notamermaid

Update. It is a double-length barge, a so-called Verband. No wonder it is blocking the navigation channel. River traffic is still halted as of now, the plan is to free the barge during this evening. Will try and post when I know that river traffic has resumed. The river cruise ship suffered "no" damage and was able to sail on. I cannot find out which ship it was. https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland-pfalz/trier/schiffsunfall-auf-der-mosel-100.html notamermaid

Accident on the river A river cruise ship collided with a barge in a narrow spot near Briedern on the Moselle, the barge turned and hit the embankment. This lead to stones on the road causing a car to have an accident. No injuries reported. It happened last night. River traffic had to be halted. I will try and find out if traffic has resumed by now or if the barge is still blocking the navigation channel. notamermaid

That is nice to read. Thank you for the pre-cruise tip. Kaub gauge has gone done further, now at 94cm, which puts it close to the official low water marker. That means at 93cm the green dot on the gauge map turns to orange. That is not a worry yet. I just like to keep an eye on it. It has not rained yet but the weather is cloudy and a little on the cool side. We should not see the level drop much further. But it is all very well me giving my impressions, what is the forecast saying? It gives no figure lower than 92cm and an up tick on Tuesday. I can imagine the level falling to 90cm today. But overall, one can reasonably say that we will be spared really low levels before the river rises again. The rain forecast makes for a confident look into next week, at least in the computer modelling. 130cm is a strong likelihood during the week, with 150cm likely towards next weekend. So, back to Andernach and the Eifel volcanoes. notamermaid

I did not even know that the scheme had been abolished. https://www.ft.com/content/74420b1a-a0b5-4048-8acd-450de9cbfbbc Oh it would be nice if I could use it to pay for my tea and biscuits. Unfortunately, I am not allowed to bring sausages and cheese home anymore. If the scheme only works for high end stuff then, well, it does not work for me. notamermaid

It's CLIA cruise week! Tomorrow (24th) you can win an Amawaterways river cruise. https://cruising.org/en-gb/cruise-week notamermaid

The folk on Binnenschifferforum have uploaded some great photos: https://www.binnenschifferforum.de/showthread.php?112345-Rheingold-KFGS&p=447498#post447498 notamermaid

I am looking forward to all the glittering lights and adorned buildings but first it is harvest season with celebrations, annual markets (Jahrmärkte) and wine festivals. Some have already been of course. Due to the heat in Summer they say that the grape harvest will not be plentiful but the quality of the wine will be very good. Brief update: Kaub showing the slow decline as expected, now at 103cm. notamermaid

Found it. This is the event at Koblenz: https://www.christmas-garden.de/koblenz/ notamermaid

It is lovely when people do that. I have seen a private building that did this for charity, i.e. you could come to the house, enjoy the display and leave some money that they would donate. This year the electricity bills have gone up so much that we expect to see fewer displays. Apparently there was some controversy around this Lumagica. People complained about the event as we are supposed to save energy this autumn/winter. The organizers needed to explain that the lights use little energy and other events may use more energy. It is going ahead as planned. Some people are real spoil sports in my opinion... notamermaid

48 hours have passed so what has happened? A considerable drop but as expected nothing to worry about, Pfelling gauge is at 373cm. As the weather is dry we will see the level fall further during the weekend. Right now it looks to be a slow decline. The forecast gives us 350cm and I am willing to believe that. I think Saturday will give us a better idea of what the absence of rain will do to the river levels in the area. Rain is forecast for Monday. notamermaid

Regensburg first, of course. Forgot to mention the town. Regensburg saw the arrival of the Zasavica III today, a plain push boat but with a special cargo: the hull of the "Rheingold", a new river cruise ship. She has left the town and is now on the Main Danube Canal en route to Nuremberg, the Main and the Rhine. She will be turned into a proper river cruise ship in the Netherlands. notamermaid

