Kiel canal

[sailaboutvic]

It’s been some time coming but at last we transit the Kiel canal into the Baltic .
some have already done this trip other maybe plainning it.
just to say it nothing like I read , it’s all stright forward , the canal is wide and places where it’s not quite so wide are now having work done to it .
we met many ships and at no time did we have to worry about two ships at the same time passing us .
we are in no hurry so we anchored a few time at time mooring to post and using a marina once at €14 for the night plus €1 each tax .
the lock at Brunsbuttel althought we had to wait a bit , by which time there was many boats waiting to go in ,
we waiting to be one of the last yacht , reading the pontoon was very low and with a hight freeboard , being last we manage to go along side another Dutch boat , which saves the long jump down.
light signal was clear as only the white flashing light apply to us .
the other end was a bit more work as we first had to moor to pay at the ticket machine which by the way didn’t take cards , only cash .
their internet site wasn’t working , lucky we had cash , €18
then there was quite a wait while a war ship entering and moored before we was aloud in.
once the lock gates open there was a sea of white sails ( red , pink ,gray) and many other colour , square riggers , gaff , sloops big and small.
anyone thinking of doing this trip , stop think and do it , it’s well worth it.
now we have the Baltic to look forward to with a wedding in Denmark to add to the cruise.

 

[capnsensible]

Long time since I did the transit on a Services Nicholson 55. The runs ashore were legend and it rained most of the 2 weeks we spent on our way from Gotenburg to Hamburg.

Fab crew and a great experience.

 

[Wansworth]

Somewhere I have a letter from the Kiel canal company welcoming my intended transit in my 15 footer…….1973

 

[mattonthesea]

Have fun in Denmark. Go where the wind takes you.

 

[ChromeDome]

Have fun in Denmark. Go where the wind takes you.

Yup, and make sure to let me know if you approach Zealand and the Sound towards Sweden.

Cold snacks and boaty talk anytime. Plus something on a plate of you wish

 

[sailaboutvic]

Yup, and make sure to let me know if you approach Zealand and the Sound towards Sweden.

Cold snacks and boaty talk anytime. Plus something on a plate of you wish

Our destination is Kalunborg for around the first week of July , To my step daughter wedding .
in-between we have some cruising to do if our engine holds up .
we waiting on parts from the uk , two of the four engine mounts are playing up so the engine as some vibration in tick over .
try buying them localy but not only no one as them in stock but we been Quito three times we can get them from the UK even after import and vat dues .
we also lost our wind vane for our B&Q while crossing the North Sea in high winds .

 

[johnalison]

Although it is a few years since I was able to do it, your summary seems about right. The low pontoons in the locks can catch people out if they are not expecting them, but otherwise it is straightforward, and probably easier for yachts than ships. You didn't have two ships passing because they passing at specific places with piles where one stream rests, but room outside for yachts. There are some places where the signs warn you to keep so many metres from the bank, which I used to judge in terms of boat-lengths. I haven't encountered the Holtenau cash machine. It was always a bit of a scramble at the office, though possibly just as efficient. Don't keep all the fine weather to yourselves please.

 

[sailaboutvic]

Although it is a few years since I was able to do it, your summary seems about right. The low pontoons in the locks can catch people out if they are not expecting them, but otherwise it is straightforward, and probably easier for yachts than ships. You didn't have two ships passing because they passing at specific places with piles where one stream rests, but room outside for yachts. There are some places where the signs warn you to keep so many metres from the bank, which I used to judge in terms of boat-lengths. I haven't encountered the Holtenau cash machine. It was always a bit of a scramble at the office, though possibly just as efficient. Don't keep all the fine weather to yourselves please.

There was two cases where we had ship going in different directions passing each other in one case two going one way two the other way .
Tom C when aground some years back when two ships pass him , lucky when hualout if was all fine .
There also been several navy ships .

 

[johnalison]

There was two cases where we had ship going in different directions passing each other in one case two going one way two the other way .
Tom C when aground some years back when two ships pass him , lucky when hualout if was all fine .
There also been several navy ships .

