Sailing .....

Our ship was docked on the Main-Danube Canal so we had not yet seen the Danube.  We had our safety drill and then set sail!  We went up to the top level of the ship (a short, steep set of ladder-like stairs got us to the top.)  We would sail the remainder of the day and overnight to reach our next destination (Regensburg) and wouldn't actually be on the Danube until the middle of the night.

River cruising is very smooth - we never felt motion - and you are never out of range of seeing land.  In fact, if you did fall overboard (and you really wouldn't ever do that!), you could easily swim to shore.

As we traveled down the canal, the elevation was increasing and since water doesn't flow uphill, we had to go through locks - I think we went through 11 before reaching the Danube.  I had never been through a lock before and I found the experience fascinating!

I will now share a very unscientific, unofficial explanation of how a lock works.  As we proceeded down the canal (and the Danube), a tunnel-like structure would be in front of us with a traffic light.  Most times, it was a red light so we would pull over to the side and wait our turn to enter.

Then when it was our turn, the ship would slowly enter the lock.  Once inside, the ship would stop and we would sit there and the lock would do its thing (technical term).  Since at this point, we were traveling uphill, we would enter on a lower level and water would be pumped in until we were at the proper higher level to exit on the other side of the lock.  The locks were very narrow.

The view from the upper deck .......

The view from the lounge ......

For those of you with enquiring minds, I will explain in layman's terms how this works.  Beside each lock are three levels of holding areas that are filled with water as we ascend and that take in the water from the lock as we descend.  

So once we were at the proper level, out we went and continued to sail .....

Some of the bridges were quite low on the canal so the crew lowered the rails on the uppermost deck so we could safely sail under the bridges.

If the captain said "DUCK" ........ well, you had better listen!!!

We went through a lot of locks during the trip and continued to ascend as we traveled towards the Danube.  We passed the Continental Divide - the highest point that a watercraft could reach on the continent of Europe!!  We were so excited to see it ......  

WAIT FOR IT ....

HERE IT COMES ....

It's a BIG PIECE OF CEMENT!!!!!

Lefty and the Continental Divide ....

After the excitement of the cement, we leisurely cruised past scenery that looked like home!