We left Rendsburg bright and early and purred up the last 16 miles of the Kiel Kanal in cool air and brilliant sun. Saw an eagle/buzzard - L quite excited. The lock at the end of the canal has 4 chambers, usually 2 commercial and 2 'sport' ie leisure. However after over 100 years of continuous operation they chose this year to renovate, and they have closed 3 out of the 4 leaving one commercial lock for everyone which is 'kin big ships and loadsa yachts & motorboats.
So we had to moor on a waiting pontoon and ... wait. We were the 5th boat to arrive and after 2 hours there were about 25 all tied up chaotically. Lucky it was a calm day, and this was the calm before the storm. Suddenly an announcement over loudspeakers and everyone leapt to their engines and ropes, and started streaming towards the lock. We jettisoned our English reticence and streamed with the best of them. There were already 4 commercial ships in the lock and we all squeezed in beside the hugest of them all (first 2 pics).
The storm came in that the huge ship still had his propellor turning which caused a circular flow in the lock which meant that some boats got spun around if they didn't tie on quickly enough. Many went sideways and at least one ended up pointing the wrong way. We were caught by it and to recover had to reverse right under the stern of said ship to get space in which to straighten up and throw warps to the boat against which we were trying to tie up - all very exciting, and not in a good way.
After that 15 minutes of mayhem we sat for half an hour while the lock did its thing before we were released into the Keiler Bucht, the stretch of water that runs down to the city.
We turned south and moored in the marina closest to the city centre - Durstenbrook. A box mooring which we had trouble with as usual (sigh). As always another yachtie was on hand to help by holding the bow - these box moorings are really hard with just 2 people but we'll get better with practice. At least we found a space close to the Harbour Master and facilities.
A quick switch to shore-going clothes and off we went along the promenade to the centre. Kiel is a VERY yachtie place, it's like Cowes on steroids, absolutely stuffed with boats and being a Sunday many of them out sailing. There are few genuinely old buildings in Kiel because we flattened it in the war. We ducked into the church of St Nicholas, invited in even though they were mid-service with a rockin' choir - building is probably rebuilt to look old (pic). The Altstadt is mostly new buildings and shops and a few restaurants - surprisingly quiet for a summer weekend. We came across, not entirely by chance, the Kiel Brewery which happily seves food as well as their own beer (pic). Wonderful dinner topped off with schnapps and a happy stagger back to the boat.
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