I was built in 1972 in Germany. The Bicker family built me and all the boats the old
fashioned way, by hand and utmost care.I learned that I was the 83 th Wega built.
And they built a lot more lately; even today you can get a new Wega built almost the same
way. They did change the name to BIGA though, seems that a famous television company had
the name Wega registered and the small BICKER werft
didn't had the money to fight this. They rather built excellent boats instead of making lawyers rich.
When I was purchased by my owner Erika, there also was another owner whose name I hardly
remember, I think his name was Heinz Beckmann, I do remember that he was a big guy, he also liked
to drink quite a lot of beer, which was stowed in my bilge.
My home during the summer was the Moehne Lake.
It is a not really a very big lake, we had to make a lot of turns. I enjoyed my summers
there, I had a lot of fellow sail boats all around me. Even a few of my sister ships were at the
same slip. For a lot of years we had a pretty carefree time. During cold evenings I had a special
treat for my owners and their guests, a sherry bottle hidden in a special place. I made sure
there always was a sherry bottle for my owners. And those guys knew how to party !
But in the late 80's Erika's visits to the Moehne were getting less and less and I started to
wonder if she did not like me any more. But one day I overheard that she was in America and was
only coming home once or twice a year.
I panicked, what about me? Who is going to sail me now? Where is America? Why can't she come
every weekend like she did before?
I was devastated.
But then Ulla and Herbert started sailing me more and more, even Erika was still my owner, but
they were nice, too. I learned that they were friends of Erika and Karl. Life got slowly back to
normal. I did my weekly sailing routine with Ulla and Herbert and life was again perfect.
Once or twice in the following summers Erika came to visit and we had a great time.
In the winter in Germany I always got pulled out of the water and brought to this dark but dry
and clean pole barn building. There I was waiting with other boats for the temperature outside
would warm up and we could all go our separate ways and back into the water in spring.
During my years in Germany I made a few cool trips. One was to the Baltic Sea.
It was an adventure.
Yikes the water is pretty salty up there, and lots of BIG boats all around. And the wind,
Oh mei. Waves bigger than me. We sailed there for 4 weeks and stayed in many harbors.
I didn't like the big boats, they were looking down on me quite often, and asked if I didn't
feel frightened out there.
What do they know, I suspect they were just jealous about my teak deck and all the other
wood I have except of my hull.
After that vacation I went back to the Moehne Lake and had stories to tell to the other boats
in our marina. The other trip I made was to the Bodensee (Lake Constance). It's huge and can
also get pretty windy. I met a nice old but very beautiful wooden boat there.
Then all of the sudden my life turned upside down
I was in my winter barn dreaming of the wide oceans and adventures to come. Little did I know
what was just about to happen. Far away in the USA Thorsten (the son of Erika and Karl)
together with his wife Ulli were dreaming about sailing as well. They looked all over the
Internet and were shopping boats all over the USA. On one fateful evening they sat together with
Erika and Karl and sure enough were talking sailboats. All of the sudden they were talking about
me. Yes me, the old wooden boat, which was securely stowed away for the winter in Germany.
To make a long story short, Erika and Karl recognized that they didn't have the opportunity to
spend a lot of time in Germany and with me sailing. So they gratefully decided to give me to
their son and daughter in law.
I met that guy once, I think, some 20 or so years ago at the Moehne lake, he was visiting but
paid not much interest in me. At that time I still belonged to that other fellow. Anyway,
plans were made to ship me over to the USA.. Thorsten and Ulli paid for the transport expenses.
In Feb. 2001 Herbert came and got me out of the barn. He was tying things up, got new tires for
the trailer, and was busy like crazy to get me ready, ready for what I was thinking, as I didn't
know what was going on. It was cold and rainy and way to early to go to the lake.
Strange it was indeed.
Then a couple of weeks later I got hitched on to the car, and Herbert together with Ulla drove
me through a winter storm and on icy roads all the way to Bremerhaven.
I felt cold on the trailer driving so fast on German Autobahns and really thought the two must be
nuts bringing me to the North Sea. I remembered the smell of the salt laden air when we came
closer to Bremerhaven. They drove all the way to the big harbor and actually left me there,
after talking to a few people.
Geez its February, its rainy and cold and I was standing all alone with these funny square
things called containers. I was a little intimidated as those containers were all over the place
and I was the only boat right in between them.
A couple of days later an unbelievable thing happened.
I am still shuttering of fear when I think about this. Well, all those containers moved and
got shoveled all over with one of those HUGE cranes. And all of the sudden I had two straps
around my belly and the trailer I was resting on. The straps tightened and I lifted off.
