The bakeries open here at five in the morning! – I cycle there after waking up, pick this and that, and hole up in my sleeping tent again (and enjoy). It has become bitterly cold overnight; a light layer of ice has settled over the ArgoFram and all the other boats, because the haze is omnipresent, persistent, and it settles as a thin layer of ice on everything near the water.
I have long since been ready for the lock, and as yesterday, more company employees than necessary come to greet me with a mixture of scepticism and curiosity – word of my journey has apparently spread, now they want to see who it is and what the boat might look like that is being pushed through the canal. But there’s also a lot to be discussed: which member of the staff is going from where to where, how to lock the boat, etc. – We’re in Alsace, life is more emotional here than in Basel, which is a more intellectual place; there’s always a reason for a chat, so we chat before we start.
At the same time, I have to say goodbye to the people in the cosy harbour – everything is so uncomplicated here, so close to Basel. Photos are taken, all the best, salut!
The fog is thicker than ever today; I pierce this moist wall with my headlights, but I can’t make out much of my surroundings. The main thing is that I have a clear view of the lock – since everything happens at a snail’s pace anyway, we stay relaxed.
Even with the new lockkeeper, the lockage is done in no time; word has also got around that I don’t have to moor the boat every time, but enter the lock chamber, keep the engine running, hold the ArgoFram in the middle of the lock chamber with my bow thruster if necessary, and chug along as soon as the lower door opens: an enormous time-saver!
Soon I’m in Mulhouse, saying goodbye at the last canal lock to turn into the man-made riverbed of the Rhine. The ‘Old Rhine’, this impressive nature reserve, is not navigated, but serves as an overflow area in case of emergency (high water). And in the summer as a playful water park for families – in any case, we were often there, cycling there in the morning, spending a nice day with the children, and back in the evening.
But now I’m on the other side, in the new Rhine, so to speak, and I’m waiting patiently in front of the mighty Kembs lock for admission – only when a large freighter arrives is the lock opened. Then there’s no stopping me and I gallop to Weil am Rhein, where I dock. It is already nightfall and I ask the landlady if I could have a free place in the sheltered harbour area for a few days, but unfortunately there is not a single free place left. So I hang my ArgoFram outside on the quay wall, expose it to the heavy waves of the big Rhine ships – and have myself picked up and chauffeured to Basel to spend my first night since my departure in April back in my attic.