25th May 2012 – We left at 8 o’clock in the morning. The first part, approximately 1km had to be done backwards. The ship has no reverse since the propeller is partly above the water. The wind was blowing us to the wrong side. It took a lot of effort, time and man power to get her trough the first bridge.

Once turned in the big dock, we heard on the radio that the lock was broken. A hydraulic pipe burst and the oil was in the lock. We moored along a tanker for a while and then decided to put the ship in a corner near the lock. This is a lovely place to put a ship, totally surrounded by green.

 

In the afternoon when the lock was working, and my skipper went home, they asked me to move my ship. I called another skipper who helped me moving the boat. Once in the lock, the doors wouldn’t close.

After two hours we were able to leave the lock and get a mooring near the mills. I didn’t make the planning, I’m starting to worry. The first day is gone and I live only moved the boat 3 kilometers.