On Friday we left Bella Sky at 7, took an HT bus to Hovedbanen and from here a bus to Hamburg. From there we took the train to Münster. Here we took a taxi and arrived at the boat at 18.30. We managed to shop in the local Aldi and have dinner before we collapsed at 20.30 and slept for more than 12 hours.
The next day we sailed 60 km to Flaesheim. A voyage of approx. 5 hours, which ended up taking twice as long. We had to go through 3 locks. Two of the locks had some waiting time, but the third had broken. It took just under 3 hours before we were sluiced down. While waiting we talked to a German couple in a motorboat. They kept in touch with the lock master. It turned out that they were also going to Flaesheim and when we were both inside the lock, the man from the motorboat told us that he had booked place no. 15 in the harbor for us. Good enough some friendly people.
Flaesheim harbor is not that big and lies inside a lake. Here are sandy beaches, small cottages and caravans, all of which seemed to be permanent residents.
Here was incredibly cozy and very beautiful. Grounded terrain with fragrant pine trees, lots of birdlife, fish that ran, so Carl thought to find the fishing rod.
Sunday we slept for a long time, went for a walk in the area and enjoyed the silence, the smell and watching the colors of the autumn begin to get into the surrounding forest.
During the day we have between 24 and 32 degrees. In the evening it gets cool and some of the nights it is downright cold. It is clear that autumn is catching up with us
A little later in the day we sailed a short trip on to Dorsten. We had gotten the impression that it was a nice harbor where we could change our gas bottle and fill up with diesel. The harbor was really nice, but consisted only of a bridge that ran along the canal and a restaurant where you could buy something to drink. Nearby there was a town with a good range of shops. However, we skipped the last one.
We went up to the restaurant, drank a cold wheat beer and had dinner on the boat. Got a hold of the harbormaster who would come the next morning and fill up with diesel. You couldn't get gas. We filled up water, cleaned the grill, etc
The next morning we got up early. At 8 the harbormaster should come. He didn't, so Carl had to call a few times before he finally stood on the dock 45 minutes later.
Today's destination was Nijmegen in the Netherlands, where we have never sailed before. It also meant our debut with sailing Rhine, which we have heard quite a few stories about. We had to go through 2 locks. After the second we would be on the Rhine.
When we arrived at the first lock we sailed directly into the lock chamber after Carl had spoken to the lock master. At the second lock there was about a 15 minute wait - and so on with us.
When we got out on the Rhine the scenery changed. From sailing in narrow canals surrounded by trees, we were now out in a very wide river with a Wester Sea atmosphere on the river bank. If you didn't know better, you'd think you were out at sea. There was a lot of traffic and current on the 5km that was with us. Many large river banks went the opposite way, while only a few overtook us. It was important to keep an eye on the signal flags on the river rafters. Some meant that you had to pass on the starboard side.
After sailing 106 km in 7 hours 20 min. we crossed the border to the Netherlands. After approx. 1 hour we were in Nijmegen, where we found a nice little harbor below the casino. We cycled through the city, which is said to be Holland's oldest. There were old and interesting churches, castles, nice pedestrian streets and restaurants.
