Kiel canal - part I
Motoring to the first lock on the canal, getting in quite quickly and motoring through a third of the way in brazing sun and no winds.
That was a warm day! Way too warm, actually.
I left Laboe around 8, arrived in front of the lock around 8:40, waited around just a few minutes before hearing the call on the VHF that it was time for leisure boats to get in. As I was rushing in behind the 3–4 others like me, I heard the bell indicating that the lock's door was going to close. Thankfully, I was through before it started to move properly, but that was a bit of an adrenaline rush I would have done without.
The lock itself passed really quickly, I was merely down taking springs (lines that help the boat to not move forward or back) that it was time to take them off and leave the lock. After that, well not much to talk about: the entire day on the engine, autopilots are officially forbidden, so I only put it on when it was a big long straight line without any bridge or boat around. That allowed me to grab stuff from inside the boat by going quick: already prepared sandwiches, more water, etc.
There was no wind that day, and also no shadows to hide from the sun. Despite sun cream, large sun hat and a lot of water, I was still completely smashed and borderline insulation when I reached Rendsburg at 3pm. So I stayed there, refill water and gas and after a decent rest, I went downtown on my bike to refill on food and snacks (there was a nice organic shop, I bought so much!).
In the evening I met my neighbour who was going the other way and was a Swedish-speaking German. We had dinner together, talking in Swedish about sailing and where we'd both been. That was a rather nice evening.
Feeling quite small in the lock next to that big stuff (that turned out to not be such a big stuff compared to some others I crossed in the canal).
Duckling family
Blue sky all day long and way too warm!
I learned that these boats can even move underwater if needed… They were all so near the water though, crazy…
In a lot of places on the canal there were some work to extend it a bit.
10 cm above the water, lazy one!
This one goes through the canal every day for tourists.
