Experience Report 20 YACHTLINE – Elbe

When we visited the boat show in Leipzig in 2016, among the many brands and shapes on offer, a Drago 601 from Öchsner particularly caught our attention.

The size was right for us, the equipment was great and the space for the two of us was perfect. The weight and size of the boat was important to us because it has to be towable on rivers and lakes without slipping, which for us should become a horror show.

For two years I had been looking for a used boat that met these requirements.

So we decided to go to the Öchsner company in Kürnach and bought a new boat, now called 20 – YACHTLINE-! Mr. Küffner advised us very well on the necessary and useful equipment and Mr. Öchsner gave us practical instructions on the Main during the delivery of the boat in Kürnach in 2018.

In the same year, the Adriatic in the Croatian region around Trogir was cruised. In 2019 the trip went to Lake Maggiore, Feriolo / Baveno in the south of the lake.

In June 2020, Lake Garda was booked with apartment and float, but unfortunately everything was canceled due to Covid-19. At short notice, we decided to take a few days vacation on the Elbe in the Dresden area.

The port was the Dresden / Wachwitz sailing club. We found a suitable slip in Coswig, about 8 km below Dresden.

The Elbe Valley with the Elbe castles, the Blue Miracle, the Waldschlösschenbrücke, the old town with the Frauenkirche, the vineyards from Radebeul to Meissen and Albrechtsburg – all an unrivaled eye-catcher. And even upstream of the Czech Republic, with Pillnitz Castle, Saxon Switzerland, Königstein Castle and Bastei, there was no shortage on board. A wonderful view.

Unfortunately, there are few mooring options on the entire itinerary and no refueling facilities for the boats. Here the advice of Mr. Küffner from Ochsner was very helpful to have a large tank of 140 liters at the same time. By the way, we calculated an average consumption of 8 liters per hour with our boat.

For us newcomers to the river, even a damaged propeller was not a reason to interrupt our vacation. The Elbe is not very deep and cannot be compared to the Moselle and Rhine. Not unusual at a low tide of 1,8 meters on grassy ground and there were no dams and therefore no locks.

We are looking forward to 2021 and hopefully we will travel the Lake Garda vacation with the DUKE 20 -YACHTLINE-.

Thanks again to the Öchsner team from Kürnach.

With sporty greetings, Rita and Udo!