15 August 2010; Kieler Kanal, Germany.

With the Elbe pilot on board at 06.30 in the morning we sailed up the river Elbe. I was a bit concerned about the weather as we had wind force six blowing in the open waters and the estuary and the weather forecast was not good either. However the further we sailed up the river the better it looked. The frontal system coming from the East was indeed going slower as forecast and the updated weather forecast indicated that it would not reach Kiel before 8 pm in the evening. If nothing was going to hamper our transit we should be in open waters by that time. So the weather cleared and cleared and by the time that we arrived at the 2nd pilot station, the sun was shining and it was nearly wind still. That was what we needed for the Canal passage. The 2nd pilot is only onboard for a short stretch, from the Elbe River bank into the first locks. As there is a current running of 3 to 4 knots in front of the canal entrance, you have to steer under an angle into the lock approach and that takes some good local knowledge of the river. As the current’s strength varies with the ebb and the flood and also from moment to moment and location to location, hence a special pilot. By 10 am we were in the locks and then this pilot left us and the canal pilot with two helmsmen joined.

There also joined the combined brass band of the local voluntary fire brigades from the area. 15 of them in total and they were sailing with us to provide German brass band music during our transit. (We call this the Oompah-Oompah band for obvious reasons) 83 guests on the overland tour left us here in the locks and they will spend the day in Hamburg. Before we pulled out, we saw a familiar sight again, the fan club was back. See my blog of June 8th. This is now the 2nd year that I see them at every lock, every ferry crossing and every dock along the canal. It became a game for the guests to try to spot them at every turn in the canal. During my canal narration, which I shared with Frank our travel guru today, I mentioned these two people and of course blew the horn every time I saw them. I still hope to find out one day, who these people are. They must really like Holland America and or the Prinsendam. We know that they are local, as their German car license plate indicated so.

From the locks we progressed at the sedate speed of 6.5 knots through the canal which is the maximum speed allowed for the largest vessels. The canal has six categories, varying from category 1 for the sailing boats (approx. 15 euro’s for a crossing) to category 6 for the Prinsendam (approx. 15.000 euro’s for a crossing) For the first few hours we did not have to stop anywhere, so the pilot had high hopes that we could sail through without hindrance. However then the congestion started and that one siding (A slightly widened part of the canal to enable ships to pass) we had to let three ships overtake and 5 ships go by from the other side. That routine would repeat itself two more times. So my idea of being out of the canal early went out of the window and we made it to the Holtenau locks at the Baltic at the normal time of 1930 hours. Normal as per previous experience, not as per scheduled crossing time which was all planned to be about 1800 hrs.

In these last locks we had the reverse sequence of events. The canal pilot and the two helmsmen went off, the brass band followed (under loud applause); the sea pilot came on, followed by the day tour returning from Hamburg. Then just when I made it out of the locks, it started to blow. We had a nice day and we were very lucky with the weather. The pilot explained that it happens once in awhile that ships get stuck in the last locks of the Nord Ost See Kanal (that is the official name of the canal) by being pinned against the dock wall by the wind. If that would have happened to the Prinsendam then we would have had an overnight there, but not be able to call at Tallinn. Still all went well.

Tallinn will be our next port of call, the day after tomorrow. Tomorrow we will be at sea, as it is over 400 miles through the Baltic Sea to get to Tallinn. The weather will be windy tomorrow as it will take a while for the weather system to pass by. It was just our luck that it was later than expected.

The overland tour to Hamburg, watching the ship come into the Holtenau locks during sunset.

Photo by roving reporter Lesley Schoonder- beek, being the tour escort for the day