On September 19th at 4:00 p.m. we met Bernhard punctually at the ELSA berth. Immediately after our arrival we contacted the Kochendorf lock to register. We were advised to register again as soon as we reached the lock.

We did so: The answer was that commercial shipping had priority and we would have to wait about 50 minutes as two ships were on the direct route to the lock. This was not a problem for us at first, but the minutes passed and after an hour of waiting in the lock area there was no ship in sight.

Finally a Dutch ship slowly approached, and its entry also took what felt like an eternity. We decided to call the lock keeper again and were told that the second ship should also be arriving soon. However, we were told that we should expect to wait another 50 minutes due to the necessary lock procedures.

Given the time passing and the impending darkness, we decided to abort the lock process. It was clear that we would not arrive in Heilbronn on time otherwise. Finally, we informed the WMBC of our decision and canceled our specially reserved berth in Heilbronn.

Looking back, if everything had gone perfectly, we would have passed through the lock twice without any problems and reached our destination. Unfortunately, the waiting process turned out to be considerably longer than expected.

We decided to set off early the next day in order to arrive in Heilbronn on time. We set off at 1:30 p.m. and called the lock directly. To our delight, we were called straight away and were able to register in Heilbronn without any problems.

The weather was perfect: sunny and with dream temperatures, the weather was no problem for our 24-hour rowing trip.

We were also able to pass the lock in Heilbronn without having to wait, so we reached Heilbronn at around 4:30 p.m. All of this not without attracting a bit of attention. After all, you don’t see a sea rowing boat like this every day.
At 6 p.m. we started our rowing trip as planned.

We rowed in teams of three, with two people rowing and a helmsman in control of the boat. We changed positions every two hours, sometimes shortened to one hour. Experienced rowers managed about 12 km in this time.

At first we sat in the boat in short rowing clothes, but the temperatures quickly dropped to below 10 degrees in the evening and at night, which made it uncomfortable for the helmsmen. We were rewarded with a starry sky and glassy water. Despite the failure of the electrics, we were able to row safely through the night thanks to the moonlight, a head lamp and a bicycle lamp as a position light.

Caution was required when mooring, as the jetty was slippery due to the moisture.

Just in time for sunrise at 7 a.m. the sun came out and brought pleasant temperatures again. We were very lucky with the weather.

During the trip, many questions were asked about the boat and our plan in general, which we answered as best we could, so the time flew by. Walter and I took turns being in charge in the boat every two hours so that we had a constant mix of exertion and relaxation. During the course of the day, we sometimes found it difficult to keep our eyes open, but that was exactly what we needed to train for.

Some rowers became repeat offenders, and we kept finding additional last-minute requests for the remaining time until 6 p.m. So the 24 hours were wonderfully busy.

A big thank you to everyone who always turned up on time for the changeover and thus ensured that everything went smoothly. On our 24-hour tour, we managed around 130 kilometers, which we only managed together with our friends from the Heilbronner RG Schwaben. In addition, the route from Kochendorf to Heilbronn and back again, which is another 22 kilometers.

One or two anglers on the Neckar probably cursed us too, because they could almost set their watch by the fact that we drove past their spot every two hours or so, scaring away the fish. – Nevertheless, they waited patiently.

At around 5 p.m. we also cleared the return trip with the Heilbronn and Kochendorf locks, and the ELSA 2 set off home at sunset. It was rowed safely back to its berth.

We hope that all participants enjoyed the slightly different rowing kilometers and thank everyone who supported us!

If you would like to find out more about our project, you can do so on our website using the following link.

https://www.haenselundgretel.org/

Ingrid and Walter

, with a big THX for their support and help!

On Saturday, June 22, 2024 at 5:23 a.m. the time had come:

Over 100 rowing enthusiasts from all over Germany put their first strokes into the water and only stopped when either their strength waned or the sun went down again at 9:35 p.m. – and we with our ELSA2 were right in the middle of it!

For us, this was a very welcome opportunity for our first longer training trip – THANKS to the organizer, the Karlsruhe Rheinklub Alemannia!