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Charlottenburg, April 16, 2022

 

 

Farewell winter mooring - with joy for the new sailing season

 

 

Dear friends

 

 

A wonderful day did let us start into the new sailing season on april 11th 2022. It was no step into uncertainty. We already knew the waters around Berlin from previous years. We were accompanied by three friends from Potsdam on the first part from Potsdam to Spandau. In the picture we have just passed the famous Glienicker Bridge. In Spandau we moored in the middle of the city and took advantage of the short distances to stock up on supplies and pick up a few pieces from the DIY store. 

Afterwards, the ship's engine pushed us - without guests on board - over the Upper Havel to Oranienburg, where we spent the Easter days in the castle harbor and  enjoyed the flourishing castle park. We were not the only ones who had this idea. You can see the full parking area for camper vans, where even the borders of the service port is provided as a stand. Yes, the city of Oranienburg makes good marketing efforts.

11.4.2022 - Aufbruch aus dem Winterhafen: unter der Glieniker Brücke durch

Schlosshafen von Oranienburg - über die Osterfesttage ausgebucht

 
 

A farewell with many facets

 
 

The Marina am Tiefen See in Potsdam once again offered us a varied network of relationships during the winter months of 2021/22. Leaving this network means, despite joy in the break-up, also saying goodbye:
- to our fellow residents in the harbour, to Gerda and Toni on their ship Ottoland II and to Susanne and Paul on their ship Tarahumara, with whom we ate and played together on so many evenings.
- to the harbour owner Andrea with her partner Robert and the young wolf dog Leo, who included us in their circle of friends and spoiled us with many culinary delights.

Andrea und Robert

- to the harbour masters Matthias, Kolja and Christian, who gave us a lot of attention and made our winter life in the harbour easier. Unfortunately, they turned up very rarely for a warming break and coffee on Dagens 2.
- to the ad hoc group of singers, who found themselves on the eve of our break-up at a farewell party on Dagens 2. They gave us the best wishes on our way with a series of German folk songs.
- to the group of dancers with whom Bernadette and Gerda, under the guidance of the dance teacher Lola, spent weekly enjoyable hours of dancing.

Gerda und Bernadette umrahmen ihre Tanzgruppenleiterin Lola

- to the group of "Pinselquäler" (paintbrush tormentors), who at the end of the winter course showed their work in an exhibition to the wider public. Some works by Bernadette can also be seen. The opening on april 13th 2022 in the premises of the "Akademie der zweiten Lebenshälfte" in Babelsberg was at the same time a farewell party for us.

Roter Pandabär aus dem Aqua-Zoo von Leeuwarden - von Bernadette aquarelliert Der Ruinenberg oberhalb Schloss Sanssouci - Ton in Ton aquarelliert von Bernadette

- from all the other acquaintances in and around Potsdam, who have often received us as their guests, assisted us with good advice and maintained a good exchange of thoughts with us.

 

 
 

Unwelcome guests:

 
 

After struggling successfully and healthy through 22 months of life restrictions, the ubiquitous virus finally settled on our breathing tube and forced us into isolation at the end of February 2022. While Heinz recovered within a few days, Bernadette's virus stayed longer and more stubborn, shaking her with a nasty cough whose after-effects are still felt, even though the PCR test indicated recovery early on.

When the restrictive behavioural measures were relaxed in March/April 2022, we were very relieved, because the mandatory mouth masks were very irritating in our breathing tubes. At the moment, masks are only mandatory here in Germany in public transport and in special care facilities.

Getting sick ourselves, we were grateful to realize how the port community carefully looked after us, provided us with meals and other needs, and how effective medical professionals assisted us with advice. Fortunately, we were able to avoid hospitalization.

Unfortunately, as a "host" you have no power over such uninvited guests. They come and go as they please. The only thing left for us is to do everything that helps us to stay healthy and strengthens our physical defence system. We do this with plenty of exercise in the fresh air, with enough sleep and with supplemental vitamin D and C intake.

 
 

 

 

 

 
 

Flying visit to our granddaughter in Switzerland

Lorianne's parents kept us fully digitally updated on our granddaughter's wonderful development throughout the winter. Nevertheless, after a certain time, the desire to see them live again overflowed, and so at the beginning of March 2022 we travelled for a week to our son Erich, his partner Alexandra and the now 7-month-old granddaughter Lorianne. The ICE took us comfortably and without changing trains from Berlin Central Station to Thun, where Erich picked us up. We lived with them in their apartment in Hünibach, took part in their daily routine and were able to prove ourselves as babysitters in between. It wasn't difficult for us, even if our own routine is already 38 years old and hasn't been used for 30 years.

