On the next stretch there were no locks. It allowed us to reach many kilometers if we sailed for a long time. I downloaded John Hjarsø's book "A life for full sails", which we listened to while the late summer landscape slowly slipped by.
We met more oncoming yachtsmen than the other days and at one point passed a Swedish boat - the first Scandinavian boat after we left Lübeck a week ago.
We had sailed for many hours as we pulled far out to the right bank as we passed an oncoming river barge.
When the long riverbed was gone, we sailed again to the middle of the canal.
Suddenly there was a horrible dumb bang.
We had hit something very hard.
We looked shocked at each other.
We were both still standing upright. So we had not hit frontally. The boat sailed and the echo sounder showed 1,7m. So we were free from what we had hit. The boat was turned to port. In other words, we had most likely touched the hard object with the starboard club wing.
I went down in the boat. Everything was in its usual place, except for the thermos that had fallen into the sink.
I removed the bottom boards. We did not take in water. Then I examined the keel bolts. Not so much as just a drop of water around them. No cracks or crackles in the swamp and bottom. Finally, I examined the diesel tank, engine, stove, stern tube, lake valves, sonar bushings and logs. Everything was as before.
conclusion
We were fortunate enough to meet with the hopefully only tough unmarked item on the 2.100km long way to the Mediterranean.
This does not mean that there is no ugly chop in the fridge.
Eventually we called the insurance company. They made a note of the grounding and said goodbye to our plan to continue sailing and assess any damage when the boat comes ashore for the winter.
Fy so boring with the stone, but nice that it seems to have gone well