Monday 2nd June 2014 Lingen to Roelagebrug NL. 52kms 9 locks

Two cruisers in Meppen lock DEK

7.8°C Sunny but chilly. Happy Birthday to me, 65 today. Mike was up early and set off at 6.15 am. I got up just before he started the engine. He said an 80m empty had gone past the basin making the water lively just before we turned on to the main canal. Another empty 80m (called Sven) went past heading uphill. We were in sight of the first of the last three locks on the DEK when two cruisers appeared behind us, rapidly catching us up. We dropped down 3.7m in Varloh lock with them and watched them speed off into the distance on the 5.6kms pound. Corrado from Gronigen NL (80mx9.5m 1352T) went past, loaded, heading upriver, so we thought the cruisers must have gone down Meppen after the commercial came up it. We

Who untied the bow line too soon??

resigned ourselves to a long wait for the next lock. Surprise, surprise, the cruisers were milling around above the lock when we got there, waiting for the green light. They went in and had to wait a few minutes until we got there. Mike noted that the rising top end gate was a guillotine and rose vertically. Just the three of us to drop down Meppen’s 7.5m deep chamber, very, very slowly. The cruiser in front of us loosed off his bow rope (cruisers often put bow and stern ropes around the same bollard) and he turned broadside in the lock while waiting for the guillotine gate to rise. 10.3kms to Hüntel, no way we could keep up with the cruisers, so we didn’t waste diesel

Tanker and tug going into Huntel lock

trying. Through the river in Meppen there was a one way system operating, but only for boats longer than 71m. From the liftbridge (air draught 4.5m, so we wondered how often it got lifted – rarely we thought) there were signs to say swop sides for the winding narrow section. A cruiser came past heading uphill as the river came back in on our left. He seemed a bit bewildered that we were on the wrong side as he passed by on our starboard side. A push-towed tanker was moored on a quay on the right, he set off as we were passing him. Suanca (83.88mx9.54m 1664T) and tug Gino from Stralsund were

Behind Suanca & Gino in Huntel lock

roughly about 100m long; Gino’s hydraulic wheelhouse lifted up as they set off. It overtook us as we were passing the entrance to the old river where the Hase-Ems yacht club’s moorings were located, then lowered his wheelhouse for the next road bridge. On the next bend we met an uphill loaded boat called Marja from Groningen NL (67mx7.05m 704T). We followed the tanker into Hüntel lock; he went in very slowly. Down another 2.9m in the brick walled chamber. Last year we had to use the old lock (an ancient sloping sided chamber with timber dolphins and baulks) as they were doing repairs on this one. The tanker set up waves in the lock chamber

Below lock No5 Rutenbrock kanal

as he powered out of the lock and exited very slowly. A WSA tug and workboat were heading for the lock as we left. It was 11.40 am. We ran slowly downriver, no point in rushing as the lock keeper, who operates all the structures on the Rütenbrock kanal from his office by the bottom lock, has lunch from 12 – 12.30 pm. We moored on the pontoon below the lock and I started making lunch, Mike went to take some photos. The keeper came back early and called us into the lock (No.5) which was empty with bottom gates open. What a tiny lock (28m long by 6m wide) after all the ones we’ve been used to this year! The lock filled, lifting the boat 1.2m, and Mike paid 5€ (gone up from the 2€ it cost us last year) to the keeper who gave him a

Lock full No 5 Rutenbrock kanal

receipt. Mike lowered our mast down on to the roof and we carried on past the museum with its collection of lovely old boats and engines. A short wait for the first liftbridge and I went in to finish making lunch. A tjalk (less than the German max of 15m long) and a Dutch open motor boat went past heading downhill. Two cruisers were moored on pins next to a very steep overgrown bank by the liftbridge that caused us  (and Rosy) a long wait in 2004 while it was being rebuilt. Two more cruisers went past followed by an old steel boat with a very smoky engine. The latter wanted the middle, he didn’t get it as we had overhanging alder trees on our side and there

Tug at boat museum Rutenbrock kanal

was no way we were going through them. He moved over. Lock No 4 was empty but had red lights, so we hovered until a young man called us in. There was a van on the lockside and two men were working on the tail end liftbridge, one of them operated the lock from the control panel by the top end gates. The trees had grown so thick now that you could hardly see the former keeper’s house – a very elegant lady used to come out and press the buttons to work the lock before it was modified to work from the office by lock No.5. This lock has slightly sloping walls made with bricks in scallop shapes between metal uprights and tiny bollards along the lock edges. Vertical yellow-painted bars had been

