We followed the last harbourmaster’s suggestion and navigated all the way past Mainz into the “Schierstein Hafen” at the outskirt of Wiesbaden.
Schierstein harbour looks almost like a lake and at its edges lay 7 different yacht, swimming and rowing clubs. We made fast at the guest pontoon of the WYC, the Wiesbaden Yacht- Club. The wooden clubhouse is a transformed boathouse with a homely dining room, bar, toilets and shower. It also contains a little museum of the club’s boating history. The enthusiastic wife of the “boatsman”, as the manager of the club is called here, booked us in, and after showing us around didn’t let us go before giving us 3 hardcover books of the 50 year anniversary of the club to take back to Australia.
Returning to our boat, we saw three men on a sailing yacht being serenaded by an 87 year old guitar playing sailor from a neighbouring yacht. We learned that this was a farewell song for the men who would be setting from here to the Baltic Sea the next day. We also learned from the trusted Elke that you wish a departing sailor “a hand-span of water under the keel”. We wished that someone would have told us this before we damaged our prop!!!
At breakfast time the next morning, the pontoon was full of well-wishers and we joined the cheering and waving as the yacht left the harbour under seafaring melodies from a saxophone and the ringing of the club’s ship-bell.
Then off we went via bus to the centre of Wiesbaden. Wiesbaden is a so-called “Kurstadt”, a spa city, where already several kings and kaisers took to the healing waters and frolicked in the beautiful gardens. A statue of the German dramatist and poet, Friederich von Schiller, reminds of the cultural history in front of the old Kur Theater.
It was market day and so the place in front of the old town hall was crowded with fruit& veggie, meat and bread stalls - and of course the obligatory sausage and sauerkraut stands. Just as the rain started to huddle people together we were queuing for our “Bratwurst”, “Currywurst” and “Pommes”(chips).
We visited the cookoo-clock shop and strolled along the pedestrian areas
and in the afternoon I caught Austin and Jane again at their favourite activity.
