July 2026 – part 2 (16th to 31st)
Apparently the waterways authorities came round to check on us again on the 16th whilst we were out, so the following day (17th) the police turned up! They checked that all our documents were in order and confirmed with us that we would move on the next day (18th) when the locks reopened – after hanging around for the past four weeks, I explained that we were more than happy to comply.
Finally, it was Release Day – we could actually move on with our cruising and happily headed off towards a new mooring! With the recent lock closures in mind, we thought there might be some periods of waiting at each lock, but we hadn’t truly expected what we encountered at our first lock. Naturally the commercials got first dibs to enter the locks, and sport boats had to wait to see if there was room to follow them in … with lock chambers at 163 metres long that shouldn’t have been an issue as most of the commercial ships we encountered were around 85/86 metres, so in theory one commercial ship followed by one or more sports boats. As we arrived at the waiting area there were already four other smaller cruisers waiting, plus a couple of commercials; so in went a commercial followed by three of the sports boats, and we had to wait with the remaining cruiser (who’d already been waiting an hour and a half!) for our turn. Eventually, probably an hour later, we and a couple of other cruisers were allowed to follow a large commercial vehicle into the lock, and prepare ourselves for an almost seven metre rise in the chamber.
The following two locks followed a similar pattern of waiting our turn to enter behind commercial ships, but eventually we made it through and out of the Schleuse Alten-Rheine, making a 180 turn down a side arm to stay for the night.
As it turned out, we stayed a couple of nights, taking the opportunity to catch a bus into the nearby town of Rheine and explore a little. The town is situated on the Ems river, the shortest river in Germany, and we wandered around the quiet streets until we came across the water, and a small schleuse at a weir.
In 1841 a ship canal was constructed to by-pass the Ems weir, with a manually operated lock at either end of its 900 metre length. It was in use until 1914, but now the ship canal mainly serves recreational boaters.
Back on board, we moved on the next morning, travelling for three hours along the Dortmund-Ems-Kanal until we found our nights mooring on a long stretch of waterway between two bridges – not a bad spot but very bumpy when the large commercials hurried past.
The plan for the next day took us further along the canal heading towards MĂĽnster, but on making a ‘brief’ wee break for the dogs we realised that that particular area seemed good for a proper stop-over and so we re-positioned towards the end of the quay close to a ‘winding hole’ with some decent walking along the canalside.
22nd July … hard to believe, but it’s now three years since Isabella came into our lives. So today began with a family call to Isabella to sing in her 3rd year. Happy birthday to our gorgeous Isabella.
We ‘celebrated’ her birthday ourselves with a six hour cruise to our next destination, which involved a ‘one way system’ across a constricted length of waterway, with a long wait to take our turn (we chose to let three commercials go ahead of us, so the whole process took some extra time); a little further on we then had at least an hour’s hanging around waiting for permission to enter a rather large lock (around 190 metres x 12 metres) with a 7 metre rise.
Finally though we made it into the town of MĂĽnster. (The harbour was developed from a cargo handling area into a creative quay. There are still some relics of the town’s old industrial goods handling industry lining the waterfronts, and a mixture of converted warehouses and modern architecture.) We took up a position next to a disused crane and moored between a couple of cruisers, and quickly got the dogs off for a short walk before heading off to re-stock our depleted cupboards.
Despite forecast rain, the night was dry, although a little windy, and we all had a good night, ready to leave soon after 10am the next day. A few hours of travelling and we decided to stop for a doggy wee break at a long stretch by InkmannbrĂĽcke – this happened to be slightly ahead of a moored police cruiser, and we’d only walked a few metres before we noticed one of the officers walking down to us. Oh no, not another inspection! As it turned out, he seemed to be popping along more for a very relaxed chat, with just the odd mention of registration and certification. All very friendly and he seemed to be really happy with our capabilities, although, I’m not sure what he made of the centreline coming undone and the rear end of Shensi beginning to drift off. My bad! Luckily the bowline was tied on ‘properly’ (which Nicki made much of) so we didn’t lose complete face with our German police friend. Ah well, onwards and upwards.
From start to finish on this day (23rd) we cruised for five hours until we reached a bridge on the Dortmund-Ems-Kanal (DEK) (this one at/near Ludinghausen, although there did appear to be several bridges bearing this name along the canal, each at slightly different locations).
We were easily able to stay at the end of this long commercial shipping quay, and there was a nice stretch of dog walking available nearby, always a bonus. As we looked around the area, we noticed within walking distance a large bakery and cafe, so the next morning we walked over there to treat ourselves to a breakfast of coffee and cake before heading off, just to help out the local economy of course – a very pleasant start to our day.
Breakfast was followed by a day’s cruise of a mere two and a half hours – we were aiming for the YCC Henrichenburg (a place that we had stayed in 2024) which was right next to an old ship lift, apparently 56.5 m above sea level and located in the lower reaches of the oldest ship lift in the locale.