More boats at the museum in Haren Rutenbrock kanal

added in this, the deepest lock on the canal, to thread ropes around for the 1.9m rise. We passed the next cruiser heading downhill, a Dutch one, on the next long straight. There was another cruiser coming down in lock No.3 so we had a short wait while it came out of the chamber, another one wanting the middle! Into the lock and rose 0.8m in no time (remotely operated from lock 5). Another Dutch cruiser came though the liftbridge 100m beyond the lock while we were coming up in it. The liftbridge closed again behind it, so we had a short wait while the keeper got the lock sorted before he lifted the bridge for us. Must be a bit hectic

Liftbridge Rutenbrock kanal

down at lock 5 with all these boats, never seen it so busy. On the run up to the last lock (No. 2 – No.1 is an old flood lock right on the border) Mike went in the cabin to phone the Citroën garage in Stadskanaal to ask them to order new brake discs for the Xsara. They’d got them in stock -164€ ouch! Into Lock No.2 and dropped down a mere 10cms. A guy on a scooter wearing a fluorescent jacket that had Brug & Sluis on the back of it operated the swingbridge for us. Our Dutch mobile lock keeper! Past the old Dutch customs post and quay, then Potze’s garage (selling diesel at 1,35.9€/litre now with a canalside pump) and had a short wait in the old flood lock while our

Lock No 4 Rutenbrock kanal

Dutch lock keeper had an animated conversation on his phone before opening the vertical lifting road bridge. Turned right on to the Compascumkanaal for a short distance to lock 7 with a liftbridge across the top end. Our keeper on a scooter was there to work the lock, with manually operated paddle gear and gates that he opened and closed using a very long boatshaft. An old man came out of the lock cabin and chatted with him while he worked. Another long animated phone call ensued. There was a cruiser below the lock with its bows almost on the gates – it backed off before the keeper wound one gate paddle to empty the lock. Down another 1.5m,

Scalloped brick walls and vertical bar for ropes Lock No4

slowly, and as we left the lock four cruisers piled in, what a busy day! Several more cruisers were moored below the lock, but they looked permanent. A short distance to the start of the Ruiten-Aa-kanaal and my turn to become bridge keeper as this canal is totally DIY. Took my key and a radio and stepped off to operate the liftbridge on a very busy road. The panel was all in Dutch but easy enough to follow, although I’m still not sure why there needed to be buttons to press indicating which way you were going, towards Ter Apel or towards Bourtange. Pressing towards Bourtange caused the

 barriers to come down, nothing else happened so I pressed “bridge up” and the enormous

Bottom end gates that open further into the
lock chamber than normal

structure opened, Mike brought the boat through, “bridge down” and it dropped the bridge back down and then opened the barriers. I took my key out of the panel (it won’t let you have it back until all is secured) and got back on the boat at the little wooden staging on the start of the quietest canal we’ve been on in ages. Although the town of Ter Apel is very close the canal was lined with trees on both banks that made it feel like we were going through woods. Saw the occasional cyclist or dog walker as we continued to the next bridge, a manually operated swing bridge (Leeds and Liverpool style) except it was key

Below lock No 2 Rutenbrock kanal

activated. Once the key was in I could lift the locking bars on the barriers, drop them and lock them again with the bar, then the bridge’s hydraulic jack lowered the deck and I could shove it open. A van appeared on the far side and once I’d closed the bridge and it had automatically jacked the deck back up, the guy from the van opened the far side barrier, once that was open I could open the one on my side and recover my key. Back on the boat at another little wooden landing stage. Mike checked the water depth with the echo sounder, 1.7m deep although the signs at the start of the canal said it was only 1m deep. The water was peat coloured, chocolate brown. On through the woods with birds singing loudly all around us. Around a left hand

Out of the Rutenbrock and on to the Compascumkanaal in NL

bend and we were at the next lock, Ter Apelersluis, with a liftbridge. The liftbridge was in the raised position, lock full with top end gates open and a red traffic light. I stepped on to the landing stage, put my key in the slot and turned it – we got a green light. The liftbridge had been damaged, probably by a farm vehicle that was too big for it, and had barriers across the road on both sides. Into the little lock chamber and looked for another key slot until eventually we remembered that there was a green button

