Thursday, 9th June 2011
The sluice gate in Würzburg on the Main is nothing special. I got routine with sluices after approximately 5000 of them. My hairstyle fits. I talk to the lock keeper. He says there's a big steamer in front of me and I should accompany it. All right, I'm cool about it.
Something is different this time. The steamer's wake is much more eddy than it was in the sluices before. I'm moving slowly towards the first ladder, but the eddy is pushing me away from it. My arm is too short. I have to aim to the next ladder. And even miss that one. I'm already only 10 meters behind the gigantic steamer. Damn! But it gets better .
I really have to return to the exit to make the boarding perfect. For all you laymen: the professional shippers and the lock keepers out there are quite unrelaxed when they have to deal with a new blood like me.