70 year old MS Lilly travels eight thousand sea miles to share her History
On the search for freedom, people often go on soul changing journeys: Climbing the highest mountain, exploring the wilderness or flying as high as nature allows. Everyone is trying ambitiously hard to find something, which has not yet been touched by another human being.
For Beate Schwippert and Günter Hertz the only true freedom lies on the open waters of the ocean. The German couple, who chose Namibia as their home country more than 20 years ago, recently underlined their own declaration. On an 8 month long journey over the Atlantic Ocean, from Germany to Walvis Bay, they found what everybody is looking for: A piece of their own freedom.
The Expedition however, was everything otherthan an ordinary trip on a luxury cruiser or a modern private yacht. Günter and Beate's journey was a journey like travelling through time. They managed, what they at first doubted to be possible and overpowered more than eight thousand see miles with a 70 year old museums-ship, established in the Second World War in Germany. A couple of weeks ago, they brought the former KFK-Navy Vessel, today known by the Name Lilly, safely into the Port of Walvis Bay. Now the couple, who previously stayed on a farm in northern Na-
mibia, wants to share a piece of the freedom they conquered, with us. When the current renovations are over and Lilly's facelift is complete, she will invite the public to share her history. "We would like to open something like a Museum-Café on the deck of the ship. A place for tourists and Namibians, which will be unique to Walvis Bay", reveals Günter Hertz. The details of their plan have yet to be developed, but the idea is something the couple had in mind a long time. "In Europe there are quite a few cafés and restaurants on boats and ships. It is however something completely new for Namibia", explains Beate. At first they thought of any old boat or ship they could get nearby, but nothing they found seemed right for their idea. Never, at that point, had they imagined what mission they would eventually undergo to realize their dream.
The journey lasted eight months and was not always easy. Instead of having a crew, Beate and Günter had no one else but their two German Shepherd Dogs Bronco and Brava, on board. "There were times when we really felt lonely, especially when we were at one stage on the water for six days without a stop and without a single other person to see or talk to", recalls Beate who shares the same passion for sailing since childhood with Günter. With nobody else on board to take care of the 100 ton heavy ship, they had to take three hour shifts in the wheelhouse night and day. "Unfortunately we could not sail, because most of the time the wind was not right. So we had to put all hope on the old engine", tells Günter, who would have loved to take the route around the east-coast of Africa if it weren't for the political problems in the north-east, making the route too dangerous to take.
Lilly is more than an old ship: She is the only vessel of the last known 29 former "Kriegs-Fisch-Kutter" (KFK), that still runs on her original engine. The KFK-Vessels where built by the order of the German Government at the beginning of the Second World War. The Mass Construction of 1072 KFK-Vessels in 1942 was the biggest shipbuilding progression in the history of German seafaring. The ships where build undercover as normal fishing vessels in 42 dockyards by seven different European countries. None of the countries knew at that point, that Germany would convert them into warships. Round about 135 of the KFK-Vessels sank during the war. Some were taken as spoils of war by the British marine. They were restructured and sold to different countries. Many vessels were later used as private yachts. Others served their original purpose as fishing vessels. Lilly, now a quiet and peaceful yacht had been known by the name Pollux with the number KFK 51 in times of war.
Günter and Beate were thrilled when they first saw Lilly. "We knew that this ship was perfect for our plans", tells Beate. It didn't take the couple long to make their decision and soon they called themselves the new owners of vessel Lilly. Now they just had to get the ship from Germany to Namibia, which turned out to be much more complicated than they had thought. "At first we wanted to transport Lilly with a container ship. But when we found out the high prices for such a transport, we were set back", says Günter. However there was one possibility left: As the engine was still working, a new plan slowly formed in Günter and Beates heads. Once it grew roots, there was no return. "Lilly is a beauty, and the first time we stood in the wheelhouse and looked over the deck, we knew we had to try", says Beate looking proudly at their ship, which is rocking quietly on the shallow water of the Walvis Bay Yacht Harbour. When one is standing behind the old wooden Steering wheel with its historic compass attached, gazing over the endless ocean, Beates words suddenly make sense. Time here doesn't matter anymore, Lilly has got her stories to tell, and will listen patiently to yours. She has two masts for sailing, an old fashioned captain's cabin behind the wheelhouse and a huge deck. In the hull there is a comfortable living room, a kitchen a bathroom, four cabins, and central heating. The Engine Room is enormous and it is unimaginable how Günter and Beate managed to keep an eye on everything without having a crew to help. The old fashioned engine looks as if taken directly from a Museum. "This is the only running engine of this type left. No Industry produces spare parts for it anymore. It was however, one of the best engines that was ever produced for a ship like this", explains Günter. The whole construction of the KFK-vessels is in fact known to be one of the firmest and toughest the shipping industry has seen so far in a vessel of this size. This would explain why old Lady Lilly at 70 years of age made the journey from Germany to Walvis Bay without even needing a walking stick.
