Tag12-from Flaesheim to Wesel

Sunday, May 30, 2021

54 km, 4 locks

After a peaceful night in Flaesheim, we are back on the Wesel-Datteln-Kanal, heading across the northern Ruhr area towards the Rhine, and then downstream on the Rhine to Wesel. For me, this was a revival tour as we passed many places from my youth. Haltern am See, Hamm, Marl (which now has a huge chemical park, once a dirty chemical factory), Dorsten (where we often went hiking), Hünxe, and through the Friedrichsfeld lock (waited for 1 hour, then passed through with 2 tankers) into the Rhine. What a great feeling, the wide Rhine and the extra push from the current, we were 40% faster with the same energy. Shortly after, we moored at the Wesel Yacht Club, a beautiful place. Then we had dinner at the Yacht Club. Because it was a beautiful Sunday, the food options were limited, it was either schnitzel with fries or fries with schnitzel, we chose the latter, but mayo was not available... we also had delicious draft beer in test tubes, just like 40 years ago. 😃😃😃We also had a longer conversation with a waitress who emigrated from Stuttgart to save her daughter from the clutches of an Islamist Albanian family (her words), and she stayed there afterwards. You really meet interesting people on such trips. 😁👩‍✈️