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Farmer Mathias Schilling on the small island of Öhe near Rügen is more of a ferryman than a farmer. He gets by on his daily routine mainly with his barge, a chain ferry that he uses to transport his tractors, trailers and mowers across the water every day. However, the island farmer now urgently needs a new ferry. The old barge, which has been in the family's service for over 60 years, still does its job well, but it is tedious. It is now actually too small for his new trailers and tractors. The new, larger ferry has been ordered for a long time, but it just isn't ready. The daily trips from Mathias' private island of Öhe over to Schaprode on Rügen are still only possible with the old barge. The new bull for the pasture on Hiddensee, the sheep for the cattle dealer on Rügen, the urgently needed large beams for the new barge on the island, however, no longer fit on the old barge. So once again Mathias Schilling has to get through an entire farming season with the tried and tested old chain ferry. Always worried about whether the old diesel engine will still start. Is the jetty over on the island of Rügen blocked by a passenger ship again? Will the tractor and trailer even fit on it? And then there's this: when there is a strong southwest wind, the water in the Bodden is shallow. Then neither an old nor a new barge can sail! Because without a hand's breadth of water under the keel, nothing works for the island farmer. ______________________________________ The farm stories on ndr.de https://www.ndr.de/fernsehen/sendunge... The Nordreportage https://www.ndr.de/dienordreportage _________________________________________________ Our guidelines for comments: https://www.ndr.de/service/technische...