Rendsburg

When we left Otterndorf at 9:30 this morning, the plan was to go through the lock at Brunsbüttel at the beginning of the Kiel Canal and spend the night there. But we are in Rendsburg. That is 60 KM further, and a day ahead of our non-existent schedule. So what happened?
We left Otterndorf and got onto the Elbe, taking advantage of the ongoing tide. The traffic of big container vessels was a lot less than expected, we met a very big one, which caused a 2m surge wave and a few smaller ones. Just before 11 we got to the waiting area for the lock, and half an hour later the indication came (an interrupted white light) that we were allowed to enter the lock. This is a serious canal, run by serious Germans, using serious rules! The lock is huge, and it has small floating jetties to tie on to, making the whole process quite uncomplicated:

Fortunately, there is a separate lock for pleasure craft, you don't have to share it with some of the seriously big ships that use the canal.
By 12, we were on the canal and headed for the small yacht harbour. This was quite busy, did not look attractive and was right next to the entrance of the 'new locks', where big ships go in and out 24 hours a day. Now that may be interesting / exciting for a few hours, but not through the night. So we decided to continue the 66KM to Rendsburg, the first reasonable opportunity to tie on for the night. The canal is quite interesting: now and then a big ship, which does not cause a lot of hassle quite a few ferries crossing the canal and quite a few yachts going in either direction. Sometimes, these all come together:

And then there are the bridges: the canal has several bridges, some from the time it was dug (1885 to 1895) and some much newer. Most are 42 m high! This is a particularly nice railway bridge:

But the most spectacular one is the railway bridge at Rendsburg, which also carries a 'suspended ferry'.

The 'cage' that hangs below the bridge and slides to the other side in a few minutes even carries a few cars!

I wonder if there is anything like this elsewhere in the world?
Soon after this bridge we turned off the canal and a few miles later tied up at the Rendsburg Yacht Club. We have some washing to do tomorrow morning, thereafter we plan to do the last 40KM of the canal to the Baltic and spend the night at one of the marinas at the Kieler Förde.

Location:Schwarzer Stieg,,Germany