NaCzarter Team
· Updated
The route west of Gizycko: Tajty, Boczne and the way to Mikolajki
This is the calmest stretch of the Great Masurian Lakes you can cover from Gizycko in a few days. Less open water than up north, a marina every few miles, and every leg can be shortened or abandoned without wrecking the whole plan. You leave Kisajno, pass the swing bridge, cross Niegocin and enter an area where the wind has no room to build. For a crew sailing here for the first time, with children on board or only four days to spare, this beats heading straight for Sniardwy.
Day one starts with the bridge, not with coffee
If you start from Port Royal on Kisajno, your first obstacle is the swing bridge in Gizycko. It opens at set times and it sets the shape of your day, not the other way round. At the height of the season a queue of yachts forms before each opening, so either you are in it early or you sit and watch. Check the times before the trip: the Gizycko swing bridge and its opening hours. Five minutes of homework ashore that saves the first day of the cruise.
Inside the canal you move slowly, under engine, with fenders out on both sides. Traffic can be heavy. If you are on a houseboat, remember that the high freeboard catches a beam wind and can push you sideways between the quays faster than you expect. Keep your speed to a minimum, but high enough for the rudder to still bite.
Niegocin is a crossing, not a destination
Past the bridge Niegocin opens up, and it is the most exposed part of this whole route. In a westerly you punch half the lake bow-first into the chop and half the crew has had enough very quickly. There is nothing dangerous about it, it is simply wet and noisy. That is why you make this crossing in the morning, while the water is still asleep. There is more on the character of this lake in our guide to Lake Niegocin.
Your heading: the western end of the lake and the canal leading through to Tajty. Canal again means engine, slow and attentive. There is room to pass, but not much of it.
Tajty: this is where the route really begins
Tajty is a lake where we currently have 41 boats, and that says a lot about the area. It is sheltered, it has several decent marinas and the distances are short. You can moor at the Hotel Tajty marina in Wilkasy, at Yacht Port Piekna Gora, at Port Wrony or at Port Koncha. The hops between them are short, so if it blows you never have to push on.
This is also where a crew first finds its rhythm. Coming into a berth on piles or on a mooring line, boathook in hand, the mooring line picked up at the stern and walked forward along the side to the bow. On Tajty you will do it several times in a row in different marinas, and after two days nobody shouts on the approach any more.
Option one: the loop through Boczne and Rydzewo
From the Tajty and Niegocin area you drop down to Lake Boczne. We have 27 boats there, and it is a lake with a completely different feel from the main route. Quieter, fewer passenger boats, the shores closer. Marinas: Port Zielona Zatoka and Port Sun Bila in Bogaczewo, and in Rydzewo the „Tlo dla mew”. Rydzewo is a typical Masurian village on the water, good for a day without sailing.
This loop is two or three easy days. You come back across Niegocin to Gizycko, under the bridge again, and you are at base. Ideal when your booking runs Saturday to Saturday and you want to spend half of it swimming rather than on watch.
Option two: further south, to Mikolajki
If you have a full week and the crew has hit its stride, from Boczne you take the canal to Jagodne and carry on south. Jagodne is long and narrow, the wind lines up along the axis of the lake, so it either pushes you along or blows straight into the bow. Then Szymoneckie and the entrance to Talty, with Rynskie right next door. This section has a different character: high banks, forest running down to the water, plenty of passenger boat traffic. We covered it separately in our guide to Talty and Rynskie.
From Talty to Mikolajki there is one leg left. Mikolajki in July is crowded, a berth is worth confirming in advance, and you often enter the town in a queue. On the other hand, after a week on the water the crew walks in there as if coming home.
The legs at a glance
| Leg | Character | What to watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Kisajno, swing bridge, out onto Niegocin | short, harbour work, under engine | bridge opening times and the peak-season queue, heavy traffic in the canal |
| Niegocin, the crossing westwards | the most open water on the route | westerly straight into the bow, the chop builds fast in the afternoon |
| The canal to Tajty | narrow, slow, attentive | beam wind on a high freeboard, tight passing |
| Tajty | sheltered, plenty of marinas close together | motorboat traffic in season, shallows near the shores |
| Boczne and Rydzewo | quiet, intimate, slow pace | little room to manoeuvre in the small marinas |
| Jagodne, Szymoneckie, Talty | long, narrow, scenic | wind along the axis of the lake, passenger boats |
| Talty, the run into Mikolajki | a busy finish | a packed marina, worth booking a berth ahead |
The biggest advantage: you can turn back and still have a good day
That is the heart of this route. On big water the decision to leave port can be final: once you are in the middle of Sniardwy and it gets up, there is nowhere to run. Here there is. You leave the marina, you see the waves building, you turn round and go back to the same berth or to the next marina a little further on. Nobody is disappointed, because the day's destination was within reach anyway.
That is why we recommend this side of Masuria to crews with no experience and to families with small children. If you are starting from scratch, have a look at our round-up as well: your first cruise and a route for beginners.
Two technical points to finish. A charter yacht carries an anchor rope, not a chain, so plan a night at anchor only in a sheltered bay and with an anchor light. Rubbish and sewage are handed in at marinas, because this is a protected area, and you only light a barbecue where there is a designated spot for it. The deposit is refundable and settled on site, in cash, when you take over and hand back the boat. Mandatory fees, cleaning for example, are also paid at the base rather than online.
Frequently asked questions
How many days does this route take? The loop through Tajty and Boczne and back to Gizycko is a comfortable four or five days. A full week gives you a spare day to sit out bad weather. The version that reaches Mikolajki and comes back fills the whole week, with no slack for lazing about.
Can you reach Mikolajki this way? Yes. From Boczne you drop down to Jagodne, then through Szymoneckie to Talty, and from there straight to Mikolajki. It is a normal navigable route, with no lock on this stretch. You just have to reckon with the traffic and with the fact that a berth in Mikolajki at the height of the season can be worth its weight in gold.
Is it a good route for a first cruise? In our view the best one around Gizycko. The distances are short, there are plenty of marinas, and just enough open water to feel the lake without being frightened by it. On a licence-free boat such as the Sun Camper 35 Flybridge or the Nautiner 40 you can take this on with no certificate and no prior experience. A skipper can be hired as a paid option if you want someone on board for the first day.
What if I miss the bridge opening? Nothing dramatic. You wait for the next one, and since Gizycko has places to tie up and places to eat, the time is not wasted. The worse idea is to race for it at the last moment and enter the canal in a crowd, with a nervous crew on the lines. Better to push the plan back by one opening and go in calmly.
Cover photo: Original uploader was IQcyco — CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
