We were headed for Munster, in the opposite direction from where we wanted to go, but once we got onto the Rhine we would have no locks and a current of 6km/h to speed us on our way.
It is hard to believe that all of the old town of Munster was destroyed -totally- in WWII and that everything you see including the cathedral is only 60 years old. It has all been rebuilt exactly as it was before the war. In East Germany it would all have been bulldozed and concrete and steel buildings erected in their place.
It was market day in Munster and it was incredible. As good as any French market with the best fish we have seen in Germany. We bought some Kingklip, a South African fish, and had a lovely meal of fresh fish that night. For lunch we had that great Dutch speciality at the market of kibbelings - battered morsels of fish served with remoulade sauce in a box. There were stalls selling everthing including pumpkins, flowers, olives,spices and meats and chicken of all sorts.
The next day we continued down the DEK to the junction with the Datteln-Wesel Canal. We turned into this very busy canal and over the enxt two days worked out way down 6 locks until we arrived at the Rhine. We turned out into the wide and busy Rhine and then a short distance downstream turned into Wesel Yacht Harbour where we stayed the night and topped up with fresh water.
The next morning we went for a long walk along the banks of the Rhine to an old railway bridge bombed in 1945 (or blown up) and never rebuilt. 
There was an small airstrip next to the yacht club where we were staying and there was a constant stream of gliders taking off and landing, with us mere meteres below as they headed down to land.
Then it was time to start the voyage down the Rhine. We headed out and were immediately grabbed by the current and propelled and 18km/h downstream. There were barges to the left of us, barges to the right, barges coming towards us and barges overtaking us. There were big barges over 120m long with three decks of John Deere tractors bounded for Rotterdam. There were scores of oil and gas barges heading upstream as the Rhine is the main route for oil and gas for Eastern France and Switzerland as well as Western Germany.
On we swept constantly looking out for 'blue flagging boats'. These are boats that fly a blue board to indicate that they want to pass starboard to starboard and not the normal port to port. They do this so they can crawl up the Rhine on the inside of corners where the current is gentler. It makes life hell with some boats wanting to blue flag, some wanting to do the normal passing, boats wanting to overtake and little ole us weaving a path through it all.
Then almost before we knew it we had passed the German border and were in Holland. Nothing to indicate the border at all, just a change in the language on the few boards that line the river.
A couple of minutes later we turned out of the river and into a delightful lake (Bijland Plas). It was a lovely day after the 5 days of grey (but dry) days we had just had. The lake was filled with hundred of boats all enjoying themselves in the warm sunshine. We anchored off a small island sheltered from the wind and relaxed in the sun before firing up a BBQ and watching the sun go down (8.30pm at present). A magical place and a magical night!
Today we contined further down the Rhine well into the Netherlands. The Rhine splits into three rivers in the Netherlands and we followed one of them the River Lek for a long waybefore stopping for the night. This week we will explore the area around Gouda and Utrecht.
