08 June 2010; Kieler Kanal, Germany.

To get to the Kieler Kanal (Officially the Nord Ost See Kanal) the ship sailed North from the Ijmuiden locks and followed the Dutch coast. Around midnight we turned to the North East and then passed all the Dutch islands at its extreme North. These islands are called the “wadden eilanden” and are encircled with shallow water area’s and extensive sand banks so we stayed away from them. If those banks were not there, then the islands would make nice places to visit for the cruise ships as they are quite quaint and very “Northern Dutch”. From there we entered the wide estuary of the river Elbe and with about 2 knots of flood current in the back we sailed towards the pilot station.

The Kieler Kanal is located further up river so at 06.30 we embarked the river pilot to guide us up that river towards the canal entrance. By 8 am. we passed the town of Cuxhaven which is well-known in Ocean Liner history as it was from here the big passenger ships of the Hamburg Amerika Linie left for the new world. In the years before 1920, hundreds of thousands left from there for the New York. By 0930 we had arrived at the entrance of the Canal and here we changed pilots. The river pilot left and the docking pilot boarded. His duty was only to bring the ship into the first locks and then his function was taken over by the canal pilot.

This 3rd. pilot brought with him two helmsmen, who actually steer the ship almost independently through the canal. Simply by keeping it in the middle of the canal and adjusting for wind and passing ships. The pilot is the man who does the communication and adjusts the ships speed. So he was forever fiddling with the speed handles on the bridge under a very watchful eye of myself. Ships that are sailing through the canal are divided into six categories. The Prinsendam being over 200 meters is in category six and that means we are sailing with the slowest speed in order to avoid wake damage to the sides of the canal. Also when we are going through there is no room for opposing traffic. Passing each other is only possible at places where the canal has been widened and ships can wait for each other. The pilot now tries to adjust the ships speed in such a way that we meet the opposing convoy right at such a stretch and we do not have to wait. It did not work out today, too many different ships coming through, sailing at too many different speeds and we had to stop about 5 times. Then I take over again and keep the ship in position at the edge of the canal and provide enough room for the other ships to pass. Once all is clear we return to the middle of the canal and continue the voyage.

The pilot and his friends came onboard in the first locks, where I parked the ship against the dock wall so we could send 25 guests ashore who were going on an overland tour. We picked them up again in the last locks in the same way. Here we also changed the canal pilot for the Kieler pilot who came onboard for the last 45 minutes to sail the ship from the last locks to the open waters of the Baltic. This area is called the Kielerfjord and this is also where the city of Kiel is located.

We had very good weather. Dry and overcast with the sun peeking through until late in the afternoon, only then it started to drizzle for a little while. It made the surrounding meadows really look green and lush. A very scenic highlight is passing the town of Rendsburg about 3/4 up the canal. Here they have a rail road bridge and under it is a pedestrian bridge. Only it is not a bridge as such, but a gondola which hangs suspended by wires from the rail road bridge and crosses the canal that way. An old but inventive solution; to have a pedestrian crossing without hampering the river traffic.

Today we also had two “groupies” following the ship. At each car park and ferry crossing (there are about 15 along the canal) there was a lady with a Dutch flag and a gentleman with the USA flag greeting us. Once the ship had passed, they jumped in the car and raced ahead of us towards the next greeting point. Just before we left the canal in the last locks, they managed to wave their flags at us one more time, now on the little ferry that crosses the canal there. No need to say, that I blew the ships whistle every time that I saw them standing on the side of the canal.

Lady and Gent, whoever you are, the guests did really appreciate your hard work following us all along the canal.

We were out of the last locks by 20.30 having re embarked our overland tour successfully. By 21.30 we had disembarked our final pilot for the day and sailed Eastwards towards our next port of call, Travemunde. This is the gateway port for Lubeck and that is the oldest recorded city on the Baltic Coast. The weather looks good again for tomorrow. Not much sun but dry so a perfect day for sightseeing.

I felt a bit historical today as the first merchant ship ever to transverse the canal was the Rotterdam III in 1895 on the day of the opening. It was also Holland America’s first cruise ever. The ship had been chosen to follow the Emperor’s yacht as the first commercial ship as the Netherlands was neutral. In this way the Germans avoided political friction with France and England, which were not so neutral towards Germany nor towards each other.

Note: you can read more about the history of the canal in one of the pages listed to the right of this blog under: A gentleman’s cruise to the opening of the Kieler Kanal.