Things are seldom as you expect them to be!

We left Feddewardersiel as planned at first light, at 4:45 this morning. Although it was overcast and grey, the visibility was good and we easily navigated our way along the 'prikken' and emerged in the river Weser a bit over an hour later. Earlier we had seen (and heard on the VHF) lots of big shipping movements on the river, but when we got there it was very quiet. As we had known, we were now moving against the outgoing tide. That was quite a nuisance as - by the time we got to the Bremerhaven container quay - the current was between 3 and 4 knots against us and we were at times making less than 3 knots over the ground! Eventually we turned into the river Geeste, the way from the Weser to the Elbe. Still overcast and some rain. There is a lock just outside Bremerhaven and once we managed to prise the lockkeeper away from his phone, we were on our way again. The next lock (called Lintig) is a self- operated one and in the past there was no difference in the level: one door closes and the other opens and you're on your way again. So we were surprised that there was a significant surge and the water lever increased, possibly by about 30cm.. A bit later we got to our destination for the day, Berdekesa. Here we found that the jetties are lower than they usually are.





A talk with the harbour master confirmed that the level in the canal is higher than usual because of the rain. Now why this preoccupation with water levels you may well ask. Well, about 25 KM further there is a railway bridge with a normal clearance of 2.70m. We are 2.50m high, with the mast, radar and searchlight down. So we'll have an interesting moment when we get to that bridge tomorrow. Since we have been here, the water level has dropped by say 15cm (good!) and then risen again by 10 (bad!).

The backdrop to this is that according to the harbour master the level was 60cm above normal last week and the jetties were well under water!

Because of the Internet situation, I plan to upload this post tomorrow morning before we leave. If the next one comes from Otterndorf, all is well. If not, we are 'up the creek' (but still in good health and spirits as such is adventure on Onbekommerd).

Location:Berdekesa