that. And so the small harbor of Lassan is a good option, a former fishing village, at a little more than half the distance. Greifswald-Lassan ≈ 32 nm. Among sailors, this harbor is said to be a secret tip. Well, let's see. When we cast off in the morning, the sky is overcast and it looks like rain. Two hours later, when entering the Peenestrom, it starts to rain. First just a drizzle, later heavy rain. I don't like to sail in the rain, but when you're on the way, you have a destination and want to get there. At 3 pm we reach the narrow fairway to Lassan, and shortly afterwards I have the pleasure of mooring in pouring rain. And I don't even have a crew to do it! Doesn't matter, we're here, the windshield wiper has a break, I grab a towel and dry clothes, and I deserve a coffee too. There are only a few boats in the small harbor, apparently hardly any guest berths on the dock. Later, two sailboats come in - Aha! Secret tip! The crews, of course, have proper rain gear. I should get some too.

The next day is also completely rainy. So we stay in the harbor. In the afternoon, I leisurely walk through the town under my umbrella. Two streets parallel to the church square, that's it. Houses like in Oldenburg, Rummelweg or Tannenstraße, from the 1950s, most of them well-maintained, but some of them vacant and run-down. Is that it? - But no: Hello! What's this? There's a café, and it's even open. I go inside and look around. It looks like a living room in grandma's house. And the great thing: everything is organic and vegan! I have a piece of cake, which looks like chocolate cake but, as the landlady assures me without me asking, is made without flour and without eggs. Only plant-based ingredients, creamy mixed (in a high-performance blender? I don't know), but tasty and very filling; with a large glass of organic coffee. A carafe of water with herbs in the glass comes for free. All of this for a humble 6 euros. I'm almost tempted to round it up to 10 euros, but then I think better of it and leave the usual tip. - Well, who would have thought, such a special café here in this small village. It calls itself "Lassaneria" and, as could be expected, has a website too:

http://www.sirona-heilsame-wege.de

July 11. Lassan - Ueckermünde. A new morning, cool but sunny with fresh west wind. We are already on the move before 7:30 am, the first boat. We continue along the Peenestrom, more like a sea arm here, a sound, several kilometers wide. At 9:06 am we pass under the Zecheriner Bridge and soon after we pass the ruins of the Kamin lifting bridge. It wasn't easy to find the right passage in the backlight. And then the Stettin Lagoon lies before us, shining and dazzling in the morning sun. I need a new, stronger pair of sunglasses. Shortly afterwards we see the Ueckermünde buoy and change course to the mouth of the Uecker River. The entrance is so narrow that encounters with a combined boat width of ≥10m are prohibited. We navigate slowly, allowed maximum speed 4 kn, up the river and at exactly 12 noon we moor in the city harbor of Ueckermünde. The old port facilities have been converted into the tourist promenade "Altes Bollwerk", the pier is new and perfectly equipped for recreational boats, there is even water and electricity. Someone has had a heart for recreational boaters in the planning and used the funding wisely. The small town is neatly spruced up everywhere. There is also a historic marketplace with beautifully renovated buildings here.

July 12. Ueckermünde - Trzebiez (Ziegenort). Today is the last leg at sea on our journey. We want to take the inland waterways back, otherwise we would have to fight against the prevailing westerly winds on the Baltic Sea, and we prefer to avoid that. From here, it's still a long stretch across the lagoon to Trzebiez, and the wind is supposed to increase throughout the day, so we get up early again and leave Ueckermünde before 7 am. Once again, it's a fresh, sunny morning, and it's simply wonderful to be on the way before everyone else. When we are out on the lagoon, the wind has already increased to WNW force 4 and is quickly creating waves of 0.5 to 1 m. But they come from behind, and it doesn't bother us. Miss Marple plows through the waves, rocking gently. We set course for the clearly visible twin towers "Brama Torowa Nr. 2", the lagoon gateway lights of Szczecin, and we sail right through them, like the big steamers, because to the right, where Miss Marple could also go, there are unidentifiable working equipment and pontoons in the water, extensive dredging work is apparently underway on the approach to Szczecin. We turn in good time to starboard into the narrow fairway to Ziegenort. As the first boat, we head for the boat gas station, which is unmistakably located right next to the marina. It's about time because the fuel gauge is already on reserve. However, it turns out that there must have been at least 50 liters of fuel left in the tank. The attendant speaks German, no English. Pay? Cash preferred. Credit cards, he says, are only for the mafia. The price is cheap, cheaper than in Germany, but not much cheaper. I don't get a receipt, I didn't ask for one either. We are in Poland. - Then we move to the marina and want to moor at one of the floating docks in strong wind. Immediately, a young Pole from the neighboring boat comes running towards me and helps me with mooring. Very nice. In the harbor master's office, housed in a building that looks like a barracks from the 1930s, there is a friendly young man. He speaks English quite well. I ask him how to pronounce Trzebiez. He tells me, and it sounds, as suspected, like Tschebitsch. He also knows the old German name: "Ziegenort", he says, and it sounds like "Siggenort". - Otherwise, I can't say much about Ziegenort. Meanwhile, rain showers are coming down again and I spare myself a tour of the town. Tomorrow morning, we will continue on to Szczecin and the Oder River.