General Witterings -
Getting Ready for the Off on Rosy

We are now in the midst of the inevitable rush to get things ready for the great departure.

We have a planned date of Monday 11th April, but only if:

• The River Oder floods reduce as fast as they are forecast to reduce.
• Post from UK arrives before that date.
• A Polish map that has been ordered from Poland arrives before that date.

We will also do a BIG SHOP as Mike is leaving his car here during our two-month foray into Poland.  We want to get filled up with bulky and heavy items like cooking oil and tins of tuna.

We hope to arrange a small presentation to the Yacht Club on whose moorings we have been parked all winter.  Canal and Riverboat magazine gave away a couple of prints of narrow boats.  We have had these framed, and will leave them as a 'Thank-you'.

Our route will be to head down the River Oder until we reach its confluence with the River Warta.  Up the Warta for a bit, then branch off northish up the River Notec to Bydgoszcz (a town, not a spelling competition), where we get onto the River Wisla (Vistula), thence downstream towards the coast and Gdansk (was Danzig).  Then by canal to Elblag.

Then we turn south onto the Elblag canal for a trip up the five water-powered inclined planes and on to Ostrada, and an exploration of the lakes in that region.

The return journey will be similar, though quicker, as we will be going up the Wisla and down the Notec and Warta, so we will be spending longer going with the flow.  When we get back to the river Oder, we will turn North (downstream) towards Szczecin (a.k.a.  Stettin), thence a left turn onto a friendly canal that will take us back to Berlin, the Mittleland Canal, Holland, Belgium and France.

Decisions as to where to spend next winter are still up in the air.  Gent or Briare spring to mind, but there are other names in the frame.

My longer term plan is to get over to the river Somme in 2006 - July 1st is the 90th anniversary of the start of the First World War battle.  After that, the South of France beckons!

Another job before we leave Eisenhuttenstadt is to acquire a Polish pay 'n' go SIM card for the mobile phone, and to get it set up for the call back system.  Ah!  Have I mentioned that before?

USING MOBILE PHONES ABROAD

We rely on mobile phones for our basic communications.  Using a UK mobile phone overseas is expensive as not only are international mobile calls are pricey, but, overseas, you also have to pay for the 'UK to where you are' link for incoming calls.  Using pay'n'go (aka pre-paid) phones is also expensive.

Call.back systems dramatically reduce the cost of mobile calls.  It works like this for outgoing calls:

a.  You dial the Call-Back Service Provider (CBSP), let the phone ring once or twice and hang up.  Hence, this call has cost you nothing.

b.  After a couple of minutes (at the most) your phone rings.  It is the CBSP calling you back, and inviting you to dial the number your require.  This you do.  The number that you have dialled replies, you have your conversation and, finally, ring off.  This call has effectively cost you nothing as it was all done on an INCOMING call.  Neat eh!!

c.  Your CBSP has, however, kept a note of the number you spoke with and the call duration, and bills you accordingly.  Some CBSPs want you to lodge money with them up-front.  Others (including mine) don't, but operate a monthly direct debit system.

Using this system means that the money on the pre-paid pay 'n' go doesn't actually get used at all!

There is also a system called 'Follow Me' that enables you to change the number that they call you back on.  Hence, when we get a Polish SIM card, I'll have to switch my call-back number from the current German one to the new Polish one.

Obviously, using this system overseas with a UK SIM card would increase the costs, as the incoming call would still incur the UK-Overseas location charged by the SIM card provider.

I'm using WWTelecom (www.wwtelecom.com) and their basic charges are US$ 5.00 per month, with the first US$ 5 worth of calls free.  Their web site has a 'Rates' section that shows the costs of using their system between different countries.

We have had a few glitches with them, but they have been very helpful in sorting them out.  Overall, I would rate their service on a scale of 1 to 10 as between 8 and 9.

USING SKY SATELLITE TV IN EUROPE

One is only supposed to tune into Sky satellite programs in the UK.  Sky's licensing arrangements prohibit people from watching Sky programs (beamed from their satellite) outside of the British Isles.  However, I understand that in this far eastern part of Germany, many of the programmes carried on Sky's Astra satellites cannot be picked up, unless one has a big dish.  However, BBC Radio 4 can still be picked up (allegedly).

BLOGS

A piece on one of the Radio 4 news programs suggested that 'blogs' might have a significant effect upon the outcome of the elections that Tony Blair has just called.

As I understand it, a 'blog' is a web log.  And, as THIS is a web log, it must, by definition, also be a blog.

I have to admit that I find it difficult to believe that the witterings of a bloke of advancing years, about his boat journey through Europe and the scatological activities of his faithful hound, are going to affect the name of the next tenant of 10 Downing Street.

However …

I've had a chat with my Fanny about this one, and I'm glad to report that she wholeheartedly agrees with it.  So!  What we think is this …

The nice Mr Major might have been a reasonable replacement for Mrs T - taking into account the circumstances at the time of her demise.  However, since then, the Tories have invariably managed to choose the wrong leader.  We (Fanny and I) are convinced that the Tories would be in far better shape had they chosen Ken Clarke as their leader after John Major.  But they didn't.  So they're not.

It also seems as if Mr Howard wants a 'strong centre' for his party, whereas we believe in devolved power.  Strong leaders generally want to tell people what to do.  We have a basic mistrust of people who want to boss us about (except Fanny, and she quite likes a firm boss).

When is The Labour Party going to change its name?  It is certainly not a party of labour, nor is it a socialist party.  It seems to be a party more interested in pandering to the whims of the population, than in providing an element of leadership.

Yes.  There is a dichotomy here!  We are complaining about the Conservatives wanting strong leadership, at the same time as we criticise Labour for not 'leading' enough.  Well, there IS a third way …

Are the LibDems electable?  Charlie Kennedy was a warm, avuncular man before he became leader of his party.  On election, he suddenly became a bit cold and distant, and, despite his marriage, he still hasn't regained his warmth and spontaneity.  Is he ready for high office?

Fanny has already decided to vote for the nice poodle down the road, and me?  Well, I'm not sure …

Anyway, on to more important things.

MAKING READY FOR THE VOYAGE

The grub screws (mentioned in the last wittering) arrived, and we spent the morning fitting them into place.  It took a little while as we wanted to drill a seat for them in the prop shaft.

We have topped up with fuel, and acquired engine and gear-box oil for the next oil change.  The BIG food shop will be tomorrow.  Beer is a problem - the Germans seem to have banned cans of drink, and they charge quite a bit for the crates and bottles that go with bottled beer (returnable when the crates and bottles are returned).  So, now (on a Thursday) I have one bottle of beer left, and I won't get into Poland to buy Polish beer until we arrive there on Monday evening (hopefully!).  I might have to have an alcohol free few days.

That's all Folks!!  The next one will be from Poland (Inshallah!!)

Toodle pip!!

Bill