Wednesday 30th June 2004 Lingen to Ibbenburen.

12.7° C Grey and overcast with sunny spells. We had an early start, setting off at 7 a.m.

WSA tug Ludinghausen overtaking on long straight DEK

Followed Anita, which was empty now (the boat with the rocks again!) to Gleesen lock. After a short wait, the lock emptied, an empty tankership came out and we went up the 6.4m deep lock behind  Anita. The keeper, who was more chatty than the norm, asked where we were from and going to as he passed us on his walk to the top end gate cabin on his 160m long lock chamber. It was only a short distance to the next lock but Anita being empty got there much quicker than us, also we passed a 2000 tonne square fronted tanker, called Marpa, which had just descended, so they would have the lock ready for the empty boat.

Dorle from Luneberg leaving Altenrheine lock DEK

It was only a short wait before Hesselte lock emptied again and we went up 3.4m, just the two of us. Dropped our rubbish in the bin by the bottom end gate lock cabin. I went in to do the hoovering and made a cup of soup. As we got closer to the next lock we passed Vyas coming downstream followed by Donna from Millingen, which was loaded with scrap, probably for the steelworks just below Gleesen lock. An empty called Biger came out of Venhaus lock and we went into the empty chamber. The keeper asked us to move forward as there was another boat coming.

Tankership Goya leaving  Rodde lock DEK

We hadn’t noticed anything behind us, but expecting it to be another 80m boat we moved up the 160m chamber to within 30m of the front gates. A wall of water preceded the WSA tug Lüdinghausen into the lock, then the latter sat ropelesss at the back of the chamber while we rose 3.5m. Left the top at 11.10 a.m. Mississippi, loaded with scrap, was waiting above to descend. The German cruiser we shared a lock with earlier, Einigkeit (Unity in English) from Rauderfern, came downstream and waved, wishing us a “gute reisen”. They were being followed by a 2,000 tonne tanker from Hamburg, called Christian Bernsen.

Tankership Venlo leaving Bevergern lock DEK

A 67m loaded boat called Dorle from Lüneberg was exiting Altenrheine lock. We went into the chamber and waited ten minutes while a couple of Dutch cruisers arrived, one of whom had also been moored in Lingen the night before. Christophe Harms, an empty tanker boat, was waiting above. We had lunch en route to the next lock. The WSA tug boat must have stopped for lunch, it pulled out from a quay and followed the two Dutch cruisers. At the quay in Rheine, Adler from Papenburg was unloading sand. Arcturus from Hamburg, another one loaded with rocks, was heading downstream as we neared Rodde lock. The cruisers and tug had got the lock and were already going up. We arrived at 1.45 p.m. and had to wait for the next commercial to descend. 

In Bevergern lock with Lydia and a yacht DEK

It was an impressive looking 86m long Dutch tanker carrying 1,360 tonnes, called Goya from Terneuzen. We rose 3.8m in Rodde lock and went on to the 3 kms pound to the last lock we would ascend on the DEK, the 8m deep Bevergern lock. We waited below as, again, the cruisers were going up. Another tankership came down, but we still had red lights so we continued to wait. Mike noticed two teenage girls come down from the road bridge (where there were lots of gongoozlers watching the boats in the lock) on to the towpath. They looked carefully to make sure no one could see them from up by the lock, then they both dropped their lycra shorts to have a pee in full view of the boats! We’re invisible again! An 80m empty called Lydia arrived and we followed it into the chamber and a German yacht arrived, Helgoland from Varel, 

In Bevergern lock - note Fanny wearing her trumpet collar

and so we took the right hand wall in front of Rosy, leaving the left hand wall behind the commercial free for the yacht. Slowly we ascended the 8m, the chamber filling with the aid of economiser pounds. Left the top at 4.15 p.m. Hooray! Mittelland here we come! A short distance from the lock was the junction with the much busier MLK. We followed Lydia and Keppel into the canal, the latter had come from the opposite direction which leads to the Rhine. 174 kms to the next lock at Anderten. At KP2 we were overtaken by an empty called Evelin. Turned right at KP4 into the old arm at Ibbenburen and moored in the haven by two cruisers and two Dutch barges. Anita was at the loading staithe being loaded again with rocks, which were sliding down the chute from a procession of lorries, (it’s a wonder it doesn’t knock the bottom out of the boat). Within minutes it was fully loaded and the next empty 80m boat took its place under the chute. It was 5.30 p.m. I unscrewed a stubborn tick out of Fanny’s ear for Bill. Mike went to get the car and I made chicken nuggets and chips for dinner with battered mushrooms. Later Mike watched Holland get severely whupped by Portugal in the Euro 2004 football championships.