I remember @Daisi mentioning in a previous year such a Winter display as a drive-trough where she lives. In Germany we do not tend to do these in Winter as we have the Christmas markets and before this Lumagica I had ever only been to one on a one night event on Ehrenbreitstein Fortress. But there is some sort of similar event on Ehrenbreitstein before Christmas, not sure what it is called, I had just never heard about it. I think there are a few others now in other regions. This industrial theme one is a rarity. Today is a sunny day in the Rhine valley, in much of Germany really. Hardly any rain with more agreeable temperatures. Let us have a look at Lake Constance: The gauge shows ups and downs as one would expect and it is again leaning a bit towards low but higher than two weeks ago. The MW line is the mean water level. The Lake is the natural reservoir of the Rhine (without a dam) and helps in keeping the level up, i.e. keep it from falling fast and giving it enough water to sustain the level that the locks further down in the Upper Rhine valley need to ensure smooth sailing in the Rhine and adjoining Canal. When the level in the Lake falls we rely even more on rainfall and that is a natural occurrence in early autumn. Without rain this week we therefore see the level fall downstream from Iffezheim (the last lock). So, again, Kaub gauge is on a down slope, slowly but steadily. I mentioned it on Tuesday. This has turned out to be correct. It is Thursday afternoon and Kaub gauge is at 117cm. The 100cm will very likely be reached on Saturday. Sunday into Monday, in the absence of rain, we will probably see 90cm. With rain forecast, the outlook for the second half of next week is good though. You can see that rain is vital to keep the level up in autumn, more so this year than in other years. Do we need to hold our breaths for a couple of days hoping that the level will not fall below 90cm? That is a figure around which ships need to slow down, albeit normally do not stop sailing, meaning still can perfectly get through the Rhine Gorge. I have not made up my mind about that yet and say we will need to cross that bridge when we come to it. notamermaid

@Canal archive Thanks for the lighter notes on that difficult day. We had live coverage for several hours on German television but I watched the BBC (world news channel). With red eyes and in a daze I went shopping in the early evening and saw the most splendid double rainbow. Wish I could post a photo without giving my whereabouts away. I walked past a public building and saw that the flag was flying at half mast. First thought was "Oh dear, which regional leader has died??", then I realized it was for Her Majesty the Queen. Apparently Germany decided to do that and I had not read it beforehand. What a lovely gesture, not just with our government (buildings) in Berlin but down to the lower authorities, too. notamermaid

Most have indeed managed well, the demise of Crystal being the big exception. But that came not from river cruising but the strategy of the conglomerate as a whole. I am still a bit angry about them pulling the German shipyard down with them. Flexibility, banks in the background and faithful customers has helped the companies through the challenges. Apparently, European companies still see room to grow and space on the rivers. It partly stems from the thought that niches (i.e. not often sailed regions) and themed cruises will keep on attracting repeat and new customers. And we know some have moved from ocean to river. Personally I could do with a bit of cash to do so (is there a way to do a "fund my river cruise"? - only kidding). In the past, I have voiced my criticism of the rapid expansion of Viking and the filling of all the same ports again and again with new ships of many different companies. I like to see inspired variation of ports and a willingness of customers to go along with that. I think It is working to a nice extent. Thurgau Travel has just jumped from Switzerland, the company base, over to the German market with an office in Berlin. Viva Cruises caused surprise when they offered the first ever Winter cruises in January/February in Germany. I admit that I was skeptical about people taking up the offers but according to the company those were a success. Viva Cruises is offering them again in 2023. The North American companies have also made a great effort to offer new itineraries within the limitations that they have put on themselves with the large river cruise ships being restricted to certain rivers and canals. Much to see apart from Basel to Amsterdam to Basel or Nuremberg to Budapest with the standard stops. Both are great routes of course. My big wish: a sailing Rotterdam to Strasbourg by a river cruise ship in honour of the first steamship sailings and the first sailing of the steamship "De Rijn" this far up the river in 1825. The first years were mainly transport of goods and passengers that had a reason to go places, but soon the idle folk with relaxation and touring in mind followed. And the English coined the word tourist, read Byron and then came to the Rhine. The rest as they say is history. By the way, "De Rijn" was the design of the German-born engineer Gerhard Moritz Roentgen and his company was the "Nederlandse Stoomboot Maatschappij". Perhaps a river cruise company will look into that... notamermaid

Oh that may be good. In large train stations there are lockers for luggage, perhaps they exist in the airport, too. Could be convenient for strolling around without it. Found the map: https://www.frankfurt-airport.com/de/anreise-parken/an-und-abreise/oeffentlicher-nahverkehr.html It is the second download, the Lageplan. The other one is the network of the area. notamermaid

The Rheingold has been spotted on the Danube in Germany and the tried and tested method of transfer continues with the Argo having handed over duty to the pushboat Zasavica III. Now I need to keep checking, I think the time on the Canal and Main is about three days. I have missed several hulls, will I be able to see this one live on "my" river this time? The problem is the handover at Gustavsburg on the Main when a barge will have the hull attached to its side for the journey on the Rhine, that is the last leg to the shipyard in the Netherlands. I cannot be sure which barge it is from shiptracking sites. Orsova shipyard is already busy working on the next ship, by the way, and from the photos it looks as if it is be ready to be launched soon. notamermaid

