The Kiel Canal

We arrived at the western entrance to the Kiel Canal around 5:30 in the morning. The sun hadn't risen yet, but we had enough light to see where we were going. I woke the kids up because they didn't want to miss the "boat elevator." We called the lock master who directed us to enter "Kiel Canal Eins," the older and smaller lock, separate from the huge lock for commercial ships. 

The locks closing on the Elbe River

Locks can initially seem daunting--there are rules as to when to enter, where to tie up, how to tie up, and then there is the notion of lots of rushing water raising your boat (or lowering it). In practice, however, they are simple. We entered the lock area, motored alongside one of the floating docks, I jumped off, and Freja tossed me the lines. I ran each line through a metal ring on the dock and handed the bitter end back to Freja. Hans tied them off on board, I got back aboard, and we waited for the opposite entrance to open. Because we entered at high tide, there was no noticeable difference in water level between the Elbe River and the canal. That was disappointing for the kids because we've been in other locks that significantly raised or lowered the boat. The lock opened, we motored into the canal, and Hans and I switched watch. He went down below and slept for a few hours while I steered us along the first half of the canal. 

It could have been a rather boring day, but after four days and three nights at sea it was blissfully calm, quiet, and uneventful. We saw other sailboats and some powerboats and quite a few big ships. The canal narrowed in places and the big ships had to take turns to go through the skinny sections. There were some dairy farms and the fresh smell of cow manure immediately brought me back to July days in Vermont.

Big ships, a canal in Germany, meh. Breakfast is more important!

We arrived at the end of the Kiel Canal in the mid-afternoon and had to wait about 45 minutes until we could enter the lock. While we were waiting, the sailboat the "Black Pearl" also entered the waiting area. The "Black Pearl" had been behind us in the English Channel and then overtook us along the coast of the Netherlands in the middle of the night. We watched their speed on AIS so knew they were faster than us and that they had also continued sailing and gybing in the middle of the night when we gave up and turned the engine on. When we saw them, we understood why--the "Black Pearl" was a true carbon fiber racing sled and had a crew of 8 adults. It did not explain, however, why they never answered us on the radio, not even when they overtook us only a few boat lengths away in the middle of the night. Maybe they didn't have a radio? 

In the lock in Kiel at the entrance to the Baltic Sea.

When the lock opened in Kiel, we let go of our lines and motored out into the Baltic Sea. We were greeted by a rainbow and truly felt like we had passed a milestone in our new cruising life.

It was hard to find solid information on the Kiel Canal, but this personal blog proved extremely helpful to us: https://www.take5sailing.com/sailing-the-kiel-canal/

Thank you Take 5 Sailing!