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The Baltic Sea to the Aegean Sea

from Travemunde, Germany up the Rhine River and down the Danube River to the Black Sea,

thru the Bosporus to Istanbul, and then thru the Dardanelles to the Aegean Sea aboard...

Polaris
Capn Bob Kinnier

Slocum 43 Pilothouse Cutter

Summer 2006

Updated May, 2007

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Polaris cruised with the mast on deck all the way to the Black Sea

The 58 foot long mast over hung the bow and stern 7 feet on each end, making maneuvering in the small harbors and many locks very difficult.

Wonderful asparagus was in season early in the summer....beer and asparagus were consumed at every meal

Sausage, cheese, pasteries and of course BEER! You could almost feel the cholesterol surging in your veins

Germans and as well as most Europeans are chronic chain smokers... almost exclusively American brands. Given the food and the smoking, we couldn't help but wonder about life expectancy. On the plus side they walk and bicycle miles as a way of life.

The Bishops Schloss was the center of government and learning during the Holy Roman Empire

German engineering tends to have a Rube Goldberg flair.... this monstrous ship lift was built in place of a simple lock. Somebody obviously needed to keep somebody busy

After a week of the straight and narrow of the canals, we were now on the bustling Rhine River dogging ferry boats, barges and cruise ships

Koln was our first major tourist destination

The Rhine below Köln is highly industrialized and has little to offer in the way of scenery. Above Köln however begins the castles and wine country with magnificent scenery.

Looks like a great way to get around and stay dry

Sidewalk artists outside the Cathedral

Dog sleeps while master paints for dog food

The German Catholics are big on collecting bones. Almost every Cathedral contains alleged ancient relics

Pegels are the method used to measure the water level along the Rhine... used primarily by the barges at times of low water

Aachen, Germany
Aachen is perhaps my favorite place in Germany, this was the home of Charlemagne... founder of the Holy Roman Empire

The Aachen Cathedral has survived since the time of Charlemagne

Americans, Steve and Shannon celebrate in St Goar

No I didn't climb up there... a gondola takes you to the mountain top for panoramic view of the Rhine valley

Everyone was well behaved but security was at a peak

Here we go with the Rube Goldberg thing again... hope the guy above doesn't leak oil

Destination...
the Cradle of Western Civilization
Ephesus in Ancient Greece (now Turkey) was the starting point of the Silk Route to China and dates back to 800 BC

In the summer of 2006, Polaris cruised over 3,000 miles thru Eastern Europe from the Baltic Sea up the Rhine River to the Main River, across the continental divide, down the Danube to the Black Sea, thru the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles to the Aegean Sea

The course looks fairly straight forward but the rivers wind back and forth. Several days of river travel would result in just a few miles gained as the crow flies.

Scars still remain from World War II... the Germans have spent the last 50 years rebuilding their cities brick by brick

The first two weeks were cold, rainy and windy, but this soon gave way to very pleasant weather as we entered the Rhine River.

Many German cities had maps in Braille to enable the blind to "see" their town

A typical Bishop's Residence... remnants of the Holy Roman Empire

After the collapse of the Roman Empire about 500 AD, Europe sunk into the Dark Ages and was devastated by the Huns from the Asian Steppes. About 700 AD Charlemagne founded the Holy Roman Empire to protect western Christianity, now called Catholicism after the split with the Orthodox branch. Society was rebuilt from this point and the Middle Ages began.

This modern day ship lift picks you up in a bathtub and the elevator raises the boat 125 feet

An abandoned canal is now a museum of old barges

Many of these humungous cruise ships passed us several times as they went up and back down the Rhine and Danube as we plodded along

Turning onto the Rhine we struggled with a 3 to 5 knot current as a result of a late spring. We soon found old men with walkers on the bank pulling ahead of us. But we quickly learned to play the game and took the river bends on the inside where the current is slower... pretty soon we were doing a whopping 2 to 3 knots.

Köln (Cologne), Germany

The Köln Cathedral is the landmark of the city

The new headquarters for Polaris

Bicycles are a way of life in Germany for both fun and transportation

A hands on sculpture

Did I mention that we stopped for an occasional beer?

Outdoor cafes and BEER are a way of life

Castles on the Rhine

Scenic small towns dot the Rhine

The Rhine starts to pick up speed again as the river becomes narrower and shallower. River currents reached a maximum of 5 knots at Bingen

The summit of the Rhine is at Bingen... a 5 knot plus current requires many barges to seek a tow to get past this 1 mile stretch

Team Holland was out in full force

Rent-a-Bike... call a number, get a code to unlock it, ride around and drop it anywhere.

Haghia Sophia in Constantinople (Istanbul) was first built about 325 AD and is one of the first Christian churches....also one of the largest structures in the world until recent times.

The Roman Emperor Constantine in about 325 AD declared Christianity the Empire's religion and thereby changed the course of Western civilization

Over a month was spent visiting historic towns in Germany... tasting beer and eating wonderful German food

The first day of departure from Travemunde, Germany was meandering thru scenic farm land.

This scenic cruise quickly gave way to a week transiting tree lined, straight line canals with little to see. Due to the wake from constant barge traffic , it was untenable to tie along the canal walls in most places. Fortunately, there were usually marinas or yacht clubs to be found.

Although the canals tended to bypass major towns, we stopped and took the bus to visit places like Hanover

Celle is one of the best preserved Medieval towns in Germany

On this stretch of the trip, we usually found a yacht club or marina, but we had to improvise to fit a 43 foot sailboat with a 58 foot mast

"Reach out and touch somebody" Barge captains tend to treat "sportboats" with little respect

The basic navigation rule is biggest boat goes first. These guys are struggling against a current and heavy traffic with very limited maneuverability. To deal with the problem, they "Blue Board" which is a signal of the intention of the down bound boat to pass starboard to starboard.

Evening brings everyone out to the river front to see and be seen... and also to drink BEER!

Germany was hosting the World Soccer Games with visitors from all over the world attending.

For a month the crowds and police security were amazing. The Germans worked themselves into a frenzy as they reached the finals... and then lost. The whole country went silent as if someone had turned off the utilities.

Have kid will travel....

Bonn, Germany

This university was one long building that went on for a couple blocks

This model of a Roman Village shows that people lived then as those in the 19th century

Castle country begins south of Köln

The owners of these castles were known as the robber barons in Medieval times. They accumulated their wealth by collecting tolls on river traffic as well as plundering their friends and neighbors.

With the castles, the wine country begins