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Kiel Kanal - Profile

Location

The Kiel Canal, or Nord-Ostsee Kanal, runs 53 miles (99 km) NW from Brunsbuttel on the River Elbe, to Kiel on the Baltic coast. It is over 100m wide and 11m deep and has a clearance of 40m.

Docking

Permission to enter the canal must be requested as follows:-

At Brunsbuttel: "Kiel Kanal 1" on VHF ch. 13

At Kiel-Holtenau: "Kiel Kanal 4" on VHF ch. 12

During transit of the canal, a listening watch should be kept on each of the above channels when approaching the locks, on ch. 02 ("Kiel Kanal 2") between Brunsbuttel and Breiholz, and on ch. 03 from Breiholz to Kiel ("Kiel Kanal 3").

The cost of transit is about 55 euro and is paid, at the Kiel end only, to the lock master (Old lock) or at the newspaper stand (New lock). This kiosk also sells charts.

Apart from at Brunsbuttel and Holtenau, there are five berthing places (weichen) where it is possible for yachts to spend the night (moving at night is not permitted). They are located in sidings and are reasonably sheltered from wash. Yachts will not be locked into the canal unless they have time to reach one of these berthing places before dark.

See this Noonsite report for more details.

Last updated September 2017.

At km 20.5

Duckerswisch siding

W side in turning area. Normally 1 night only.

At km 40.5

Oldenbuttel siding

Off the lock to the Gieselau Canal, whick links the Kiel canal to the river Eider. One night only.

At km 66

Rendsburg

All facilities are available in the 3 marinas in Lake Obereider. The one to the west is nearest the town. Fuel is available at the western end of the lake at the YC marina.

At km 67.5 & 70

The Borgstedter See

At km 85.4

Flemhuder See

East of the Grossnordsee siding. One night only. The anchorage is marked by yellow buoys.

Horst Bock und Schwarz - Werft

Kieler Strasse 37 , D-24768 Rendsburg , Germany

Tel:+49 4331 2 26 01

Lat 54deg19' N Long 9deg41'E This yard is located at Rendsburg on the Kiel Canal. Boats can be stored outdoors with mast up (but covered) or in shed with mast down

Yacht Clubs

British Kiel Yacht Club

PO Box 2006 British Forces Post Office , Prieser Strand 16A , 24159 Kiel, Germany

Tel:+49 431 398833 Fax:+49 431 397172

http://www.bkyc.de/ , flag@bkyc.de

Lat54deg23'.1N Long 10deg09'.8E This club is located just to the north of the eastern (Holtenau) end of the Kiel Canal. No winter storage available. Lift out by adjustable trolley (to 10 tonnes). Mast crane and all types of support.
Bus or taxi to Kiel railway station. Bus to Hamburg Lubeck Airport (1 hour).

AlWil says:

Apr 30, 2015 07:46 AM

There are waiting pontoons inside the Holtenau locks for outgoing yachts: like the locks, they have a freeboard of only a few centimetres and your fenders may float over them. The waiting pontoons outside the Holtenau locks for ingoing yachts, just for variety, have extremely high freeboard: they are higher than most smaller boats' decks.

JOHN ALLISON says:

Jul 05, 2014 07:32 AM

They canal / lock dues for a 10 metre yacht is €16.

Andrus Rajaniemi says:

Sep 30, 2013 06:33 PM

In spring 2013 we got some useful tips for the kanal passage from local sailors.

For pleasure boats the old lock is mainly used. The VHF contact with lock operators can be difficult to achieve. What most local boats do is that they are just circling around for a while and soon the white light will lit up giving permission to enter the lock. Please note that white light is a permission to enter for pleasure boats as defined in the Navigation Handbook. Green light is only for commercial vessels. Even if not obvious from a distance the white light is made from two lamps side-by-side. The lamp lit indicates the side of the lock to make fast. Along the canal are many other lights for ships and yachts should not worry about these too much. Like for example two reds lit above each other does not apply to yachts in any way.

Andrus.
S/Y Suwena - http://www.suwena.net/en

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