Full route on travellerspoint:
travellerspoint.com/map/#/trip/1129762
Kiel channel
Kiel channel or Nord-Ostsee-Kanal connects North and Baltic seas. More information on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiel_Canal Sailors usually pass it in one or two days. There are certain rules you have to know. but everything is quite easy. Two radio channels for help and locks opening covering the first part and second part of it. Payment terminal in Kiel is very easy to find. We paid smth. around 20 Euros. All the information is online.
We woke up before sunrise. And entered the channel with the first light approximately at 4 am into the Kiel-Holtenau Lock area.
Passing locks is not that difficult. That was our first experience. But Kiel channel and holland gave us enough of it. Usually, you only need to know the radio channel of the lock operator, and it is better to know the work schedule. Approaching the locks, you call the radio channel, which can be found in water pilot or near the locks on a special sign.
The most important situation during passing the channel was white smoke, which we saw coming out from the exhaust. But we didn’t pay enough attention. We stopped in a small creek, opened our main engine book “Marine Diesel Engines: Maintenance, Troubleshooting, and Repair” (a must-have book on a boat). But after a while decided that this smoke was just a morning condensate. We were still too inexperienced. That lead us lately to a critical situation and sailing without an engine from Guernsey to Saint-Malo in thunderstorms and strong winds. That was a head gasket, which we had probably spoiled on the way to Denmark. But that is another story.
We have left Kiel channel before sunset into the Elba river with currents of up to 5 knots and headed to Cuxhaven. That was a really new experience to get into the small entrance of a harbour from a river with a strong current. We have read before from some sailors, they tried to enter it twice missing it and going back against 5 knots 🙁 uuhh..
The most interesting when sailing the channel is to watch incredibly big ships passing by. You usually try to avoid them at sea, but here you can see them passing by in 20m.
Just to get some impression, here are photos and short videos:
Sweden to the Mediterranean route: Sweden – Kiel channel – Wadden Zee, Staande Mast Route (Holland) – English channel – Bay of Biscay – Galicia – Portugal – Gibraltar-Almerimar
Sailboat: Hallberg Rassy Rasmus 35