Kiel Canal

[Cherod]

Hi everyone , ( I hope this is the correct section ) ... I / we ( the good wife ) are collecting our boat in the Rostock area of north Germany within the next three weeks to bring it to its new home in Scotland , we are planing on using the Keil Cannal , so I am looking for some up to date information regarding it , like how long does it take to complete , how much does it cost ( I have read from 30£ to free for sail boat ) what documentation is required , how easy is it to stop en route , does stops have to be in authorised areas or just anywhere that is safe anything in fact which is up to date and may be considered relevant or useful , the boat btw is a 36 ft catamaran , thanks in anticipation , " cherod "

[olliecampbell]

I went through the canal last year. It's absolutely beautiful so I'd definitely recommend doing it.
It's free. They stopped payment when someone died trying to get off their boat to pay.
It took us about a day to do so I doubt you'd need to stop. If you do want to you must stop in the authorised marinas (2 of them I believe).
Entering and exiting is through locks which can be busy but just queue up outside.
Just be careful as you're a wide boat and they're are some huge container ships using it too (picture attached) and definitely adhere to the traffic light system en route!

Enjoy though!

[Cherod]

Originally Posted by olliecampbell

I went through the canal last year. It's absolutely beautiful so I'd definitely recommend doing it.
It's free. They stopped payment when someone died trying to get off their boat to pay.
It took us about a day to do so I doubt you'd need to stop. If you do want to you must stop in the authorised marinas (2 of them I believe).
Entering and exiting is through locks which can be busy but just queue up outside.
Just be careful as you're a wide boat and they're are some huge container ships using it too (picture attached) and definitely adhere to the traffic light system en route!

Enjoy though!

Attachment 149346

Thank you Ollie , sounds good 😊 , I have watched a few vids and read many reports , many of them conflicting and a bit out of date , re my request , nice to have it confirmed that it is free !!! So I don't even have to book in , just join the que and go ? , I have also read that i have to contact by radio upon approach , or is that just for larger commercial craft , thanks again for reply / info . Cherod .

[Dockhead]

Sailing to Scotland wouldn't you be better off going through the Kattegat? There is another canal (forgot the name) which allows you to cut through the top of Jutland.

The Kiel Canal is lovely -- I don't know why people hate canals. It's free until they finish installing the payment machines at the Holtenau end. It's an easy and pleasant day of motoring to get through it, BUT a couple of caveats:

1. You may have to wait up to 4 or even 5 hours to get locked through. Sometimes you go straight through, sometimes you wait 30 minutes, but once this year and twice last year we waited for many hours to get a lock. This can screw up your passage plan.

2. You are not allowed to use it at night (defined by particular hours; see the official Kiel Canal website). But you can stay over night in the canal in one of the several lay-bys.

3. The tide rips like Hades up and down the Elbe River, so you can't go out the Elbe just anytime you please. You have to time it with a fair tide in the river. If you want to regulate the timing of that, a layover inside the canal is a good thing which eliminates one of the locks at least.


There are various places to lay over in the canal; my favorite is the waiting pontoon at the entrance to the Gieselau Canal -- a gorgeous, bucolic spot, and free.

More Kiel Canal tips:

1. If your draft is little enough (Maybe 1.7 meters? But check first.) you can use the Gieselau Canal (I think the lock is working again starting this summer) to cut out the Elbe and exit directly into the North Sea. This branches off the Kiel Canal somewhere around the middle. You are again tide restrained, but only for draft. Can save you a lot of miles and a lot of time, depending on where you're going. Very convenient to Helgoland also.

2. Helgoland is a great staging point to get INTO the Kiel Canal (you don't need it coming out, though), as it allows you to time your entrance with a fair tide up the Elbe. While you're there, you can buy the cheapest booze and perfume in Europe, and tax-free diesel fuel also, and look at the seals. Beware there is no fresh water there.

3. Cuxhaven is a good staging point coming OUT of the Kiel Canal. Many also stop there coming in. It's about halfway through the strongly tidal waters you have to get through, to get to the canal entrance. Excellent provisioning at the Real hypermarket, fresh caught seafood, an interesting museum, and Cuxhaven is actually a nice town. Convenient access to Hamburg Airport for crew changes. Cheap and friendly berthing in the Amerikahafen at the LCF club marina.

4. In the locks, you tie up to kind of planks which are about one inch above the water level. If your fenders are not well in the water, you will scratch your topsides against them. Put out fenders on BOTH sides as rafting up is common.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Cherod

Thank you Ollie , sounds good �� , I have watched a few vids and read many reports , many of them conflicting and a bit out of date , re my request , nice to have it confirmed that it is free !!! So I don't even have to book in , just join the que and go ? , I have also read that i have to contact by radio upon approach , or is that just for larger commercial craft , thanks again for reply / info . Cherod .

They don't like to talk to yachtsmen. Just go to the waiting area marked on the charts and watch for the occluded white light which indicates pleasure boats are being locked. Watch the other waiting boats, do what they do, and you'll be ok.

