Czech Republic

Arriving in Prague, Czech Republic

Having battled the strong currents from Magdeburg, we had been advised that the current decreased after the border.  No such luck for Ruda in this rainy spring though, so she pushed on at a very slow rate until she gained the calm waters of the Labe above the first lock on the river before turning onto the Vltava to enter the outskirts of Prague a few days later. The city was a splendid sight, with Pražský Hrad, seat of the Kings of Bohemia and the world’s largest castle complex, watching over a flotilla of steamboats as they passed beneath the arches of the Charles Bridge. 

Ruda found herself an excellent berth at a friendly yacht club, situated out of the river’s flow, which turned out to be extremely fortunate as the rain began to fall and large swathes of central Europe flooded.  Prague itself fared reasonably well as the city’s flood defences held tight, but this was not the case upstream or downstream of the city, or of large parts of Germany, Austria and Hungary.  Although the entire boatyard was flooded to a depth of several metres, Ruda sat tight and ‘weathered the storm’.  Downstream, a section of canal gave way and several locks were damaged, causing the navigation to be closed for the entire summer.

Ruda’s crew considered it to be no hardship at all to be captive in such a place. They explored the streets of one of Europe’s most lovely cities, examined the fascinating architecture, and drank excellent beer. When the heat of the summer became a little too much they took the kayak to Plzeň and paddled down the Berounka river through central Bohemia back to Prague. When the rain stopped they took a bus to Lednice-Valtice in the Moravian wine growing region, and travelled to the source of the Vltava to hike across the Krkonoṥe mountains to Snĕžka - the highest point in the Republic. 

At the beginning of September the Vltava navigation officially reopened, but by then there was not enough water in the German Elbe to float Ruda so she stayed put for a while longer. Eventually, October brought the first frosts and the prospect of the Vltava locks closing for a month of maintenance work. It seemed the moment had come to bid farewell to this beautiful city and new-found friends, and begin the journey towards a winter berth in London.