Dutch lock keeper lock 7 Pole to shut gates

to press on a post by the lockside. I pressed it and got back on the boat while we dropped down another 1.7m, the lock chamber walls were made of large stones with no grouting so plants were growing in the gaps and water pouring out of holes as we descended. I had wondered if I should have stayed off the boat in case the key was needed again and we thought that was the case as it took the gates a very long time to activate and start to open. Out on to a different canalscape, now we had open fields on either side and farm houses surrounded by trees. There were two teenage lads fishing by the quay we were heading for at the next swingbridge,

Pole to heave the gate open 

Roelagebrug. They got into their 4x4 and drove off as we were knocking pins in the bank to tie up. Beyond the quay was a paddock with horses next to a farmhouse. It was 5.45pm the longest boating day we’d done for quite a long time, almost 12 hours. Glad to be in a quiet spot with no passing barge or cruiser wash. Not many boats come this way as the canal isn’t very deep and all the structures are DIY. We set the TV up and made a cuppa. I’d got two mossie bites! Mike said he’d leave fetching the car until the next day and we’d stay here while he did the brakes on the Xsara.

Moored at Roelagebrug Ruiten Aa-kanaal

 

Lock operating DIY

Ter Apelersluis Ruiten-Aa-Kanaal

Monday 26th May 2014 Ibbenbüren to Altenrheine. 17.5kms 2 locks

Ibbenburen hafen MLK

12.0°C Sunny spells and clouds, breezy in the morning. Clouding over after lunch, thunderstorms and torrential rain later. No one but us and the boat for sale (Blomholm) in the corner. Set off at 8.50 am and turned left on the last 4kms of the MLK. Met the first loaded boat by the first bridge, Aquarat (85mx8.15m 1199T) with a Dutch car on the roof but no flags (and no polish either, needed painting). Another was catching us up as we turned right at the junction on to the Dortmund-Ems-Kanal (DEK). Oriana (loaded) followed us round the corner to Bevergern new lock. There was a commercial already going down in the deep lock (8.1m fall) and Oriana went on the dolphins

Looking back up the MLK from KP0 junc with DEK

on the right, there was nothing for us to tie to and when two more loaded boats arrived we backed out of the lock approach, winded and went back to the junction. It was too windy to sit above the lock, the wind was gradually blowing us to the left with was a steeply sloping bank with rocks. Mike said the guy at the chandlery place speaks a little English we’ll ask where private boats are supposed to wait for the lock. The young man sent us another 500m towards Münster where there was a mooring place for sport boats (noted this one has an electricity box right next to it). There was a cruiser called Flying Saucer moored there and a

The queue above Bevergern lock DEK

young man was washing it down with buckets of canal water. He was German but spoke very good English and Mike asked him if he would use our radio and tell the lock keeper we were waiting for the lock. He did. The keeper said it would be about an hour and a half, then we could follow tanker Wotan. Great. We had a chat with the guy who said he was about a day and a half from his home mooring at Waltrop on the Datteln-Hamm-Kanal. His girlfriend arrived with a bagful of shopping. I went in to make a cuppa. At 11.10 am the keeper called to say we could come down to the lock. It took us ten

Behind tanker Wotan in Bevergern lock DEK

minutes to get there and three boats were moving, Wotan was going into the chamber and empty Corrado was moving on to the dolphins with loaded Libertas coming alongside and Mondial from Sneek was at the head of the queue. We followed the 85m tanker into the 160m long chamber and attached fore and after to bollards recessed in the concrete wall and went down seven bollards as the lock emptied. Left the bottom at 11.55am. A yacht was waiting on the quay below the lock and two cruisers were hovering in the middle. Mike kept our speed up above normal cruising

Top end gate rises up from the depths. Rodde lock DEK

to keep up with the loaded tanker on the short 3kms pound to Rodde lock. The lock was ready for us and we followed Wotan into the lock and dropped down 3.8m. It was 12.45pm when we left the bottom on the 6kms pound to Altenrheine. Loaded boat Julia from Priessen (86mx9.6m 1500T) was coming up the pound towards us. Mike waited until Julia had gone past then tried calling Wotan on the VHF. No reply.  Christine from Datteln (80mx8.20m 1089T) was unloading sand at a long silo quay at Bochert. Mike tried calling Wotan again and got an answer (German was not the first language of the cheery guy who replied) and told him we

