Another very wet morning with some torrential showers was not an ideal start to our canal cruise this morning. With a minimum headroom of 3.8 metres we would need to lower the radar arch which would mean removing the canopy and exposing ourselves to the elements. First we had to negotiate the Wilhelmshaven sea lock which was a huge basin which we occupied all by ourselves. The Dreichbrücke at the seaward end of the Handelshafen marks the start of the Ems-Jade canal and we managed to rouse the bridge keeper to lift the 2 metre clearance bridge with a combination of horn and radio. Our guide book gave us details of the six locks on the passage but apart from the minimum headroom limit there was no details on what bridges we could expect.

Our next challenge was at the Mariensiel lock where no amount of hooting or waiting roused anyone. Eventually someone appeared along the towpath on a bike and proceeded to operate not only that lock, but a variety of swing and lift bridges to follow. After that our passage went a bit more smoothly with each lock/bridge keeper taking over from the one before. We were amazed at the range and number of obstacles on our route and the man-hours that had to go into opening them. Our pilot book had commented that there were 'heavy dues' on this canal, but had not indicated how much that was. Judging by the number of people employed for our benefit we wondered just how heavy the dues would turn out to be. Only at the Sande rail bridge did we get delayed for nearly an hour but it was pouring with rain and then three trains went by so we couldn't really complain. The most unusual bridge was a temporary contractors bridge which was lifted out of the way by crane.

By the afternoon the weather had cleared up sufficiently that we could leave the mast down for the ever lower fixed bridges that we came across. Some sloped alarmingly from front to back so our normal technique of lining up on the underside of the bridge no longer worked and led to one or two close calls. All in all we survived intact and stopped for the night at Aurich, the one town on the route between Wilhelmshaven and Emden. Here all the usual facilities could be found close at hand including a Turkish convenience store, late night bakers and the nautically themed 'Restaurant Steuerbord an der Hafen'.

Cruising Statistics

Distance: 29 nm

Total to date: 1209 nm

Avg Speed: 4 knots

Duration: 10:45 hours

Diesel: 36 litres

Mooring: Free

Electricity: N/A

Water: €1 at lock

Locks

Wilhelmshaven

Mariensiel

Wiesede

Upschört

Wiesens

Bridges

Kaiser Wilhelm (9m)
Deichbrücke (swing)
Rüstringer (swing)
Mariensiel lock bridge (lift)
Mariensiel road & rail (lift)
Unnamed small bridge (swing)
2nd unnamed small bridge (swing)
Unnamed fixed (4.8m)
Sande road & rail (lift)
Unnamed small bridge (swing)
Unnamed fixed (4.8m)
Dykhausen (lift)
Temporary (lift)
Abickhafe (lift)
Hoheesche (swing)
Reepsholt (lift)
Wassermühle (swing)
Priemelsfehn (4.3m)
Wiesede lock bridge (lift)
Upschört (4m)
Upschört lock bridge (4m)
Marcardsmoor (4m)
Unnamed footbridge (4m)
Unnamed fixed (4.3m)
Wiesens footbridge (swing)
Wiesens road (4m)
2003 road (4.8m)
Unnamed fixed (3.8m)
Unnamed arched (3.6m)
Middelburg road (4m)
Kirchdorf road (3.9m)