Sailing Germany: Kiel Canal Transit

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• published: 05 Jun 2009
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On May 23rd we began our transit of the Kiel Canal (Nord-Ostsee-Kanal). We needed to go with the tide again to get up the river to the Brunsbüttel locks, but we also wanted to sleep in and use a little more of the wireless Internet we had paid for the night before, so we didnt leave until 10:45 a.m. With the current, our motor, and some wind, we made good time, reaching at locks around 1:00 p.m. Youre supposed to call for permission to transit when you get there, so I did that, all the while watching all the boats that had left ahead of us head into the lock. Whew! They told us to hurry up and get in there and they would wait. It was a full lock, and we rafted up with a Danish boat after squeezing past a huge motor yacht that was rafting with another huge yacht. Id been hoping to raft with the British boat Gulliver II that Id talked with the night before, but we couldnt manage that. One of the Dutch boats would have been good too. Mostly, I wanted to be able to communicate with the people a little. Of course, the Danes spoke English, and they were very nice, so it was no problem. The Kiel Canal is rather pretty. It is lined with trees with bicycle paths on both sides. There seem to be a lot of campgrounds along it too. All of the bridges are high with at least 40-meter clearance. It made us realize that we hadnt simply gone under a bridge since the Panama Canal; they always had to open for us. Motoring along at 5 knots, we were passed by all of the other boats who locked through with us. When there was wind, we used the jib for an assist, but inland like that, the wind is variable. We were headed for the marina at Rendsburg, but on the way there we passed a yacht club on the other side of the lake that said Gäste willkommen (guests welcome) and had a nice long, mostly empty guest dock. We went ahead and checked out the Rendsburg marina, but all that was left there were boxes, so it was an easy decision to return to the yacht club. As we approached BYC (which we stands for Büdelsdorfer Yacht-Club), a woman was standing on the dock to help with our lines. The people here are very nice, the rates are outstanding (€1/meter per night plus €1 for power), and we decided to spend at least a second night. We wanted to see Rendsburg and do some provisioning before we continue. The BYC has bikes that they loan to guests for free to go exploring and shopping, and they have wireless Internet at the clubhouse for €1/hour. On May 24th we awoke to a beautiful, summer-like day at the very pretty Büdelsdorf Yacht Club. The club grounds are like a big backyard or small park, and theres another park across the river. You can see Rendsburg in the distance at the end of the lake, and we borrowed a couple of bikes and headed there to explore and get a bite to eat. Rendsburg is a really old town that was alternately Danish and German until it finally became permanently German in the 19th century. They dont seem to know when it was first founded, but it was first mentioned in 1199. Since we were kind of hungry, we ate at pretty much the first place we found once we got there. Then when we reached the old market square, we saw a restaurant with outdoor seating and a reasonably priced menu and wished we had waited. When we saw a German hotdog stand called Mister Bratwurst by a fountain in a lake, we just had to try that too. The brats were pretty good, but we probably don't need to do that again. On the way back to the boat, we stopped to do some provisioning. John wanted to explore German beers and picked about eight different ones to try at the Getränke (drinks) store. He also did a little shopping at the nearby Aldi (a German chain of value supermarkets), and when I returned beer bottles for the deposit, I tried the Rewe supermarket and really liked it. On the 25th we thought the day was too pretty to motor, so were decided to stay for one more night. However, strong winds kept us in Büdelsdorf until Friday, May 29th. That night we anchored in a little lake (Flemhuder See). On the 30th we set off again and made the eastern lock of the canal at Holtenau just before noon. Again we were the last boat in, and they started closing the gates as soon as we cleared them. This time we had to tie off at the pontoon ourselves. It was lower than I felt comfortable getting down to, so I took the helm and John handled the lines. The wind was on our nose, so it wasnt a problem, and a German woman from the boat in front of us helped and gave John directions to go pay the canal fee. It was only €35, a relative bargain as canals go. The yacht and fishing harbor where we spent that night and the next is called Möltenort, but the town itself is Heikendorf. Its a Baltic resort on the east side of the Kiel fjord across from the Holtenau locks of the Kiel Canal.