Hamburg to Berlin

On a cold, wet, grey June day we left the Kiel canal and headed out onto the Elbe river.
On the plus side, it was calm, as this stretch of river up to Hamburg needs respect.

                                       Elbe locks at Brunsbuttle. We enter tidal waters.

                                                      Hamburg to Berlin, A week long journey

                                            Hamburg skyline, A very busy waterway

50 km up river from Hamburg is Lauenburg, 

A sleepy town on the banks of the Elbe. Here we left the river  

  Our route to Berlin took us up the Elbe, down the Elbe-Seiten canal, and along the Mittelland.
The Sieten canal was built during the cold war, on the Western side of the border to maintain an essential inland waterway route to Hamburg, Huge boat lifts and locks needed to be constructed.

Scharnebeck boat lift

The boat lift at Scharnebeck lifts this 100m by 12 m caisson by 38m 

At the top we look down 38m to the waterway behind us

This lock at Uelzen is 190m long by 12m wide and 23m deep

Wolfsburg, the home of VW 

We stop for the day in Wolfsburg, where 2/3 of the population work for VW, 

Another days run and we cruise into the lakes that surround Berlin, arriving on a rare Sunny day which brought out hundreds of sailors.

We arrive on a busy day on the Berlin Lakes

Berlin, Brandenburg Tor

Berlin will be our base for the next few weeks, before we start the cruise back to France and our winter berth in Corre.

German waters again

Having said goodbye to Sonderburg, our last port in Denmark, we cruised up the long Fiord to Flendsburg, in Germany. The port of Flendsburg has special meaning to me, having read 'The Riddle of the Sands' many years ago. That maritime spy story began here, and the historic seafaring town lived up to the image in my mind.
  

Flendsburg waterfront

Flendsburg. A contrast in boatbuilding

In the waterfront boatyard were restoration projects, alongside an authentic but scaled down 'Man of War' being built.

The current 'Braasch' generation, look after the family Rum business

Flensburg, was once in Demark with a History of bringing Rum from the once Danish Carribean islands. We visit the last remaining family owned rum suppliers in Flendsburg.   

We arrive in Kiel on a windyregatta day.

Our passage back South was to be via the Kiel canal, arriving during Kiel regatta week.

Traffic on the Kiel canal, the busiest man made waterway in the World

Wind farm towers on their way down the canal

Antiope in the shadow of ships entering the locks day and night.

In Brunsbuttle at the Western end of the canal, we join the Elbe river which will take us up through Hamburg and on our way Berlin, once more.