 

 

Heinz mit Lorianne - doch noch nicht ganz aus der Übung

Bernadette unterhält Lorianne mit Hugo, dem Halstuch mit Hasenkopf

Bernadette mit Lorianne

 

 

Christmas 2021

 
 

Dagens 2 in Weihnachjtsbeleuchtung - Winter 2021/22

In the tussle over weekly revised rules of conduct for virus protection, it seems almost a miracle that Erich with Alexandra and Lorianne and Rainer with Åsa were able to visit us in Potsdam for Christmas. They made us very happy, and we were once again allowed to pamper them "hands on". A few contemplative moments alternated with beautiful, winter-cold walks in the park landscapes of Potsdam.

Weihnachtsbaum auf Dagens 2 - Dezember 2021

Familienbesuch zu Weihnacht; vor dem Schloss Sanssouci in Potsdam

 from left: Rainer, Åsa, Erich with Lorianne, Alexandra, Bernadette and Heinz in front of the famous Frederician Sanssouci Palace

The numerous Christmas letters that arrived in our mailbox at the port entrance also gave us a lot of joy. We sincerely thank everyone who made the effort to send us a traditional paper letter or card. We are sure that all arrived on time. However, we are not sure that we owed all the letters individually in the Corona turbulence. Please accept our apology.

 
 

Wintertime - culture time

 
 

As with our first visit to Potsdam in 2016, our winter stay began with the "Vocalise" festival week, during which we enjoyed several choir concerts:

  • The "Mozart Requiem" with the choir Potsdamer Kantorei and the New Chamber Orchestra Potsdam under the direction of Ud Joffe

  • The concert "Amerika" by the a-cappella singing group "Amarcord" from Leipzig

  • Gabriel Fauré's "Requiem" with the Nikolaichor Potsdam and the Neue Hofkapelle conducted by Björn O. Wiede

  • This winter, the Museum Barberini showed the exhibition "Impressionism in Russia - First steps to the Avant-Garde", which we honoured with several visits. The large-format exhibition catalogue extends the enjoyable show right onto the sofa at home.

  • Our friend Uli took us to the stage "Potsdamer Zimmerbühne", where the play "HOMO DEUS or the last man" - freely adapted from Yuval Noah Harari - was being performed

  • Andrea and Robert took us in their car to Paretz Castle, where we could follow the song performances by Liane and Norbert Fietzke as "Duo >con emozione<".

Das a-capella Ensemble "Amarcord" aus Leipzig
Liane und Norbert Fietzke im Schloss Paretz
  • and as the highlight of this cultural winter, we enjoyed the Potsdam winter opera "The Rape of Lucretia" by Benjamin Britten, performed in English with German surtitles in the newly renovated palace theatre of the New Palace in Park Sanssouci in Potsdam. It was an extraordinary experience in that we were surprised by Benjamin Britton's special music, the actors lacked nothing in terms of expressiveness and the newly renovated theatre created an excellent ambience.

Der Erzähler - Oper "The Rape of Lucretia" von Benjamin Britton Lucretia und Bianca - Oper "The Rape of Lucretia" von Benjamin Britton

After this highlight, our desire for further cultural events abruptly ebbed away. The increasingly strict rules of conduct and vaccination requirements made it impossible for us to enjoy culture. In this situation, we preferred leisure activities in the fresh air on foot or by bike, as well as being together with dear friends.

 
 

Another step from ship to wall

 
 

Toni und Gerda auf ihrem Schiff Ottoland II

 Motorschiff Ottoland II

Our port neighbours Toni and Gerda spent their last winter on their ship Ottoland II in the Marina am Tiefen See in Potsdam. In the summer of 2021, when they were in Swedish waters, they had surprisingly been able to sell their ship to a gentleman from Emden (Germany), who happened to pass by. Their last trip now is to transfer the ship to Emden. Their winter stay was therefore also characterized by the search for a new home in the Netherlands and by sorting out various items of equipment that had accumulated on the ship over the course of more than 22 years of boat life. In countless conversations, they shared with us their change of life from water to land, their search successes, and their pain of separation from the living environment they had been acquainted to for decades.

 
 

This definitive step from ship to wall will face us too, in the foreseeable future. As soon as we have reached the Netherlands again, we will contact a ship broker and see whether the next dock date in summer 2023 could also be a date for change of ownership.

 
 

But first we want to make a journey together with our friends Dagmar and Willi and their ship Menaje across the Stettiner Haff and the Peene up to Malchin. The Peene is known as the "Amazon of the North" and flows through large, untouched natural landscapes.


With warm Easter greetings

 

www.dagens2.ch

(The latest news from us are always under the tag "Aktuelles auf Blogspot")

 

Heinz und Bernadette an Bord von Dagens 2

 
 

From mid-October 2022 to April 1st 2023, we will be moored with Dagens 2 in the marina Jachthaven Kudelstaart and can be found there during the winter months at the address:

Heinz and Bernadette Gubler
aboard ship "Dagens 2"
c/o Jachthaven Kudelstaart
Kudelstaartseweg 226
1433 GR Kudelstaart
Netherlands

Our email and web addresses remain unchanged:

heinzgubler@aol.com

bernadette.gubler@bluewin.ch

http://www.dagens-2a.blogspot.com/

www.dagens2.ch

 

 

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