Wotan leaves Rodde lock and we follow at a safe distance

were stopping above Altenrheine lock. OK, he understood. He could tell the keeper in his far off office that we’d stopped, we hadn’t got channel 82 to tell him ourselves anyway! Christine had finished unloading and was winding at the end of the quay to set off back towards Münster. Wotan went into the lock and we went to the left and moored next to the lock island wall in what was the entrance to the old lock (which had been filled in and completely obliterated). There was a small German yacht moored at the canal end and a permanently moored cruiser at the land end. We winded and

Coot and chicks at Altenrheine

tied up with our stern rope on the first bollard after the blue electricity. box. It was 1.30pm. Lunch. Gave Mike a hand to get the moped ready. He connected up the electricity, I checked how much water we had in the tank (3/4 of a tankful) and then I sorted out some washing. Thunder was rumbling round then it started to pour with rain. Mike had missed the rain. I helped get the bike back on board and he moved the car to a visitor parking place by the lock (where the old lock chamber used to be). A Dutch cruiser arrived and moored behind us, crew looking like drowned rats. Another cruiser arrived and moored in front of us, tucked in behind the yacht.

Moored in the old lock approach Altenrheine DEK

The rain came down in stair rods and we had a cracking thunderstorm, which rolled around late into the evening.

Friday 23rd May 2014 Pente to Ibbenbüren. 27.6kms no locks

A few of the thousands of wild lupins along the canal

13.0°C By contrast to the last couple of days it was grey overcast and much cooler when we set off and rain started which lasted most of the day. Mike said the first commercial past woke him around 5am, but the cruiser that went past at high speed and started the boat rocking violently at 6.15am woke both of us. A private contractor’s tug, pushing a series of workboats including a craneboat, went past as we were untying at 8.35 am. Back to wearing warmer clothes, jeans and a fleece – and a waterproof later. Police launch WSP20 was moored by the Police station on the junction with the Osnabrück branch. There is a long loading quay at KP29 Wackum

What an elegant bird! Egyptian goose again.

where Mike slowed down to keep out of the way of a tug which had pulled out and winded using the whole width of the canal to turn, then went to the other end of the pans he was pushtowing to move them along the quay for loading grain at the silo. The rest of the quay was occupied by a huge heap of scrap metal. Not many minutes later we were overtaken by loaded boat Mucki from Duisburg (86mx10.14m 1635T). It started to rain when I went in to make tea as we went into a long section devoid of villages through moorland with thick belts of trees on both banks. I took photos of the banks full of wild purple lupins. A quiet 6kms before the next boat overtook us, Mariëlle, a loaded Dutch boat from Farmsum (84.9mx9m 1397T) at KP21 and shortly after Livia from Duisburg (80mx8.2m 1096T) went past helping to stir up the mud from the bottom of the canal even though it was close on 4m deep. We were overtaken by a large cruiser from Berlin then a large British cruiser went past, Dawnside from St Peter Port Guernsey, at KP19. The rain stopped so Mike took the brolly down, five minutes later he had to put it back up again as it was pouring down –

What are they thinking of? Navi lights!!

then it continued until well into the afternoon. 4kms later a German cruiser went past with full navigation lights on. Mike took a photo and shouted to the crew as they went past “You’ve got your lights on!” – expressions of bewilderment (car drivers!!) Visibility, although it was raining hard, was at least 3kms in each direction. Where the little river Recker Aa went under the canal there was a large crane with a skip on chains, which they were tipping mud from onto a pile on the canal bank, they must be dredging the river. Strange way to do it - with a skip! Quartzit from Ibbenbüren went past loaded with what looked like soil at KP15 as we were overtaken

Emptying dredgings from a skip

by Claudia, a loaded boat from Seevetal (80mx7.9m 960T). We were passing a large farm on the left bank, pooh! – a pig farm! Another smelly one! Views of the distant Teutoberger hills. Quiet again for a few kilometres then at KP11.5 Energie (80mx9.2m 140T) loaded with damp woodchips went past – downwind of it the smell was disgusting. A large steel Dutch cruiser went past at KP10 followed by a loaded boat (86mx9.35m 1311T) called Desiree (the bows had been repainted, the name was on the tender, but no flag or port to s

