Note well, any of you who will be transiting the Kiel
Canal, that you have to stop if you see three flashing red lights on one of the signal masts.
I have been ignoring all of the signals as inapplicable to me, and found out the hard way that I had not properly understood the instructions. Three flashing red lights means, according to the official guide and all the other available materials, "Do not leave the siding". I had not been using anything like a siding, in any sense of this word. Nor is it a language problem -- in German it's "Weiche" -- as in ausweichen -- it means a side track. Cannot refer to the main
canal in any ordinary use of the word in either language.
Well, as it turns out, "ordinary use of the word" is out the window, as they call the wide
parts of the canal "Weichen" or sidings, and you are supposed to wait before going into one of the narrow
parts, if there is a three red light signal.
I was blissfully ignorant of this for fully seven (!) transits of the Kiel Canal over the last four years, but this year I found out my mistake! Having squeaked through the lock at Holtenau one evening, we anchored in one of the approved
mooring areas about 7 miles down the canal. After dinner, we found ourselves in a bright pool of spotlight. A police boat! The canal operator had observed our
AIS signal, and called the police! No warning, no
radio call, just straight to police enforcement -- incredible. The "Bullen" were polite but firm, and it cost me 35 euros.
An additional point here is that I was travelling in a group of five or six boats, and they were all anchored with me. I was the only one broadcasting
AIS. And the only one who got a visit from the
water cops. I guess I will switch off my AIS the next time I go through the canal.
Hope this posts helps someone avoid a similar situation, which is a buzz-killer in an otherwise wonderful little piece of the trip from the
Baltic to the North Sea -- I love the Kiel Canal.
Mrs Merkel is going to extract a heavy 
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