Time to have a quick look at the Elbe. It has rained a lot around Prague so that in effect brings a high volume of water to the Elbe via the Vltava, or the Moldau, as we say in German. The gauge at Dresden now shows 191cm. Very good. notamermaid

I have only been at the arrivals gates in the airport not inside the passenger restricted halls so I am not familiar with layouts much. I remember a bistro in front of the gate where I picked someone up. There are also seats there. The arrival times are displayed at the respective gate/door. I would say it is best to meet near where your sister will come through the door. McDonalds always sounds a good idea though as it is so recognizable. Frankfurt must have a map of the airport facilities online, mustn't they? That could be practical. A bit of extra info. Not sure if we have talked about this before. Frankfurt is huge and distances can be a bit much with luggage but there are trolleys of course. I do not remember how far it is to the Regionalbahnhof. Again, layout maps are good. DB will have one. notamermaid

Ah, so it has been as unpleasant in the area as along the Rhine. Glad to read the sun is coming out. Same here. Have a great time in Passau and Austria. I am sure the Wachau valley will be splendid in sunshine. notamermaid

This more pleasant weather this week will turn into rainy days again next week. At least that is what they are saying now. The sun has come out during the afternoon, looks more pleasant now and the chill from the wind and damp has gone. While I am here. A quick tip for something unusual. North of Koblenz on the right bank lies the town of Neuwied. Not much of a touristy place but they do have a renovated embankment with docking area and a very pleasant beer garden there. Recommend the beach chairs on the sand with beer in hand... I get the impression that they cannot get their act together - the authorities I mean - as there is still no sign of a proper landing for river cruise ships. So you may not be able to get there on a ship but if you want to see something special on a land trip (or dock in Andernach conveniently), this is the place to go to between 23 September and 31 October. In an old industrial complex is the light show "Lumagica". I saw last year's edition in another area of the town. Really enjoyed it with its industrial theme so I will try and go again this year: https://lumagica.de/neuwied/ Guess what I found out while roaming the internet: They are also in Canada! https://lumagica.ca/ notamermaid

The Oder has suffered much during the hot Summer and sadly saw the demise of a large number of fish due to most likely a special type of algae that is toxic (latest expert opinion, investigation not completed, there is also industry along the river). The situation is better and the river levels have risen. On the map the gauges now show green again, that means mean water levels: And good news is coming from the Canal. The new boat lift at Niederfinow has successfully completed the test runs and will fully open to ships (see also post #11). Article in German says the grand opening is on 4 October, guided tours starting on 5 October. https://schiffshebewerk-niederfinow.com/en/ Events happening on the celebratory weekend before are listed on the German page. The boat lift connects Berlin via the Havel river with the Oder, standing on the Canal, on the map here between Eberswalde and Oderberg, where it says Finowkanal: notamermaid

Kaub gauge is at 141cm. The forecast, for a second time this Summer/early Autumn, has been quite wrong. Remember the 160cm I stated? The level never went up this far and and for the second time has only gone beyond 140cm. With the weather getting warmer again, with less rain, we see the forecast giving us lower figures. I will again regard them with skepticism and just say that it is still looking all good but the level will likely fall below 120cm before the weekend. Absolutely fine for river cruise ships, awkward again for barge traffic. It is so cool I am tempted to put the heating on. But I will bear it and look forward to a warmer day tomorrow. Oh, by the way, the days may be alright, but the nights are very cool, low frost may be coming to the hills. If you get cold easily, invest in scarf and gloves for the early morning excursions. Could be only 6 Celsius. notamermaid

Pfelling gauge by the way is at 419cm. Now, even the unpredictable and sometimes erratic gauges in the area cannot drop so fast that they will have us worry again within 48 hours! I see it is cold in Pfelling, 10.1 Celsius. Chilly for a September day. No chance for the sun to take much water out of the Danube. Pleasant sailing everyone. notamermaid

Certainly getting better, as the volume of water due to rain in Germany is now beyond Budapest, i.e. has reached the lower Danube. I have no details of course. But judging from the improvement at Budapest over the last three days the situation should at least ease between Budapest and Bucharest. Not a big rise since Sunday, but it is there: Would be nice to hear from a cruiser that is currently in the area of course. notamermaid

Now that you know what the negatives may be, you are well prepared. Joining a roll call will further help and add fun before your cruise. As regards the history - you are in for a treat, a 16 day long treat. Have a great time traversing the European continent. notamermaid