Now I have been in a sling many times at the lake or during my trips. But this was different.
WAY different.
That huge crane lifted me up some 100 feet then 200 feet. I was lifted to some
unbelievable heights. I was flying all over the place. Very afraid I opened my eyes and could
see many ships, huge ones indeed. They were many times bigger than me. And actually I was
flying towards one. Before I could say anything I was placed right smack in the middle of that
huge container ship. Some folks came and tied the trailer down on one of the containers, as if
the trailer would go anywhere without a car in front. I thought those guys must be a little
stupid, but what did I know.
Later that same day the big ship left the harbor, me sitting right on top with a
beautiful view of the shore and the ocean and the bridge with the captain right behind me.
Very reassuring. Everything was fine until the waves got higher and
higher and the wind picked up. First I liked the wind and the rolling seas, but when it got
worse and worse I have to admit I got a little frightened. I heard the deckhands talking about
a huge depression right in our path. They actually checked on me and pulled the trailer a
little tighter. Now I understood why.
All hell broke loose the next day and I overheard the crew saying that 2 other
container ships just 2 days ahead lost half their cargo. Cargo? What is cargo.
I think I WAS CARGO.
Now I really was frightened.
With relief I overheard the captain saying, that they will make a 3-day detour
trying to avoid the worst of the storm. I was a little proud when he said, " we don't want to
loose that old boat " I think he liked me.
With a 3-day delay we arrived in Charleston. The harbor is by far not as big as
Bremerhaven, but still there were a lot of containers and again one of those high cranes.
Well now I knew what was happening, so I never even blinked when I was flying through the air.
Not too many boats can say that they crossed the ocean and were flying through the air some
hundred feet above the ground. The crane operator knew his stuff and put me down really gentle.
There I was in a foreign country all by myself, I felt a little homesick when the customs people
checked me out. What an adventure so far, but I couldn't believe my ears when I heard a familiar
voice. Erika and Karl were visiting me, how cool can that be. They actually hitched me to their
car after they had a few words with the customs people and drove all evening long. And they
drove all day the next day. They were actually driving away from the shore and I was wondering
where the trip would take me. After what seemed like a very long drive we arrived in Olney
where they drove to Thorsten's house and parked me there.
Thorsten and Ulli were ecstatic about me. They cleaned all the grit from my long trip, polished
my hull and cleaned some more. Ulli did some woodwork and I was feeling so great. The weather
was nice too, not too cold and not too warm, just about right. I was wondering when I would see
the lake they were talking so much of. Not before long I was on the road again, this time it
was a short trip though and I saw Lake Carlyle for the first time. Wow. Nice. It is much bigger
than the lake in Germany and so many sailboats.
I got pushed to the water and motored
around the little campground and now I could for the first time see my new home.
BOULDER MARINA at Lake Carlyle. I don't know how many boats were there already, but let me tell
you, a lot more than on the Moehne Lake. The marina is first class with wide piers, lights, and
electricity and a whole bunch of friendly other boats and their owners.
There I was right next to a 34 foot C&C called "Trouble Doll" and a 27 Catalina on my port side.
We had a couple of days talking about my trip. The other boats were talking in a different
language but I picked up rather quick, so that was no problem at all.
A problem however are those darn fish. Carps they are called, and they like to
suck on things, they actually suck on my hull and that makes quite a noise. Annoying to say at
least, but I think they are trying to eat the moss, and that's again pretty cool, as algae on
my hull makes me slow.
People in the marina like me a lot. They especially like my teak deck and all the wood.
Seems most the other boats are all plastic with only a few wooden accents. That's all right
with me as most boats these days are built that way. Even in Germany I was kind of special in
that respect. Just why are people always thinking that wooden boats are kind of slow and heavy?
They also always say: It looks nice but its soooo much work.
I think they are just a little jealous, as I am built with the finest woods and my builder
spend a lot of hard work on me, so the labor to keep me looking good is actually not as bad at
all.
Karl, Erika, Thorsten, and Ulli were coming and sailing with me. After a week relaxing in the
marina I was ready to sail. It felt so good to feel the wind in my sails, and I was flying
through the water with ease. Later Thorsten and Ulli sailed out with me all by themselves the
first time. They were semi afraid because Ulli had never been on a sailboat before and Thorsten's
sailing knowledge was dating some 25 years back.
But its like bicycle riding, when you have
done that once, you can do it somehow for the rest of your life.
