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You must get a map to see why the Kiel, originally built in 1887, was so important. Hitler had it widened (335 feet) and deepened (37 feet) so his navy could save the time of going around Jutland northward. It saves over 200 miles of travel and lots of time. That made it closer to the harbor for supplies. As we slowly sailed the 61 miles we could see how well Germany had been settled. Many homes looked like they would fit on a USA river. The canal has a lock at the end that doesn't do much more than raise/lower the ships a few feet. Going west from the Baltic to the North Sea was our direction of travel. In 1982 I was a guest of a friend on his 63 foot yacht. We left the NYC harbor and went up the Erie Canal. I can't remember the number of locks we went through but they were small. After a couple dozen we reached Oswego, NY and entered Lake Superior. We headed West to the Welland Canal - connecting Lake Superior to Lake Erie. Now that was a lock! When they added water to bring us up to the level of Lake Erie it made a hell of a noise. The water swirled and it took 6 of us to keep the yacht from scraping the wall. The lock on the Kiel was many times as large but we only had a few feet to be raised. No noise, and we watched the adjacent lock with 4 ships raise too. It was interesting to see the lock doors close and once we were at the higher level - open again so we could head out to sea.
The weather wasn't the best, misting a bit, but that didn't stop us from spending time looking at the homes pass by.
The Kiel is 335 feet wide so ships this size can pass each other
Notice how high we are and how low the bridge appears. Notice the contraption hanging from the bridge.
It is hanging transport for mid size vehicles.
We had miles of vista like this.
Occasionally we saw towns that looked prosperous -- all had large loading docks.
At times the perspective looks scary. As we headed into the lock we wondered if we would fit!
See, we had room to spare!
Next to us they were able to load 4 ships.
This is our running track and below is the pool deck.
Nice lamp! it is quite a bit brighter than Mr. Smiley
Indian ice sculpture welcomed us into the main dinning room. Photos from 8/15 - Amsterdam |