You should monitor the VHF frequency for the side you are in. There are four VHF zones -- Kiel Canal Eins, Kiel Canal Zwei, etc. The locks are One and Four. Be SURE and monitor that channel as they will give instructions to yachtsmen, but do NOT call the unless you have a really severe need.

[Dauntlessny]

Dockhead gave you all the info you need to know. I went through eastbound two years ago.
I also agree that you would be better off going north thru the Kattegat.
I found that entire route to be really nice and interesting.

You can see my route by going to my blog, Dauntlessatsea.com and clicking on "Where am I now" or going directly to Share.Delorme.com/Dauntless and moving the map to the the Baltic and North Sea and my route will render.

Have fun. I miss it.

Richard

[Cherod]

Gee thanks guys , lots a lots a good information for me to mull over and digest there , already on it , just to say , the top loop and throo the Skagerrak is appealing to me but has 2 drawbacks , first this is my wife's first expedition / experience of boating so I don't want it to be too arduous so I intend to keep fairly close to shore and take the southerly route along the Dutch coast and then over to English coast , that should only be a few nights at sea , whereas the north one may be 4 or 5 ,,, also the prevailing weather is s w and I feel it will be easier to keep south and then head north rather than start off north and risk beating to get back south to Scotland ( or worse end up n artic !!! ). Thanks again for all info , much much appreciated , will keep updating ( boring ye all ) as things progress , cherod

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Cherod

Gee thanks guys , lots a lots a good information for me to mull over and digest there , already on it , just to say , the top loop and throo the Skagerrak is appealing to me but has 2 drawbacks , first this is my wife's first expedition / experience of boating so I don't want it to be too arduous so I intend to keep fairly close to shore and take the southerly route along the Dutch coast and then over to English coast , that should only be a few nights at sea , whereas the north one may be 4 or 5 ,,, also the prevailing weather is s w and I feel it will be easier to keep south and then head north rather than start off north and risk beating to get back south to Scotland ( or worse end up n artic !!! ). Thanks again for all info , much much appreciated , will keep updating ( boring ye all ) as things progress , cherod

That's an awful long way around to get to Scotland!! Those are tough coasts, too. You will be exposing your wife to a lot more risk of bad weather, taking such a long way around, than if you just choose a good weather window and squirt across. It's something under 400 miles from Thyboroen to Edinburgh -- not more than three nights at sea. Compared to something like twice that distance if following the coasts around from the mouth of the Elbe.

[carstenb]

I've done the kiel canal twice on dockheads boat and I've made the run through Limfjorden (natural waterway across the northen part of Jutland denmark), then over to Petershead Bay.

The limfjord run is utterly fantastic and there are loads of places along the way to anchor. It takes about 3 days across the north sea to Petershead and then another day onward to Inverness and the Caledonian Canal.

If you want to go to Edinburgh, that also about a day south from Petershead, although you could just go straight from Thyboroen.

Going up through Denmark would also allow you to stop in Copenhagen and Helsingoer and on the island of Anholt

[Cherod]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

That's an awful long way around to get to Scotland!! Those are tough coasts, too. You will be exposing your wife to a lot more risk of bad weather, taking such a long way around, than if you just choose a good weather window and squirt across. It's something under 400 miles from Thyboroen to Edinburgh -- not more than three nights at sea. Compared to something like twice that distance if following the coasts around from the mouth of the Elbe.

Yes I know that , and will be playing that " by ear " , but Peterhead ( destination ) is my home port and I know how rare and I undependable a 4 / 5 day weather window can be , hopefully when time comes fortune will favour us and we can do a " squirt " accross but time is very limited and I have to prepare for all eventualities , better the long way round than a week in port waiting and hoping for opportunities which may not arrive or being cought out or a hard beat back . One thing in our favour is the daylight hours.

[Cherod]

Originally Posted by carstenb

I've done the kiel canal twice on dockheads boat and I've made the run through Limfjorden (natural waterway across the northen part of Jutland denmark), then over to Petershead Bay.

The limfjord run is utterly fantastic and there are loads of places along the way to anchor. It takes about 3 days across the north sea to Petershead and then another day onward to Inverness and the Caledonian Canal.

If you want to go to Edinburgh, that also about a day south from Petershead, although you could just go straight from Thyboroen.

Going up through Denmark would also allow you to stop in Copenhagen and Helsingoer and on the island of Anholt

Thank you , very interesting , ( another vote for direct route ) now I am def looking at the north route , tbh I was expecting a bit more than 3 days across . Thanks guys for some experienced input .

[Cherod]

Oh , btw , no "s " in Peterhead ��

[Cherod]

I think I may have been a little over conservative with my time / distance estimations .

[Cherod]

Just so that I can get some sort of time / distance scale , how long ( in time ) would / should / could it take from Copenhagen up to Anholt island ? This norther route looks too good to miss .

[Cherod]

Looks like massive slow moving high coming in from Atlantic nxt week which could take us down along Eu coast and up Uk east coast , so looking like gonna be Keil after all .