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.