Interestingly, this is the world’s largest canal junction; three waterways meet here – the Rhine-Herne Kanal (RHK) from Duisburg, the Datteln-Hamm Canal from Hamm and the DEK from Meppen and Dortmu nd. A 15-kilometer-long canal section turns off to the port of Dortmund (almost 15 meters higher than the other three channels). A few kilometres to the north a further canal, the Wesel-Datteln-Kanal, also branches off in the direction of Wesel. (A bit of history here … there are two locks and two boat lifts, all now contained within ‘Waltrop Lock Park’. Since 1899 these had enabled ships to navigate the DEK although only one large lock remains in operation these days, alongside the remains of the old, imposing industrial structures. The Henrichenburg ship lift (itself opened in 1899) was necessary to bridge the difference in altitude between the DEK and the town of Dortmund. Ships were transported between the plains as in an elevator, which was a technical innovation of its time.)
Next day we were awake (bright and) early thanks to Pip and Casper, and ready to depart by 9.30. From YCC Henrichenburg we turned into the RHK, arriving at our first lock of the day after just half an hour. Sadly, that was where things went awry – as we arrived at Schleuse Herne-Ost we knew (from our navigation information etc) that there would be room to enter behind a large commercial and a small cruiser, so Nicki did her usual polite request to be allowed in. We both heard the operator say ‘Ja’ (yes) with extra words following, so duly followed the cruiser in. Scarily, at the VERY last minute I spotted that the entry lights had suddenly turned from green to red and, more importantly, that the gate was rising up out of the water as we approached – presumably code for “you’re not getting in this time, maties”!!! Not quite panic stations, but we very speedily did a 180 to avoid crashing into said barrier and headed back onto the nearby sportboat waiting area. From then on for the next two and a half hours we had to just sit around like naughty school children and wait until we were told to head in again. Once locked in, the process took a mere 25 minutes before we were on our way again.
Knowing we had a longish day (25 July) ahead of us, we kept an eye open for a potential mooring to break up the journey, and noticed a sign for a pleasure craft marina a little further on; on checking their website, it stated that only craft up to 15 metres were permitted, but despite this we decided to phone and push our luck. Luckily the harbour master was more than happy to accommodate us, and we were soon moored up in the rather attractive Stolting Marina, all clean and tidy and looking very new (although the harbour master told us it was in fact constructed in 2018).
With yet another bakery/cafe just around the corner, as usual we felt it would have been rude not to partake of a pastry breakfast, and we made the ultimate sacrifice of doing so before setting off in the morning. As we poked Shensi’s nose out into the main channel, a 110 metre commercial craft passed by and we managed to easily follow it in order to take advantage of it having locks prepped and ready for access, with no conflict from other vessels.
Three locks and three and a half hours later, we found a free mooring toward the end of the RHK at PK 2.93, somewhere that we had stayed in 2024 when Alec was with us, and stopped for the night. Despite some rain forecast, I decided to do a little bit of painting on the stern, and then Nicki and I settled in for the rainstorm. Although this was a handy little spot for the night, it was completely fenced in so very little dog walking available, and as it was situated between two rail lines it was quite noisy, not to mention the large commercials that were passing which put a tremendous amount of stress on the ropes!
Over the past several days we had heard a lot of talk about low water levels generally in the area, so an early start the next day was what we needed – we were up at 6.30am in preparation for a worst case scenario and on our way at 7am to reach the last lock of the RHK (Schleuse Oberhausen) at 7.30am. On arrival we immediately announced ourselves to the lock operator and after only a 30 minute wait to clear an upstream barge, we had the whole 190m/7 metre drop lock to ourselves.
Passing out of the lock gates we entered the lock-waiting area and we were soon headed off toward the busy Rhine river, passing huge commercial ships (some as long as 193 metres long, maybe even more) lining the vast quays – there were literally hundreds of tons of ships lined up along each side of the waterway, two and three ships deep in places! – but then we were out on the Rhine and on our way to the Netherlands.
As we motored along the Rheine river, we spotted a large decoratively painted tower (Pk 842) which on delving into Google proved to be the cooling tower of a former Schneller BrĂĽter (fast breeder) nuclear power plant in Kalkar, Germany which never went into operation; it was effectually repurposed into a prominent feature of the Wunderland Kalkar amusement park, featuring a large mural of mountains on its exterior. Inside the tower there is a large swing ride and other attractions and rides, and the surrounding buildings became a hotel and a convention centre.
The Rheine was busy but other than trying to avoid the shallows, we made good time. The water levels into the marinas were only about 80cm and we needed at least 1m so although tempted by various lakes along the route, without sufficient information we knew that any attempt to visit them could end badly and we pressed on. Whilst it was boring at times for us, we started to feel the frustration of the dogs after about 10 hours because they obviously wanted a wee break and are far too well-trained to soil the deck. Every time we spotted somewhere to pull over, it was too late as the current swept us past. The pace dropped a little as we turned onto the Ijssel river and for the first time on our journey we encountered a commercial barge Blue Boarding us!
By now, in fact quite some while ago, we had agreed that the only option for us was to push on to Doesburg – a much longer day than expected at the start – and I duly contacted the Doesburg marina to make sure they had room for us as the last time we visited, it was really full. The Harbour Master said there was indeed space and also confirmed that the water depth was ok. In fact, when we arrived the Marina had very few boats moored up which was a surprise as we are now in the peak holiday season.