At first Günter and Beate didn't really believe that they would manage the whole way. "We celebrated in every harbour", tells Beate laughing. The journey, however, was often everything but amusing. Only two hours after they left the starting point, the harbour of Flensburg, the engine broke down. "We thought this already would be the end! The engine was smoking, and when we wanted to open the sails, they were stuck. Even the anchor didn't work", tells Günter shaking his head, still overwhelmed that they made it anyway. The nearby Danish coastguard came to their rescue and brought them safely into the harbour of Gelting. After some struggle, they managed to get Lilly running again and continued their journey. Only to later realize, that this incident was far more innocuous as what had yet to come.
"When we left Europe for Africa, from Gibraltar to Tanger (Morocco), we experienced our first big shock. The contrast could not have been bigger. Where Gibraltar was organized and clean, Tangier was chaotic and sickening dirty", tells Beate. Apparently there where dead dogs and cows floating in the harbour and people where chaotically running around, some trying to come on board. Luckily the dog's didn't allow any blind passengers. "Our dogs helped us in so many ways, I don't know how we would have made it without them", says Beate giving Bronco and Brava a gentle pet on the head. Beate und Günter decided to turn around then and there and rather get the supplies they nee-ded back in Gibraltar.
But Tanger was not the last African harbour that greeted them as a nightmare. When the fresh water supply was close to empty, Beate and Günter steered Lilly towards Mauritania. Before they entered the harbour, Günter radioed the Mauritanian port authority to ask if they could enter the harbour to fill up their water tanks. "At first friendly, they told us, that it would be no problem if we paid 2000 Euro for entering the port and filling up the water", recalls Günter. Shocked about this unrealistic price, they decided to leave and head for another harbour. As it turned out, the choice was not theirs. When Günter radioed again and stated that the water was too expensive and they were no longer interested in landing at the harbour, the hospitality changed. "I was told friendly but firmly, that I should re-think my decision as we by now have entered Mauritanian waters and therefore already owe them a sort of entering fee. As I looked over my shoulder, a navy vessel showed up behind us, blocking the way into the open water. At the port, soldiers with machine guns showed up. We understood this wink quickly, paid the ridiculous price for some dirty water and left as fast as we could", recalls Günter.
Nevertheless not only humans, also nature took its toll. Beate and Günter experienced some bad storms on their journey. "At times it could get really scary, as we were the only two people on board and so dependent on the safety of the each other. Sometimes the waves formed huge walls of water and other times the ocean seemed to be cooking", tells Beate. Then, at one of these storms, Beate's terror was getting reality; Günter got injured and lost a part of his finger. "The cabin door was slammed by the strong wind and my thumb was in between", he tells and shows his mutilated thumb. "We were two and a half days away from Luanda and so Beate had to freeze the piece of thumb that was cut off, in the hope it could be re-attached." Luckily they reached Luanda without Günter getting an infection. But once in the capital, they had trouble finding and getting to a hospital fast enough. Eventually the finger piece could not be re-attached and Günter has to wear the stamp of their journey for the rest of his life.
On the other hand there were times that made up for the trouble they had. Sao Tome for example was one of Beate's favourite experiences. "At the equator we had our crossing-the-line ceremony. Sao Tome and the ocean around the island was breathtankingly beautiful. The water was so clear, that it sometimes seemed as if the ship was floating in the air", she remembers. Besides the few unfriendly incidents, Beate and Günter also remember a lot of hospitality and meeting some very interesting people. "In Angola people were really friendly. In Lubito for example, they were so happy to see visitors, that they didn't even charge us any port fees", tells Günter. Most surprising for Beate and Günter, however, is the fact that from all the harbours they've seen since they left Germany, Walvis Bay still offers the best service to sailors. "No other African and even a lot of European ports we've seen on our trip offered the things we needed. On the day of our arrival, we found everything in Walvis Bay that we were having so much trouble getting on our journey", praises Günter. Although the couple is happy to be home, they both know, the freedom of the ocean will call them out again someday. Old Lilly however, for now has reached her destiny. Beate and Günter both agree: "There is no better place for Lilly to tell her stories."