An unloading staging near Obersteinbeck

ay where it was from). Took photos of an old unloading place with a conveyor on rails at KP9 by a big winding hole at Obersteinbeck. A pair of light coloured (some sort of hybrid?) ducks were by a quay wall, then we saw a pair of mallard having a frenzied feast in the middle of the canal – they were eating a very large dead carp! Never seen ducks eat fish before. At KP7 Xena (105mx9.5m 1864T) a loaded boat from Peissen went past with a car on its bow under a car port. He was followed by Recaro, an empty from Bad Pyrmont (77mx8.20m 1044T). There were three boats on the quay at Ibbenbüren, an empty called Amazone from Douai (first

A pair of mallard ducks devouring a dead carp

French boat!!) 80m x 9.5m 1500T), Morane from Ibbenbüren ((85mx9,5m 1044T) who had just finished loading and was washing down, plus a loaded boat called Corrado from Groningen NL (80mx8.5m 1352T). We turned left into the old arm and winded to moor behind the Berlin cruiser that had overtaken us earlier, it was 1pm. At last a quiet mooring, if you don’t count the shunting engines on the railway on the far bank, but nothing should go past us here,

Car port on the bows of Xena

except private boats to a marina, as it’s a dead end. Noted that the old arm was 3.7m deep by the piling next to our bows. It continued to pour down with rain as we had lunch. 

Thursday 22nd May 2014 Bad Essen to Pente. 30.4kms no locks

Half-timbered farmhouses nr Herringhausen

15.7°C Hazy sunshine. Light thin clouds. Windy from midday. Set off at 8.20 am noting that they’d built a new offline basin by the new houses next to the ancient silo building. No more temporary convenient moorings for cruisers and commercials to go and shop at Aldi! Just after we set off loaded boat Balge (100mx9.5m 1822T) overtook us as a loaded Bromberger BM5512 went past. At bridge 59 we heard what must have been an owl, the surroundings were very noisy with traffic on the bridge and construction work going on very close by. At KP60 a loaded

Half-timbered farmhouses nr Herringhausen

Czech boat from Decin went past. A short distance later we passed an unloading quay where the crane driver was hard at work stripping the bark off some very large tree trunks by lowering them on to a set of four pairs of contra-rotating discs with serrated edges. Typically, the batteries in the camera expired. Two kilometres on we passed an empty called Harmonie (80mx9.5m) from Duisburg. The banks were filled with the purple spikes of wild lupin and clusters of white ox-eye daisies. Near KP56 there was the most awful pong that immediately brought back memories of an East Anglian maggot factory, even with two sets of four tall ventilator stacks it still stank

Old barns with modern solar panels nr Herringhausen

abominably. We were very glad to get upwind of that! Through gaps between the trees there were views across to the distant low Wienhengebirge hills and in the foreground half-timbered farmhouses among fields of wheat. A Belgian boat, a rare sight here – and we’ve yet to see a French boat beyond the French border – Catania (67mx8.2m 890T). I made a cuppa and Mike put the sunshade up. A gap of 3kms before Eiltank67 (85mx9.5m 1605T) a loaded tanker from Duisburg went past, churning up

The white dots are BEES!

loads of mud. Strangely it was sporting a Friesland (northern NL province) flag on its bows. Around KP50 Mike spotted a load of insects and as we got closer it became clear that they were bees, swarming. He took a photo. Then we had the quietest spell for a long, long time, nearly 5kms with no passing boats. It was nice to have the boat running straight without having to keep shoving the tiller to compensate for the stirred up water. A speedboat cruiser with an orange hull put paid to that at KP46 as we crashed through its wash - bank to bank waves, watering the towpath. It was closely followed by Marjolien (80mx8.2m 1101T) an empty Dutch-

A Springer like you've never seen before

flagged boat with a German car registered at Hamburg on its back cabin roof. Two kilometres and Berliner ED-line’s tug Edlena went past pushing two loaded 32m long 400T pans. Fast catching the tug were five cruisers, four Dutch and one Belgian. At KP41.5 two empty pans were the only boats moored on the long commercial quay. Just after that Amazone went past, an empty Dutch boat from Krimpen-an-der-Ijsser, with another orange hulled cruiser overtaking it. Close behind that was an empty Polish boat, Alfa (57.61mx7.6m 514T) from Szczecin, one of the smallest boats we’ve seen working on the Mittellandkanal. Dorothea from Dortmund (100mx9.5m) loaded with coal went past, followed by an empty called Rolfe

