The submarine is coming (part 4)
We had reached the halfway point ... but the most dangerous part of the journey still lay ahead of us.

The next day we sailed towards Rhineland-Palatinate. U17 was welcomed in Bonn, Unkel, Remagen and Koblenz, among other places.

As always, the highlight was the mooring! At around 18:45, the convoy stood in front of a huge gathering of people and a very special anchorage in Lahnstein. However, this was not visible to the naked eye.

The Van der Wees crew set about mooring up: However, as there was no pier, as in Duisburg, for example, the convoy was secured with lines and the two protruding piers were driven into the ground - a kind of vertical anchor to prevent the boat from turning away with the current.

And then there it was, probably the most beautiful but also the most dangerous section of the Rhine: before reaching St. Goar, a tugboat came to the rescue to pull everyone safely past the legendary Loreley rock.

After nothing and no-one had distracted us, we sailed on past marvellous scenery, castles, ruins and vineyards towards Mainz. On the way to the customs harbour, we were greeted by the DLRG, the water police of Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse and the fire brigade.

After the bombastic reception in Mainz, the journey continued swiftly on 16 May. The pushed convoy passed the traditional wine-growing community of Nierstein, the Nibelungen city of Worms and the largest city in the Palatinate: Ludwigshafen. Our new exhibit docked in Mannheim at around 5 pm. Our colleagues immediately set about preparing U17 for the upcoming shore leave.

The next day, the association completed its final leg - and with a journey time of less than three hours, it was also the shortest of the entire tour: from Mannheim to Speyer.

Having arrived in the natural harbour of Speyer and optimally positioned, our colleagues immediately got to work.