First cuckoo clocks and now this!

The incredible Magdeburg Water Bridge in Germany is a navigable aqueduct that connects the Elbe-Havel Canal to the Mittelland Canal , and allows ships to cross over the Elbe River. At 918 meters, it is the longest navigable aqueduct in the world.

The Elbe-Havel and Mittelland canals had previously met near Magdeburg but on opposite sides of the Elbe. Ships moving between the two had to make a 12-kilometer detour, descending from the Mittelland Canal through the Rothensee boat lift into the Elbe, then sailing downstream on the river, before entering the Elbe-Havel Canal through Niegripp lock. Low water levels in the Elbe often prevented fully laden canal barges from making this crossing, requiring time-consuming off-loading of cargo.


Construction of the water link was started in the 1930s but due to World War 2 and the subsequent division of Germany the work remained suspended until 1997. The aqueduct was finally completed and opened to the public in 2003. Six years, 500 million euros, 918 meters long ... now this is engineering!

Photo taken on the day of inauguration

Here's one for all you armchair engineers and physicists:

Question: Did that bridge have to be designed to withstand the additional weight of ship and barge traffic, or just the weight of the water?

Answer: It only needs to be designed to withstand the weight of the water! Why? A ship always displaces an amount of water that weighs the same as the ship, regardless of how heavily a ship may be loaded.

RIVERBEND for sale

You have to live somewhere - it may as well be Paradise!

Here's a bit of an advertisement on my own behalf: the sale of our 7-acre-plus property "Riverbend" with almost 400 metres of absolute waterfront near Batemans Bay on the South Coast of New South Wales. For more information go to www.nelligennet.com.

It's the sort of property that is usually passed down the family as there are only a few like it on the Clyde River. I have been here for 18 years and for me it's time to move on - regrettably! - as we plan to live for part of the year in Kalimantan (Borneo) in Indonesia which makes it near-impossible to also maintain such a large property this far south.

The price - for those who can afford it - is very realistic as nearby unimproved waterfront blocks just 1500 square metres in size and with as little as 19 metres of waterfront have recently sold for $750,000. By contrast, "Riverbend" consists of eight titles, comprising approx. 29,200 square metres (see map), is on sale for $2 million, lock, stock and barrel. For those who feel a little financially challenged, I can offer very substantial vendor's finance on below-bank finance terms.

If you're interested, contact me by email to

riverbend[AT]batemansbay.com

The sun is over the yardarm ...

... and my arms, after a lifetime of pushing paper, are aching from pushing wheelbarrows full of soil. It's time for a tipple of red while watching the comings and goings on the river.

Now that we've had our first day of spring and are into September, this is no longer an august blog as I ready myself to join in another great boating season.

"There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats." - Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows.

Or for that matter, watching other people messing about in their boats.

Is there a bad apple in the Big Apple?

I seem to have a follower of my blog in New York. Are you that bored in your retirement, Des?


If you want to find out how the poor people live, simply click here.

Shitless no more!

There's something wrong with this blog's heading
but I'm too dyslexic to work it out!

I drove into the Bay this morning for some shopping and to talk to my Retirement Planners & Consultants, Fishmore & Dolittle. To help me take my mind of the financial gloom and doom, they suggested that I join the Batemans Bay Men's Shed, a merry bunch of old codgers who make all things wooden: bird boxes, garden benches, picture frames, wooden spoons - you name it, somebody there makes them.

It was still early when I turned up at the Shed. Only three men were there. I knew I was in the right company when Ian, evidently the leader, hailed me with a hearty "Windy, isn't it" to which one of his sidekicks replied, "No, it's Thursday." The third one, who had listend in, piped up, "So am I! Let's grab a beer."

Well, how could I resist? I've joined up and I am shedless no more! Who said dyslexia wasn't curable?

(Actually, I do have a shed but mine is a man's shed whereas theirs is a men's shed and therein lies the difference because it's always more fun doing things together, isn't it?)


Of course, the most important reason for my going into the Bay was to buy a new water filter for my aquarium. Sounds fishy? You bet! This aquarium hasn't seen a fish for over ten years and it's about time it was put back into use (as if I didn't have enough other things to do already!)



Now the air bubbles are bubbling, the water filter is filtering, and the heater is heating it all to a comfortable 20° Centigrade - the little fishies will love it when I get them next week.