Friday 9th May 2014 Bergfriede to Edesbüttel 34.7kms 1 lock

The commercial moorings behind us at Bergfriede

10.1°C Heavy rain in the night, showery and very windy. We set off at 8.25 am in the rain. It soon stopped soon after, but the wind was vicious all day. Mike saw a beaver lodge and missed getting a photo of it as the camera was in the engine room and it took too long to get to it and switch it on. Never mind, after seeing the first one ever he spotted another later and took a photo of it. A large Danish cruiser went past at KP264 and shortly after we passed Niedersachsen12 (82mx9.5m 1615T) who was overtaking a small German yacht – its crew also had a brolly to shelter them from the rain. Glad we’d added cords to ours to anchor it down as today the wind was a real pig. Gerardus

A genuine beaver lodge on the bank of the Mittellandkanal

(86mx8,2m 1600T) a Dutchman from Coevorden overtook us just before the old east-west border, its skipper was taking photos of our boat from his wheelhouse. There were information boards by where the old border used to be and Mike said that each place he crossed the border yesterday with the bike and the car had new information panels. A sudden torrential shower had us hiding all the charts, camera, etc. A single cruiser was moored at Ruhen by the café where the border checkpoint used to be. A string of cruisers coming towards us started us

Loaded Dutch boat Gerardus

counting, six, a short gap, six more, then another gap, ten more – a short gap then one more – twenty three of them! Never seen so many in a bunch before, maybe a club outing? But they weren’t all from the same place. A pusher was catching us up, it  was the pair that was on the quay at Bülstringen; now loaded, they were also heading west. It had three white lights in a triangle on the bows and three horizontal on the stern. Although the pusher boat had a Dutch flag and Maasbracht on both of them, there was a Polish car on the back cabin. Hmm rent-a-boat or Polish owners registering boats in other countries? We’ve seen lots of old

Pusher pair Genius & Genius II overtaking.

Czech and Polish boats now registered in Germany. A cruiser went past hugging the left bank just before the WSA hafen in Vorsfelden, then an empty called Andrea from Hamburg (80mx8.20m 1060T) went past at KP249.5. Five minutes later a loaded tanker went past, Marlene2 (85mx9.5m 1458T) with a pusher bar across its bows. The high speed rail track appeared alongside the canal on the left bank as we headed into Wolfsburg. I went on to the front deck to take photos and there were boats everywhere. Mayhem ruled as we slowed

Fisherman with a gianormous net!

down when the Geniuses pulled out after pausing at the the dustbins by Wolfsburg station. There were cars doing demos on the test track for 4x4s alongside the canal, but none in the right spot to take any really interesting photos. An old Czech boat called Ursa Minor went past pushing a short empty pan. An empty called Wega1 (80mx8.20m 1060T) from Magdeburg overtook us as were passing the huge office blocks at VW and we followed them through a short narrowed section marked with green and red buoys. Two empties went past, Marie-Irène from Petershagen had an unusual colour scheme – gold painted hull with purple trimmings, then

Demo test track at VW Wolfsburg

Eider (85mx9.5m 1500T) and then there were three big cruisers behind the two empties – a lockful. At the next loading quay a boat was being loaded with compressed blocks of steel scrap, bright steel which looked like the scrap left after making pressings. Another lockful went by, Kelaniya (86mx9m 1442T) and Nordland8 (85mx9.5m 1399T) from Bremen, the latter with his forward radar turning. There were no boats at the container port at KP238 just before the lock at Sülfeld. The Geniuses were moored below

VW factory at Wolfsburg

the old lock on the right, Wega 1 was moored on the left below the new chamber. We went alongside the sport boat waiting area at 1.20 pm and Mike called the lock on VHF. Didn’t understand much of the reply, we’ll wait and see what happens. A loaded boat called Marlies from Hamburg (80mx8.2m 1073T) arrived and went almost up to the bottom end gates on the new lock. The right hand chamber (the old shaft lock, the new one is a conventional lock) emptied first and a Polish Bizon tug pushing three loaded 500T pans came out slowly followed by Spree, loaded with coal

The Geniuses getting a bubble bath in Sulfeld old lock.

slack. The Geniuses made their way slowly into the old shaft lock, 12m wide by 225m long and a lift of 9m, and we followed them in after the keeper had called us (no idea what he said)  No floaters, change the ropes, lifting them up on to seven bollards up the wall as we rise. The pusher had ropes at the bow and stern but on opposite sides of the chamber and sat with his prop turning (fast) for the first five minutes after the gate had lowered behind us, which flushed our bows off the wall. Mike came and helped me pull the boat back against the wall. I was glad I’d got a spare long rope out and I used a short b

Lock nearly full, time for a photo

oatshaft to hook the big spliced end loops over each bollard up the wall, using both ends of the rope until we reached the top. That was hard work thanks to the Polish team in front. The lock has three side pounds and Mike took photos of the impressive eruptions of incoming water flushing over the pusher’s gunwales. As we left the old lock Wega 1 and Marlies were leaving the new lock, so Mike slowed to let them get past us as there was a bridge to get through. An empty boat, Dutch (possibly, it had a Dutch flag), called La Montanara (86mx8.20m 1200T) was waiting above the new lock

High winds = waves on the canal at junction with Elbe-Seiten-Kanal

to go down. As we passed Fallersleben MYC we noted that their moorings were full and mostly with very large cruisers. Marlies and the Geniuses turned right on to the Elbe-Seiten kanal. The Elbe-Seiten kanal was built for boats from West Germany to be able to access the port of Hamburg when the route to Hamburg via the Elbe was closed to them as it was behind the Iron Curtain. We turned left on the junction and moored on the sport boat mooring at Edesbüttel. One commercial was moored at the far end (we could just see him) and wind-whipped waves were breaking against the piled wing wall of the mooring behind us. Glad to get indoors and have some late lunch, it was 3 pm.