Baltic Cruising Part 3: Kiel Canal

The Panama and Suez canals get most of the publicity. But their volume of traffic is second to the Kiel Canal of Germany. The canal offers a quick route between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea.

Most large vessels require tug assistance fore and aft

And this guys is sitting about waiting for something to do!

Prior to entering the canal, we were told to anchor and await a call since one of the locks was down and needing repair.

Arrival

These locks are under constant repair. After WW1, the canal fell into disrepair. After Hitler came to power in the 1930s, he rebuilt the locks and then used the canal to move his warships into open seas. 

This is a slide lock system as opposed to a swinging door operation

The locks themselves are huge

Inside the lock, we tied up to await another ship entering aft of us. How close were we to the side? Yes, that close.

Making the exit

Not only were the locks huge, but the canal was wide also.

On shore were biking and walking paths for the locals. Over the trees were German farmland. I put the camera away, sitting on deck & happily watching the scenery go by. We exited the canal sometime around midnight.

The next morning, what appeared to be the white cliffs of Dover could bee seen. These were actually on the Island of Møn 

Up next: Copenhagen, Tallin and then on to St. Petersburg, Russia.