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| Snail being overtaken and passed at KP124 MLK |
Grey, overcast and chilly first thing. Sun came out around
11.30 am and it was hot again. Set off at 10.05 am and Mike soon asked for his
fleece as it was cold. We’d got the Markon running to do some washing so the
Snail had gone first and gradually lengthened the distance between us. The
canal was very busy with commercials and cruisers and yachts. On our left were
the low forested hills of the Schaumburger Wald and on our right was the forest
covered Bückeberge. Between the canal and Bückeberge were many small villages
and the towns of Bückeburg, Ober-Kirchen and Stadthagen, none of which we could see from the boat.
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| Catamaran Eat Me |
Once the washing was
done we drifted while Mike took the drive plate out, choosing our time so there
was a break in the passing traffic as it’s not a good idea to have no engine
running when there are other boats to negotiate. Just after we set off again we
were overtaken by a tug pushing an empty pan as we came to the first mooring
after Norholz at KP123.5, a further 15.5kms and a couple of hours travelling
which would have been a bit too much the day before. There was one large German
yacht on the far end mooring (there were two small spaces for private boats, one at
either end of a long section for commercials). Snail was about ten minutes in
front of us and being overtaken by the tug and empty pan while another
commercial was coming the other way.
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| A mountain of salt. KP135 MLK |
All good fun. And in all this mayhem there
was a grebe, fishing, and taking no notice of the boats. Took a photo of a
large sea-going catamaran on the bank. It was called Eat Me and I wondered if
its owner was referring to Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, she drank from
the bottle that said Drink Me and became smaller, then ate the cakes that said
Eat Me and became bigger. It was 2.45 pm when we arrived at Haste where the
Snails had just moored. The long quay was a communal mooring, no “Ausgenommen
kleinefahrzeuge” (except small boats) on the mooring sign.
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| Moored at Haste KP137.5 MLK |
We winded and moored
to the right hand bank with our side doors on the outside so we could open them
easily. Snail also winded for the same reason. Within minutes a guy on a bike
stopped to say hello (he had a Rowsy dog, smaller but still Labrador/German
Shepherd mix) as he wanted to chat about visiting the UK with his camper, mainly
Wales and Scotland.
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