Bremerhaven

We have a very good deal for iPad data from 'O2' in Germany (€25 for 5GB compared to €20 for 0.7GB in the Netherlands). The only problem is that the coverage is not ideal which is the reason for missing blogposts from Brunsbüttel (2 nights ago) and Lintig (last night).

In Brunsbüttel we stayed in the small yacht harbour just inside the locks. Quiet it is not, but it has a very special atmosphere which we enjoy: the yachts are either coming from or going to the Kiel canal, and are from many nationalities. The harbour is small but packed and when the tide outside the locks on the Elbe is right, there is an armada trying to get into the lock.
And all night, big ships pass literally metres from where you are tied up.
Here are two impressions:








Yesterday morning we got up in time to be in front of the lock at 8am. Again we were lucky, the wait was about half an hour, add another 20 minutes to lock out and before 9 we were on the Elbe where big ships from Hamburg to the North Sea need to be watched out for:





As you can see, there was no wind and we had an easy trip to Otterndorf where the next lock awaited, but only a small one onto the waterway connecting the Elbe to the Weser.





That waterway (generally called the Geeste, although the river Geeste only makes up part of it) is 60KM long so most people take two days (there is an 8KM/hr speed limit and it's narrow and shallow too).

We stopped at the halfway lock in Lintig, a self service lock in the middle of nowhere and continued this morning to reach Bremerhaven by 1pm.

Our original plan was to return via the German 'Wadden' islands, but the weather - which has been most accommodating for the past months - is not supporting that plan. The next two days will be ok with a bit of rain, but after that it looks like a week of strong winds, at least in the North on the islands. We don't really want to get stuck on Wangerooge (the first island, where the harbour is 6KM from the town) and waiting almost a week in Bremerhaven is also no attraction.
So we have decided to head over the shallows for Wilhelmshaven tomorrow and from there in two days via the Ems - Jade canal to Emden and Delfzijl in the Netherlands. By that time there should be more clarity about the longer term predictions and we might go to the Dutch Wadden islands instead.

Location:Am Neuen Hafen,Bremerhaven,Germany