Sybille Muhle
For Beate Schwippert and Günter Hertz the only true freedom lies on the open waters of the ocean. The German couple, who chose Namibia as their home country more than 20 years ago, recently underlined their own declaration. On an 8 month long journey over the Atlantic Ocean, from Germany to Walvis Bay, they found what everybody is looking for: A piece of their own freedom.
The Expedition however, was everything otherthan an ordinary trip on a luxury cruiser or a modern private yacht. Günter and Beate's journey was a journey like travelling through time. They managed, what they at first doubted to be possible and overpowered more than eight thousand see miles with a 70 year old museums-ship, established in the Second World War in Germany. A couple of weeks ago, they brought the former KFK-Navy Vessel, today known by the Name Lilly, safely into the Port of Walvis Bay. Now the couple, who previously stayed on a farm in northern Na-
mibia, wants to share a piece of the freedom they conquered, with us. When the current renovations are over and Lilly's facelift is complete, she will invite the public to share her history. "We would like to open something like a Museum-Café on the deck of the ship. A place for tourists and Namibians, which will be unique to Walvis Bay", reveals Günter Hertz. The details of their plan have yet to be developed, but the idea is something the couple had in mind a long time. "In Europe there are quite a few cafés and restaurants on boats and ships. It is however something completely new for Namibia", explains Beate. At first they thought of any old boat or ship they could get nearby, but nothing they found seemed right for their idea. Never, at that point, had they imagined what mission they would eventually undergo to realize their dream.
The journey lasted eight months and was not always easy. Instead of having a crew, Beate and Günter had no one else but their two German Shepherd Dogs Bronco and Brava, on board. "There were times when we really felt lonely, especially when we were at one stage on the water for six days without a stop and without a single other person to see or talk to", recalls Beate who shares the same passion for sailing since childhood with Günter. With nobody else on board to take care of the 100 ton heavy ship, they had to take three hour shifts in the wheelhouse night and day. "Unfortunately we could not sail, because most of the time the wind was not right. So we had to put all hope on the old engine", tells Günter, who would have loved to take the route around the east-coast of Africa if it weren't for the political problems in the north-east, making the route too dangerous to take.
Lilly is more than an old ship: She is the only vessel of the last known 29 former "Kriegs-Fisch-Kutter" (KFK), that still runs on her original engine. The KFK-Vessels where built by the order of the German Government at the beginning of the Second World War. The Mass Construction of 1072 KFK-Vessels in 1942 was the biggest shipbuilding progression in the history of German seafaring. The ships where build undercover as normal fishing vessels in 42 dockyards by seven different European countries. None of the countries knew at that point, that Germany would convert them into warships. Round about 135 of the KFK-Vessels sank during the war. Some were taken as spoils of war by the British marine. They were restructured and sold to different countries. Many vessels were later used as private yachts. Others served their original purpose as fishing vessels. Lilly, now a quiet and peaceful yacht had been known by the name Pollux with the number KFK 51 in times of war.
Günter and Beate were thrilled when they first saw Lilly. "We knew that this ship was perfect for our plans", tells Beate. It didn't take the couple long to make their decision and soon they called themselves the new owners of vessel Lilly. Now they just had to get the ship from Germany to Namibia, which turned out to be much more complicated than they had thought. "At first we wanted to transport Lilly with a container ship. But when we found out the high prices for such a transport, we were set back", says Günter. However there was one possibility left: As the engine was still working, a new plan slowly formed in Günter and Beates heads. Once it grew roots, there was no return. "Lilly is a beauty, and the first time we stood in the wheelhouse and looked over the deck, we knew we had to try", says Beate looking proudly at their ship, which is rocking quietly on the shallow water of the Walvis Bay Yacht Harbour. When one is standing behind the old wooden Steering wheel with its historic compass attached, gazing over the endless ocean, Beates words suddenly make sense. Time here doesn't matter anymore, Lilly has got her stories to tell, and will listen patiently to yours. She has two masts for sailing, an old fashioned captain's cabin behind the wheelhouse and a huge deck. In the hull there is a comfortable living room, a kitchen a bathroom, four cabins, and central heating. The Engine Room is enormous and it is unimaginable how Günter and Beate managed to keep an eye on everything without having a crew to help. The old fashioned engine looks as if taken directly from a Museum. "This is the only running engine of this type left. No Industry produces spare parts for it anymore. It was however, one of the best engines that was ever produced for a ship like this", explains Günter. The whole construction of the KFK-vessels is in fact known to be one of the firmest and toughest the shipping industry has seen so far in a vessel of this size. This would explain why old Lady Lilly at 70 years of age made the journey from Germany to Walvis Bay without even needing a walking stick.
