Kiel Canal

[AliM]

It might interest anyone coming this way that they seem to have stopped charging yachts for the Kiel Canal. There was a notice in German and English on the waiting pontoon for the Holtenau lock (which is where you pay) to tell you to stick with your boat and not climb any ladders, and that it was a free passage. I suspect it is not deemed worth the hassle to charge us. They are still using the huge ship lock for everything, though. No one knew if or when the smaller (slightly less yacht-unfriendly) old lock would be repaired

 

[Cantata]

Thanks for this. Can you keep us posted on it in case it turns out to be a temporary measure?

 

[Boz]

Thanks for this. Can you keep us posted on it in case it turns out to be a temporary measure?

Driving duties pleasure boats

Sport Boat collection Kiel Canal in 2016
For safety reasons, an upgrade of the lock walls on only for emergency and rescue purposes permanently attached conductors is no longer possible in the lock groups Brunsbüttel and Kiel-Holtenau.
This is also the current practice of pay your the driving duties for pleasure boats in the locks by means of machines, the kiosk on the central wall of the Great sluice Holtenau and at the registration office NOK no longer possible (Brunsbüttel only part traffic, Holtenau for through traffic).
Currently, alternative options as he pays the driving duties are developed and implemented.
So be pay meter in Kiel-Holtenau

• firth side in the region of "accommodation center for pleasure boats" west of Holtenauer Außenkais and
• channel side in the established "waiting place for pleasure boats" in the river port north side.

The necessary infrastructure will be completed during the sports boat season 2016th
Also located in the Planning an Internet application / app to pay your the driving duties.
Until start of operations of the new payment options except payment of the driving duties for pleasure boats is exposed.
With the commencement of operation of new payment systems occur more information.


Google translate did its best - copied from http://www.wsa-kiel.wsv.de/Schifffahrt/Sportschifffahrt/Befahrensabgaben_Sportboote/index.html

I think the gist of this is that It will be free until the new pay kiosks are finished, and you will be able to pay online eventually....

 

[AliM]

Well, I will let you know what happens when we come back in August.

It would be nice to know if they are intending to repair the old, smaller lock. To give you an idea of the size of the ship lock - before we came through there were four 400ft ships in the one lock. It really isn't set up for yachts at all!

 

[Pye_End]

How does that effect tying up - has it still got similar cleats to the smaller lock?

 

[AliM]

It has water-level floating platforms with non-slip matting. You moor up to rings in the platform - rather widely spaced, or you can loop your lines around the chains which tether the platforms. You do need to get off the boat, though, and it's a long way down! I think there are bollards in the wall or on top of it, but they are far too far away to use.

 

[Cantata]

Yes, I've been on those pontoons, it was quite a challenge then and I'm 10 years older now!

 

[cookjwm]

And I wouldn't say the matting was entirely non slip! Care needed.

 

[AliM]

The matting is better than I remember it from last year - then there was largely bare, wet, slippery, splintered wood platforms. This time the matting was largely present and thick rubber doormat style. They had some rubber edging on some of the platforms too, so that (it is not possible to rig your fenders to protect you) when your fenders get swept out of the way, your boat has some protection against the edges. They are trying, just not very hard!

 

[AliM]

We came back through that lock yesterday. It is free for this year, only, probably. They say they are putting up payment meters for next year. Yachts are still using the big ship lock, but there is some action on mending the old, smaller one, although the Germans we spoke to reckoned that they had run out of money and it was not a high priority.