Moored at Pente - the blue thing is a sperrtor
- a flood protection gate

as we were being overtaken by Ambulant from Minden. A Polish tug Bizon06 pushing three 32.5m long loaded pans was being overtaken by Blackbear (85mx8.2m 1333T) a loaded tanker as we went past, which made the water very lively for a while. At KP34, as we passed the silo quays at Gartenstadt, another loaded tanker went past, Minor (80mx8.2m 1214T) from Rheinberg followed by Thekla (100mx9.5m 1771T) a loaded boat from Dortmund – whose crew were lighting a BBQ right on the stern of the boat. A Czech boat called Margit went past at KP32.5 loaded with finely minced, very smelly steel scrap. A cruiser went past as we winded at 1.25pm to moor on the quay in Bramsche. As we finished tying up a loaded coal boat called Samaro from Minden went past to test the ropes. Gave Mike a hand to unload the bike and get his gear ready and he went off at 2pm to collect the car from Hille while I attempted to catch up with log, blog, photos and e-mails. Hope the Internet is a bit faster at Pente.

Wednesday 21st May 2014 Hille to Bad Essen. 25.9kms no locks

Unloading steel coils

14.2°C Sunny until late afternoon then cloudy but hot again. A large loaded commercial hovered in the middle, using his crane to move his car from one side of the back cabin roof to the other (we wondered why) while we were getting ready to move. Set off for the second time at 8.50am after we paused while I hopped off to check that Mike had locked the car, he had. A bemused fisherman, who’d just arrived with a moped towing a trailer, was setting up camp where we’d just set off from. Sun shade up, a first for this year. I wore a skirt and sandals

More Egyptian geese

 instead of shoes and jeans, that’s another first for this year. A WSA tug and workboat were moored under bridge 119, doing a bridge inspection from underneath it. I changed over duvets – winter to summer as we sweltered last night – while I made a cuppa. An empty called Allegro from Rotterdam (105mx10.5m 2433T) was moored on the quay at KP80 Lübbecke, where a square fronted boat called Frankenwalde from Koln was unloading his cargo of steel coils. At KP77.5 we passed a loaded boat called Regulus (80mx9m) from Hamburg followed by a cruiser. Really stirring up the mud again today. 500m and another loaded boat

A Dutch Barge! Longer than Temujin!!

(80.25m x 8.25m 1156T) went past, called Aquarius from Berlin (renamed from Ed-Ron, embossed on the bows). Another 500m Saturnus an empty Polish boat (85mx9m 1428T) and another cruiser – one doing a reasonable speed and making little wash. A loaded Bromberger, BM5522, went past at KP76 flying a German flag. Another first – a private boat longer than us! It looked about 20m and was a

Diver in the canal

German-flagged tjalk called Vertrouwen from Dortmund – there was a lot of waving, photos and mutual appreciation as we passed at KP75. An empty Dutch boat from Millingen called Lumina went past half a kilometre further on. A diver was in the water by bridge 107, KP74. KP73 there was a moored empty called Nordland (67mx7.3m 708T) and a small Dutch cruiser pulled in behind it – there was a very good “pub” just up the lane from there, always busy last time we moored there. At KP72 Atlantis went past loaded with 1500 tonnes of very smelly scrap metal, followed by Elbia whose wheelhouse was almost completely curtained, surprised the steerer could see where he/she was going! An empty called Susanne from Eberbach

Another hitch hiker

(82mx8.2m 1132T) went past at KP70. A mystery on the next section. Why have they changed the numbering of the bridges? We went under bridge 101 and the next bridge was number 70 at KP68. ?? Labe1 a loaded Czech boat from Decin went past then I took photos of the the village of Wimmer and the Wiehengebirge hills behind it. An empty was catching us up at KP67, the first overtaking boat of the day. It was Allegro, the Dutch empty that had been a Lübbecke this morning. We slowed down so it could overtake us before two loaded boats came past from the opposite direction. The lady of the boat stood on the boat’s side deck as it overtook us,

