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| Vivarium in Rodde lock DEK |
Hot and sunny, light breeze. We
were supposed to start at ten but Mike and the Snails got chatting with the
Dutch couple off the boat in front of the Snail about keys for the electric box
like the one we’d moored next to. They said we could have bought one two locks
back, it is used with a card which can be bought in supermarkets. Will have to
think about that. They also said that there was now a mooring for pleasure
boats in a hafen in Münster, a splendid town to explore. It was eleven when we
finally set off.
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| Uwe Grotkopp in Bevergern lock DEK |
The night before the mooring had filled up, including two
boats on the old mooring opposite, when we left there were only two boats
remaining. Vivarium, an empty 80m commercial had come up in Altenrheine lock
while the crews were chatting. Oll said shall we increase speed to catch him
up, Mike said we’d got no chance, he was empty and already close to the next
lock which we could see down the 4 kms straight. When we got there he was still
waiting for Rodde lock to empty. A commercial came down, Heike Reich a loaded
85m tanker, and then we followed Vivarium into Rodde lock.
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| Side pounds in Bevergern lock DEK |
Rose 3.8m up three
muddy bollards then wound up the speed to 9 kph to try and keep the distance
between us and the commercial as short as possible on the short pound (3.2 kms)
to Bevergern lock. Lucas, a loaded 67m went past us just before the road bridge
below the lock, followed by a pan full of sand being pushed by tug Fabrice 4
from Wroclaw – Polish! They’d just come down the lock. As it happens we needn’t
have bothered to keep up as the commercial we’d followed came to a stop below
the lock as there was a queue and more boats were already going up. The boat
we’d seen the day before, support vessel Uwe Grotekopp, was also moored below
the lock. The Snail tied to the bank and we came alongside to wait for the
lock. It seemed ages, at least it was shady under the trees and Woody could
have a little swim in the canal. Temperature now in the thirties.
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| Leaving Bevergern lock DEK |
Eventually
the lock emptied, no were boats in it and Uwe Grotkopp untied and powered into
the lock. We followed it. The boat we’d followed previously, Vivarium, was
still tied up. One of the crew was walking along its gunwales, he asked where
we were going – when we said Berlin he replied so you’re off to visit Mrs
Merkel! Yes, of course! He wished us a good trip. Plenty of room for us behind
Uwe as we rose 8.1m in a six bollard lock, with deep side pounds.
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| Stanked off. Two locks alongside Bevergern lock. DEK |
To the left
of the lock was a flight of two that the deep lock replaced. As we left the
deep lock, following Vivarium to the left on to the Mitteland kanal, I took a
photo of the top of the two locks, which was now stanked off with metal piling.
Empty tankership Rojana had just turned on to the Ems to head for Bevergern. I
made sandwiches for a late lunch (almost 2 pm) as we did the first 4 kms of the
Mitteland kanal. Just had time to eat it before we turned right down the old
arm (Stichkanal Ibbenbüren).
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| Sperrtor 1. First floodgate on Mitteland kanal (MLK) |
We sailed on down to the no entry sign beyond a
large winding hole just to read all the notices along the bank. All OK for
mooring so we winded and tied to the bank at 2.45 pm behind the Snail. No
sooner had we moored than a small German cruiser filled the gap in front of the
Snail.
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| Moored in Stichkanal. Cranes of Ibbeburen hafen on MLK |
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