Tuesday 9th July 2013 Rethem KP82 to below Hademstorf lk R. Aller. 31.9 kms - locks

Sandbanks KP68 R. Aller

Hot and sunny with nice cooling breeze. We backed out of the haven, as there was not enough room to wind, out into the flow again and drifted downstream until Snail had backed out too. Set off again at 10.10 am. The first lock on the river was 18kms away in a straight line, but around 32kms by river. Sandpipers were flying low across the river and we noted that the wind farm wasn’t working today although there seemed to be enough breeze. Seven Canada geese were grazing in a meadow with a herd of cows as we were passing Kirchwahlingen, which was almost hidden by trees on the far side of the meadow, it’s red roofs were covered with solar panels. 

Groynes. R.Aller

A dozen Egyptian geese stopped grazing to watch us creep past and a large flock of oystercatchers flew overhead. All day long the boat was a perch for passing dragonflies, large green and black ones. A big flock of lapwings went past flying downriver and the air was filled with the song of warblers and yellowhammers. A few boats were moored by a caravan site at Frankenfeld.  A couple paddling a canoe gently downstream with the flow looked stunned to see two narrowboats. The bloodsucking flies were out, so on went the insect repellent with deet. Sticky but effective. As we passed the village of Bosse at KP75 where there was a large maroon coloured inflatable storage dome on the right hand side and a man was tending to a small herd of black cows. 

Cable ferry at Eickeloh

Another canoe went past with a young couple paddling. Round a big bend and as we left Bosse behind another canoe went past, an inflatable with an older couple on board. At KP74 there was a big sandbank just under the water, noticeable by the fact that the water was flat, no ripples, until the downstream edge where the water flowed over the edge. At the start of a long right hand bend (KP72.5) big slow turning whirlpools in the spaces between two of the groynes were visible due to floating dust and debris on the surface from hay turning. Our speed shot up to nearly 5 kph as we went on to the next bend, passing the other side of the village of Bosse at KP72. Only about 300 metres from where we were on the river on the other side of Bosse at KP75. A young couple in a canoe with four small children in lifejackets went paddling past. At KP71 a big W series of bends started before Eilte. 

Moored below Hademstorf lock

I made some lunch. A couple in an inflatable boat with an outboard motor went past heading downriver, indicating to Mike that there was another big sandbank. Yes, thanks, we could see it and as we carried on round the bend the WSA had marked it with a series of red cones. We passed under the second river bridge since Verden at Eilte, where there was a little landing stage and a welcome sign. The three metre wooden staging would not have held the weight of one narrowboat let alone two, OK for canoes. Further upstream there were fishermen with tents and big stacks of beer crates, fishing German style. At KP66 the river stopped its big meanders and the flow reduced to 3.7 kph. There were groynes all along the right bank as we did a long right hand bend. Yet another canoe went past. At KP59 we were overtaken by a small wedge shaped cruiser and not long after that two more cruisers went past heading downriver. It was getting very hot again. At KP58 we passed a tall stork’s nest atop a big pole with three young ones stood on the top. Below them was a small bird of prey, which looked like a merlin, that was poking about in the twigs of the nest and several other small birds were flying round. Did the merlin also have a nest in the ground floor of the stork’s nest or was it robbing the nests of other residents? Two more canoes came downriver and stopped in the calm between the groynes - for a fag break! Took photos of the cable ferry at Eickeloh, which had a bell to summon the ferryman, where he would have come from wasn’t at all clear. It seemed to have just a track either side of the river, so maybe it was for the farmer’s cows? The river Aller was off to our left and we kept on towards the lock on what was once the river Leine and was now the lock cut, except the flow was still in excess of 3.8kph until we reached the lock. The wedge shaped cruiser was moored in the middle of an old flat-decked barge that formed the waiting area below Hademstorf lock and the Snail just had room for bows on the barge and big metal posts driven into the riverbed for tying the stern to. We moored alongside. It was 6.10 pm.