Wimmer and the Wienhengebirge hills

keeping an eye on us as the skipper was too high up to see us. A loaded Sunrise tanker called Jan (84mx9.6m 1886T) from Hamburg went past, closely followed by Trinitas (85mx9,5m 1520T) a loaded Dutch boat from Zwolle. I checked the depth 3.4m, there was mud everywhere again. Quiet for a short while, then at KP65.5 a cruiser went past followed by an empty, Concordia (67mx7.10m 718T) from Glückstadt, and I took a photo of the Wiehengebirg hills across the bend in the canal looking towards Osnabrück. An inflatable went past as we arrived at the mooring in Bad Essen and two Dutch cruisers were also making for the same

The Wiehengebirge as the canal winds round to Bad Essen

spot. We let them in as Mike winded to put our side doors on the outside. It was 1.25pm. As we tied up a loaded pusher pair carrying coal went past, Antaro (59mx9m 1090T and 85mx9m 1548T) Mike chatted with the Dutch skippers who said they would be here for a couple of days. A party of youths arrived and started jumping off the footbridge into the canal and were joined by several girls who did the same. Polish! They did a BBQ in the wide space by the boats. Traffic still busy as we had lunch and on into the evening. Mike did some phoning to get Poste Restante in the Netherlands sorted out, difficult but we think we cracked it.

Moored at Bad Essen

Monday 19th May 2014 Nordholz to Hille. 18.6kms no locks

Building a new lock next to the old one at Minden

10.7°C Grey overcast until mid-morning, and then sun came out and it was actually warm. Set off at 9.35 am heading the wrong way first to make sure we had enough time to run a short wash programme before arriving at the water point in Minden. Julien (80m 1118T), loaded with coal went past heading for Hannover. The washing machine wouldn’t spin dry a big bath mat as it was heavy and it couldn’t get it balanced, so I had to abandon the programme and tried a simple spin – it still wouldn’t spin it. Heaved the mat on to the front deck and hung it over the top plank to drip. Paused at Minden for water and topped the tank up. We took on 430

Police boat no 22 from Minden

litres. Mike used the new water fitting with claws but managed to lose the washer out of the hose connector, it dropped in the canal and sank – something else for the shopping list as we haven’t got another. A cruiser went past and a loaded boat from Zwartsluis while we were on the water point. Minden seemed to us to be quieter than normal as we set off again at 11 am, perhaps because it’s Monday and lots of boats reached their destinations over the weekend and are now loading or unloading. Dealo from Merksem NL was unloading what looked like peat. Both moorings for private boats in Minden were empty and we noted that one had now got a blue box for electricity right at the end and easily reached by sport boats. Police boat WSP22

Bows of empty push-tow Damar and Trias

from Minden overtook us, crew waving as we passed just before Br 139. On the long mooring quay for commercials in Minden there were only two boats tied up. Another cruiser went past followed by a loaded boat, then an empty double 80m pusher Damar and Trias from Ridderkerk NL and a Dutch cruiser. A longish gap then 85m empty called Petershagen went past at KP93.5 followed by another Dutch cruiser. At KP92 an empty called Mississippi went past, then a loaded boat called Alina from Datteln went by stirring the mud up as he passed us. At KP90 a loaded boat called Sachsenland (80mx8.20m 1129T) also went past stirring up the mud. Mike said he’d noticed that the canal depth until we got to Minden was around 4.5m on our echo

Mucki being unloaded

sounder, but since Minden it had been around half a metre less. Desafio, a loaded Dutch boat (82mx9.30m 1635T) went past at KP89.5, gleaming paintwork and not a dent in sight. Many boats on the canal are well and truly in need of painting and some have many dents, especially around the bows. There were two boats unloading at the quays just before Hille, Silja a Czech boat on the left, while on the right there was a boat being unloaded by digger into tipper lorries, its cargo was a fine white powder - it was called Mucki from Duisburg (86mx10m 1635T). A few minutes and we were at our destination, Hille, where the car was parked right next to the mooring. It was 1.15 pm and we were just in time as the WSP boat that had been

Long empty commercial quay at Hille

moored half way along the commercial quay was on its way back when it stopped behind us and a policeman went to take notes about our car and a lady with a dog went to speak to him. Turned out she’d reported the car as being “stolen” as it had been parked there since Sunday morning. Mike went over and explained it was our car. The policeman put his notebook away and the lady was full of apologies. WSP22 set off back to Minden and we explained as best we could to the lady with the dog that Mike does the trip three times, once by boat once by car and once on the moped.

A family of Egyptian geese
on the rocks in front of the boat