And so, having travelled a distance of 125km with only one lock at the start, we ended our 11.5 hrs of travel on the fast flowing waterways, and gratefully cruised into Doesburg marina – probably not as grateful as the dogs though! After changing our minds a couple of times, we decided on a spot to moor and as I finished trying up, Nicki quickly got the dogs off the boat to do their business. Despite being such a long, stressful and busy day, Nicki and I took the dogs out for a nice walk in the cooler evening to stretch their and our legs and get some exercise, and hopefully help them get a good night’s rest …. we were pretty sure we’d sleep well after all that excitement! During the walk we came across an interesting sculpture, one that we remembered from our previous visit to Doesburg in 2019.
The following day, despite the high temperatures, we took a stroll around the city streets and managed a few photos as an aide memoire for the future!
In Doesburg we booked into the marina for just two nights, leaving on 29th July and hoped to reach the town of Zutphen just a two hours cruise further along the river. We had called up the harbourmaster of the Zutphen marina to make a reservation (WSV Gelre) and were advised that despite low water we should have no trouble getting in – it was a little hairy getting ourselves onto the hammerhead mooring right at the entrance to the harbour, but we managed and quickly tied up to head off onshore.
As we walked along the boardwalk around the perimeter of the marina, we soon realised how problematic water levels had actually become when, turning the corner, we could see a long stretch of boardwalk listing some 30 degrees down into the marina! Casper valiantly attempted to walk along but his back legs couldn’t manage it and they just slipped from under him, which resulted in him sitting down with no inclination to carry on. So for any and all travels to and from the boat/marina exit, I had to carry him all the way – and he’s no lightweight really. Still, despite it being a challenge to walk along the boardwalk, he and I made it to the ramp and then hit a second obstacle. The ramp was far too steep for him to get any purchase …. so I continued with the climb until we got to the top. I gratefully put him on the flat flooring and he decided to disappear round the side of the shower block – with very little hearing I had to chase after him to lead him back on track. Ah well, lesson learned for the future. Nicki let Pip find her own way along off-lead. It seemed safer for both of them, as Pip does pull and Nicki’s balance isn’t great at times – an accident waiting to happen really under these conditions – but they coped and reached the flat levels. As a reward for all that effort, we stopped at a lovely hotel at the edge of the city and treated ourselves to a delicious iced coffee, with the full works of coffee, ice-cream, lashings of cream and some chocolate on the top.
In the evening we made it out again wth the dogs for their pre-bed outing, this time down to a little beach just round the corner from the marina. That was short lived though as there was a lady on the beach with her cat, so we politely withdrew and left her to it.
In the morning, the dreaded boardwalk journey was repeated yet again and we all wandered into the town to look around – a good sized market was in progress, which is always pleasant to discover, followed by a walk through the backstreets to get a flavour for Zutphen, before returning to Shensi.
During the afternoon a few more cruisers called into the marina, all struggling with the water level, and each found spaces around the jetties, except for one who rafted up to Shensi. A little later, we took another walk out, this time without the dogs which made negotiating the boardwalk much easier, then dinner, a last dog wee break of the day, and bed, with the intention of heading off to Deventer the next day.
As per usual, our morning began with a short dog walk, returning to bed for coffee and TV binge of the news, followed by a longer walk to discover a little more of the town. Normally this was the point when we’d leave, but today we had to wait for the rafted cruiser to move off, which it eventually managed after lots of to-ing and fro-ing wth the thrusters. Next, our turn to leave, and we too had to work the engine and thrusters to be able to manoeuvre ourselves out of the marina, but at last we were on our way.
The plan on reaching Deventer was to moor alongside the river wall, but with the water level being so very low, it meant that the quay was too high for us to reach. So we went to our second choice mooring on the opposite bank outside of a hotel and close to the ferry, where yet again we were thwarted once more by not enough depth – we tried our best, almost stranding ourselve sin the process, but in the end we had to press on to our third option, a marina just a little further outside of town. Here we were shocked to find that the marina entrance had been closed due to – you’ve guessed it – lack of water (although we didn’t notice the closure signs until after we’d failed an attempt to enter the channel!).
Continuing on, and after struggling a lot with the low water levels, the noises and handling of Shensi had become a bit of a concern. We seemed to be crabbing a bit so I slowed and tried the thrusters. The bow initially made some horrible noises but then cleared so I’m not sure if a bit of debris had found it’s way into the tube. That stopped the crabbing but we still seemed to be going slower.
Just in case we hit any mooring issues, I had previously checked in with a potential alternative marina, although further away in Hattem, who gave us the happy news that they still had a two metre clearance and that they could indeed accommodate us. A few more hours of travel and we managed to turn off the Ijssel river and into Hattem, and claimed a box mooring for the night in a large, pleasant, busy marina, which is where we spent our final night in July (an expensive stop, but worth it for the chance to rest and relax).
After we tied up in the marina, I took the literal plunge and got into the water to investigate the prop. Mostly it seemed ok but there was what appeared to be tights and the obligatory fishing line wrapped round the rope cutter, which I was able to remove. Hopefully that will make things run more smoothly, but time will tell.