Brunsbuttel to Cuxhaven

The usual (half)wit has deserted me for today's title; the heat has sapped my synapses.

Last night we got lucky again; we did the whole canal in 9 hours instead of the expected 10 ... and who can tell me why? Well, because as everyone says the canal is 98 km or 60 miles, but we only recorded 53 miles - cutting corners?! No, it's the difference btw land miles and nautical miles, and btw mph and knots. Anyway the lucky bit was getting the last pontoon space in the tiny Brunsbuttel yacht harbour, just inside the lock. We had a noisy night under the locks' arc lights as 20,000 ton ships rumble past us literally 30 metres away into their lock.

This morning again we were anxious about getting through the lock, but it was all fine. We telephoned the Lock master because the website says 'do NOT use VHF from private craft', only to be told we should call on VHF! That felt strange after 3 years (the Harbours & Marinas in the Baltic don't use VHF, you just rock up and find a berth). He said to come over so we did and jilled for less than 10 mins then got the flashing white only light to proceed. There was only a barge and 2 motor boats - no other yachts. 10 mins later we were released into the Elbe.

We had decided last night just to make the 15nm leg to Cuxhaven, because to make the tides work to reach Helgoland in one go required leaving at 5 am. Not necessary!

We had F5 from behind with a lumpy sea and lots of shipping, so prudence said just motor on. We were doing 8.5kn over the ground aided by 3kn of tide by the time we reached Cuxhaven, which made for an interesting sideways slide into the narrow marina entrance. No drama, until someone clouted their knee on a winch - always happens, just a matter of when, hurts like hell for a while. One of the many things we've learnt over the years is that boats don't always have to be moving to be under control; you can stop her and then attend to mishaps or assess your mooring options calmly, just keeping an eye on the drift 

Although we came to this SVC Marina on the way out in 2017, we didn't remember it. So last night we researched their website and the almanac and Google maps satellite mode, so we knew exactly where the ideal berths were. And, lo! There was a free berth just where we wanted, a downwind pontoon no less.

The pics are in the marina - look closely and you'll see two people swimming down the middle. Quite dangerous, very un-Germanic to break the rules. 

After a short rest we taxi'd off to Edeka and bought €100 of food; the lockers and fridge are bulging. This pm we just lay in shade and panted. After much discussion of charts, tides and weather, we have decided on a rest day here tomorrow and then straight to Norderney on Fri. Yep, tomorrow there's too much wind and on Fri there's too little; as we're being cautious, we'll take the latter.