River Profile

The Martwa Wisła is a former estuary branch of the Vistula. It became “dead” after the Przekop Wisły Canal was built in Świbno and the main river mouth cut off by means of locks in Przegalina and Pleniewo. The latter was dismantled after the war. The Martwa Wisła constitutes an important watercourse and enables reaching Gdańsk from the side of the Vistula, bypassing Gdańsk Bay.

The Wisła Śmiała emerged in the winter of 1840, when waters blocked by ice broke through the strip of seaside dunes. Until the digging of the Przekop Wisły Canal in 1895, this was the main mouth of the Vistula. It is also called the Śmiała Wisła Gorge or the Śmiała Wisła Broads.

The Motława is a river crossing the Gdańsk Żuławy Gdańskie and flowing into the Martwa Wisła at the Polish Hook (Polski Hak). The Żuławy Loop includes only the final stretch of the Motława, in Gdańsk. The remaining part of the river is described in the chapter Kayaking the Loop.

Navigational Information

Ship traffic
Watch out for water traffic along the entire route – including sea ships, tugs, pushboats with barges, and other professional vessels. Since inland waterways meet maritime fairways here, the navigational marking along most of the route is compatible with sea marking.

Bridges
The Martwa Wisła route begins at the Przegalina Lock. The permanent bridge beside the lock is a drawbridge since the summer of 2012. There is also a pontoon bridge on the route, in Sobieszewo, and permanent ones after the Stogi district: a cable-stayed bridge, a swing railway bridge (not opened), and the Siennicki Bridge . The final stretch of the Martwa Wisła is port waters and the Polish Hook. In the turning basin, at the Polish Hook, there are four directions to choose from:

1.To the north, along the Kashubian Canal – through port waters to Wisłoujście, Westerplatte, and  Gdańsk Bay.

2. To the west, down the “real” Martwa Wisła – through the former areas of Gdańsk Shipyard and the Port of Gdańsk (navigation prohibited), and back to the Kashubian Canal near Westerplatte.

3. Going south, you enter the Motława, which takes you to the Old City of Gdańsk and to Marina “Szafarnia.”

4. To the east, you turn back to the Martwa Wisła in the direction of Górki Zachodnie, Sobieszewo, and Przegalina. Shoals occur beyond the fairway on the stretch between the Przegalina Lock and the bridge in Sobieszewo. After Górki Wschodnie, there is a narrowing several hundred metres long, where the Pleniewo Lock used to be. With unfavourable wind, tacking may be difficult here. Then the river is broad again until the cable-stayed bridge. There are numerous yacht harbours and ports on the route. In 2012, the harbour of Błotnik was opened near Przegalina. A kilometre from the lock, mooring is possible in harbours near Sobieszewo as well as in the yacht ports of Górki Zachodnie, Stogi, and Rudniki districts. The harbours have boatbuilding, motor repair, and sailmaking shops. There are slipways there and cranes for launching yachts.