At first Günter and Beate didn't really believe that they would manage the whole way. "We celebrated in every harbour", tells Beate laughing. The journey, however, was often everything but amusing. Only two hours after they left the starting point, the harbour of Flensburg, the engine broke down. "We thought this already would be the end! The engine was smoking, and when we wanted to open the sails, they were stuck. Even the anchor didn't work", tells Günter shaking his head, still overwhelmed that they made it anyway. The nearby Danish coastguard came to their rescue and brought them safely into the harbour of Gelting. After some struggle, they managed to get Lilly running again and continued their journey. Only to later realize, that this incident was far more innocuous as what had yet to come.
"When we left Europe for Africa, from Gibraltar to Tanger (Morocco), we experienced our first big shock. The contrast could not have been bigger. Where Gibraltar was organized and clean, Tangier was chaotic and sickening dirty", tells Beate. Apparently there where dead dogs and cows floating in the harbour and people where chaotically running around, some trying to come on board. Luckily the dog's didn't allow any blind passengers. "Our dogs helped us in so many ways, I don't know how we would have made it without them", says Beate giving Bronco and Brava a gentle pet on the head. Beate und Günter decided to turn around then and there and rather get the supplies they nee-ded back in Gibraltar.
But Tanger was not the last African harbour that greeted them as a nightmare. When the fresh water supply was close to empty, Beate and Günter steered Lilly towards Mauritania. Before they entered the harbour, Günter radioed the Mauritanian port authority to ask if they could enter the harbour to fill up their water tanks. "At first friendly, they told us, that it would be no problem if we paid 2000 Euro for entering the port and filling up the water", recalls Günter. Shocked about this unrealistic price, they decided to leave and head for another harbour. As it turned out, the choice was not theirs. When Günter radioed again and stated that the water was too expensive and they were no longer interested in landing at the harbour, the hospitality changed. "I was told friendly but firmly, that I should re-think my decision as we by now have entered Mauritanian waters and therefore already owe them a sort of entering fee. As I looked over my shoulder, a navy vessel showed up behind us, blocking the way into the open water. At the port, soldiers with machine guns showed up. We understood this wink quickly, paid the ridiculous price for some dirty water and left as fast as we could", recalls Günter.
Nevertheless not only humans, also nature took its toll. Beate and Günter experienced some bad storms on their journey. "At times it could get really scary, as we were the only two people on board and so dependent on the safety of the each other. Sometimes the waves formed huge walls of water and other times the ocean seemed to be cooking", tells Beate. Then, at one of these storms, Beate's terror was getting reality; Günter got injured and lost a part of his finger. "The cabin door was slammed by the strong wind and my thumb was in between", he tells and shows his mutilated thumb. "We were two and a half days away from Luanda and so Beate had to freeze the piece of thumb that was cut off, in the hope it could be re-attached." Luckily they reached Luanda without Günter getting an infection. But once in the capital, they had trouble finding and getting to a hospital fast enough. Eventually the finger piece could not be re-attached and Günter has to wear the stamp of their journey for the rest of his life.
On the other hand there were times that made up for the trouble they had. Sao Tome for example was one of Beate's favourite experiences. "At the equator we had our crossing-the-line ceremony. Sao Tome and the ocean around the island was breathtankingly beautiful. The water was so clear, that it sometimes seemed as if the ship was floating in the air", she remembers. Besides the few unfriendly incidents, Beate and Günter also remember a lot of hospitality and meeting some very interesting people. "In Angola people were really friendly. In Lubito for example, they were so happy to see visitors, that they didn't even charge us any port fees", tells Günter. Most surprising for Beate and Günter, however, is the fact that from all the harbours they've seen since they left Germany, Walvis Bay still offers the best service to sailors. "No other African and even a lot of European ports we've seen on our trip offered the things we needed. On the day of our arrival, we found everything in Walvis Bay that we were having so much trouble getting on our journey", praises Günter. Although the couple is happy to be home, they both know, the freedom of the ocean will call them out again someday. Old Lilly however, for now has reached her destiny. Beate and Günter both agree: "There is no better place for Lilly to tell her stories."
Sybille Muhle
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