You do get it occasionally with smaller ships. It’s amazing how small some of them look when a large one passes by, and also how much one’s GPS speed changes when a big one shoots past. My chief memory is of chaffinches, Egyptian geese, the odd buzzard, and early in the season goosanders.

 

[sailaboutvic]

You do get it occasionally with smaller ships. It’s amazing how small some of them look when a large one passes by, and also how much one’s GPS speed changes when a big one shoots past. My chief memory is of chaffinches, Egyptian geese, the odd buzzard, and early in the season goosanders.

Red kites

 

[ChromeDome]

Our destination is Kalunborg for around the first week of July , To my step daughter wedding .
in-between we have some cruising to do if our engine holds up .
we waiting on parts from the uk , two of the four engine mounts are playing up so the engine as some vibration in tick over .
try buying them localy but not only no one as them in stock but we been Quito three times we can get them from the UK even after import and vat dues .
we also lost our wind vane for our B&Q while crossing the North Sea in high winds .

I'm an hour from Kalundborg, a lovely city btw.

Let me know if you're up for a chat, a cold snack and a good laugh.

 

[Beelzebub]

Delivering a brand new Aquastar to Sweden in January 1987, the Kiel Canal proved to be impossible for us. The temperature was -20 C and the sea was frozen for several miles offshore. By following a cargo ship which acted as an icebreaker, we managed to lock in at Brunsbuttel.

However, the Kiel Canal had been turned to slush by passing commercial ships and the cooling water inlet was being blocked by said slush.

So we about-turned, locked-out and crunched our way through ice for a few miles before finding clear water. We then went North up the Danish coast and upon reaching Skagen, came to solid sea again! We slowly crunched our way across the Skagerak and made our way to Lysekil. This was a journey to remember!

 

[Biggles Wader]

I have been through the canal in winter too but the ship was about 500 ft long and 65 ft wide so the odd ice cube was not a problem. That was in the 1970s when we required a pilot to take us through the WW2 minefields that still lurked around there.

 

[sailaboutvic]

I'm an hour from Kalundborg, a lovely city btw.

Let me know if you're up for a chat, a cold snack and a good laugh.

See how things go , we might be able to have a drink .
still have a wedding to help out at first .

 

[johnalison]

Red kites

Buzzards when I was there. Like chalk and cheese.

 

[davidej]

Helgoland is a must go to stop on the way to Brunsbuttle. Apart from being an interesting island, the duty free purchases are the bargain of the century

 

[capnsensible]

We stopped for a night at the British Kiel Yacht Club. The price of booze was inversely proportional to the following days hangover....

We still departed at 0800 though!

 

[Pete7]

It’s been some time coming but at last we transit the Kiel canal into the Baltic .
some have already done this trip other maybe plainning it.

If you left the UK and transited the canal, did you have to book into the EU? or are us foreigners allowed to transit the canal like professional crews?

 

[johnalison]

Helgoland is a must go to stop on the way to Brunsbuttle. Apart from being an interesting island, the duty free purchases are the bargain of the century

Don't do it when there is a gale on the way. Having seven or eight much larger vessels rafted outside you in those conditions is not very relaxing. I think my litre of Captain Morgan's 70% for <£5 almost made up for it.
Brunsbuttel is OK, and I believe improved since the old days, but we found it much more relaxing to stop at Cuxhaven and break the canal trip by stopping at Rendsberg.

 

[sailaboutvic]

If you left the UK and transited the canal, did you have to book into the EU? or are us foreigners allowed to transit the canal like professional crews?

Pete I have two friends on board and as there are leaving the boat in Denmark I had to get their passport stamped in the Netherlands.
if that wasn’t the case we probably wouldn’t had bothered.
no one other then when we stop in ijmuiden to get their passport stamp have asked us for any info .
not in the Netherlands, Germany nor Denmark .
we had nearly 6 months in northern europe last years and no one bothered us .
im not suggest people don’t check in ,
only saying that im my experience no one interested .