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The small boathouse on the Oker dam is a good 30-minute bike ride or 15-minute drive from Clausthal. Once there, a narrow path leads downhill to a wooden house. The doors are invitingly open, a few boats are parked outside and I can see some canoes in storage waiting to be taken out. Behind the boathouse is a terrace with chairs and benches where you can sit and relax. A new fence is also being diligently built there. Friederike Funke is the boathouse janitor. "I take care of everything organizational around the boathouse. That means renting out boats, hiring moorings or even renovations," she explains to me, pointing to the new fence being built by employees from the Technical Department. The Friends' Association, for example, has already supported some of the purchases and renovations. So it definitely doesn't get boring here - after all, there's always something going on at a boathouse like this.
In the distance, I can now see colorful kayaks floating on the water of the dam. From the terrace, I follow the steps that lead down to the shore. A few boats have been moored at the jetty there and the kayaks are just arriving. These are the students on the sports engineering course who are learning and testing out kayaking today. Philipp Jans is one of these students: He has been studying sports engineering for four semesters. As part of the seminar "Application of sports equipment and materials", each participant gave a presentation and wrote a seminar paper on a specific piece of sports equipment. Philipp, for example, dealt with the topic of kayaking. As a canoe polo player, he is already quite familiar with the boats and gave his fellow students a short introduction before they went into the water. "My lecture should have got the theory down. Nevertheless, I still explained how to sit in the boat, how to adjust the footrests and how to insert the paddle."
But the boathouse is not only open to students of sports engineering. Anyone can drop by, for example to hire sailing boats and surfboards or sign up for courses. You can currently sign up for yoga on a stand-up paddle board or windsurfing, for example. Another option is canoe polo, which both beginners and advanced can try out and play. However, beginners should attend the course in the winter semester: "It's a little easier to get a feel for the boat in the indoor swimming pool at first. There are no waves, no wind and the water is warm," explains Philipp and laughs. "In canoe polo, waves come up quickly and if you're not yet confident in the boat, you might fall into the water." But you shouldn't be afraid of the water either way.