Covid-19 and the consequences: Divided Germany: Why some cripple, others don't

Yes, there are issues that are far more important these days than the question of when yachts can take to the water and we can sail again. Nevertheless, it is understandable that the coexistence of resolutions and their sometimes differing interpretations is causing annoyance. After all, even in normal times at the beginning of spring, there is a state of emergency in winter storage and at service centres as soon as the temperatures become milder.

We are currently receiving dozens of enquiries about this. There are heated discussions and comments on social media as to why sailing is being restricted so rigidly, especially in the north of the country. Confusion and annoyance are likely to increase with each passing day, because in some places boats are already hanging in the crane straps and moored at the jetties, while elsewhere there is a wintery emptiness in the harbours. How does this fit together? Here is the background:

The federal states have imposed extreme restrictions on leisure activities. These affect clubs, sports facilities, campsites and, on the North and Baltic Seas, marinas to a large extent. At the same time, however, the economy is to be largely maintained in order to jeopardise as few jobs as possible.

This leads to the indeed contradictory situation that shipyards have long since started winterising, as is usual at this time of year, while municipal and club marinas are at a complete standstill in some cases. In two to three weeks' time, you will see fully occupied jetties in front of the service centres in Kappeln on the Schlei or in Heiligenhafen, for example, with deserted club facilities right next to them in an end-of-season mood.

For the time being, even those owners whose yachts are already ready to sail will not be allowed to sail. This is because this is prohibited by the general decrees of the federal states, which prohibit any "tourist activities" that include the use of one's own boat. However, they will be able to leave immediately if the regulations to contain the coronavirus are relaxed - whenever this happens. Those who spend the winter in the clubhouse, on the other hand, will have to prepare for a somewhat longer forced break.

Falk Morgenstern, Managing Director of the Baltic Sea Resorts in Kröslin , a harbour near Wolgast in the far east of Germany, is currently bringing ships into the water every day with his service crew - "almost like every spring". However, due to the pandemic and the risk of infection, he has asked the owners to refrain from visiting altogether or at best to accompany the crane work from a distance. He wrote in an email:

"We will continue to operate the crane, but ask you to keep a minimum distance of 2 metres between you and our employees. In this context, we offer to crane your ships without your presence, set masts and move them to your berth."

In order to avoid a complete loss of staff in the event of a Covid-19 infection, Morgenstern only allows his colleagues "to work in fixed teams of two that do not change". That is the big difference to a sick day at a club, for example. "They have 50, 100, 200 people in a heap for one or two days."

So far, the measures have been "largely met with understanding" by customers, according to the marina operator. Although they cannot access their boats for the time being, the owners have reacted "mostly very calmly".

This is also the case in southern Germany, as Sonja Meichle from Ultramarine in Kressbronn on Lake Constance reported to YACHT online. No wonder: the restrictions there are far fewer overall.

"Everything is running as normal for us," says the boss, who is a member of the executive committee of the German Water Sports Industry Association, but immediately adds: "For now!" This is because nobody can currently rule out the possibility of further restrictions.

While municipal harbours remain closed and craning in club harbours is only possible with restrictions, at Ultramarin owners are even allowed on the boats themselves, for example to attach the main boom and sails. Nevertheless, the coronavirus pandemic has left its mark all over the company's premises: Hygiene measures have been tightened, and the speciality store is now only allowed to offer a hull range of antifouling, care products and other products in a demarcated and greatly reduced area.

After all, sailing is permitted on the Swabian Sea - but no longer across the border to Austria and Switzerland, says Sonja Meichle. Owners from these countries who have kept their yachts at Ultramarin over the winter must therefore also take a break. They will not be able to board until further notice due to the border closure.

Patience and equanimity, it seems, will be highly sought-after virtues in the coming weeks.