notamermaid

Kaub gauge at 126cm. Parts of the valley have already seen some rain during the night. After a further slow decline the reaction to rain comes into view in the tables and on Thursday should put the figures up to 140cm and possibly more. notamermaid

Pfelling gauge at 282cm. Mild heat warning for much of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria. The Rhine valley has already seen a bit of rain during the night. Level forecast at Kelheim, that is where the Canal joins the Danube, now showing an uptick in levels. Not much but it is there. This may not be reflected at Pfelling later as we have two locks and and the Regen river (among other parametres/variables) also determining how things will go. Thunderstorms may happen during the night. notamermaid

That sounds a really nice itinerary that focusses on the Main River. You are in new York, so the weather we have will be similar to yours. You are right, no problem there. I cannot think of major things to take into consideration. You probably know that Christmas markets only really get going at the very end of November. Going in December is lovely, enjoying the lights and atmosphere will be "inevitable" as it gets dark early. No, you do not need to do lots of shopping. 🙂 Get the Christmas treats in Nuremberg, sample the famous sausages in Regensburg, try a Rauchbier in Bamberg (you may have get a story to tell at home, i.e. it is a bit "odd"). Basically enjoy food and drink with the rivers and canals as the backdrop. There is lots of history, the towns and cities vary in their style and age. Oh, I like Würzburger Hofbräu and highly recommend visiting the Residenz. Have heard got things about Bamberg. Frankfurt is our "Manhattan on the Main". Lots to see and do. One thing, it is nicer and more relaxing to fly into your destination the day before your cruise. It would be a pity to see little of your embarkation port. I will take the liberty of calling @steamboats our woman in Bavaria. Should you happen to be flying into Munich - she can tell you all about her city and the Isar River. 🙂 And she of course knows the Main, the Bavarian Main better than me. Have fun planning. notamermaid

Kaub gauge at 131cm. A slow decline and overall little worsening of the situation along the river and its tributaries since Saturday. Thunderstorms are forecast for tomorrow and the day after. It looks as if, after two hot (for us) and humid days, we can look forward to a cooler day. Reaction of the river in the Rhine Gorge expected on Friday - a rising level at Kaub. notamermaid

Pfelling gauge at 282cm. Forecast looks more or less stable for today but the trend is definitely for a further slow decline (36 hours). Weather forecast for Bavaria says localized thunderstorms starting during the night, but tomorrow will be a hot and humid day followed by, again, localized thunderstorms. Wednesday all in all a bit cloudier with potentially a bit more rain. Very difficult to tell if that will be really helpful for the river's levels to go up. notamermaid

Not much time for long television sessions. Busy working, cooking, etc. over the weekend. Boss has already phoned me at home with a query this morning... But all good. Team meeting this week. Lots of events in Summer of course, so will help out a bit. @Host Jazzbeau great news! notamermaid

Pfelling gauge shows 287cm. notamermaid

On my river cruise there was football match one evening, one of the teams was the Danish national one, cannot remember the other country. The crew set the TV in the smaller lounge area to a channel that showed the match. The few Danish people on board were happy and were busy cheering and drinking beer. The Ashes - serious business. Good idea. Grin. Or Canal archive, assuming they will be the minority, may need to keep a low profile depending on how things go with the scores... Although, I am convinced the Australians are very happy and accommodating folk. Have a great cruise, @Canal archive. notamermaid

Priority while sailing - not sure if that could apply to the Rhine, I have never heard of that before. There is the notion that commercial ships have priority at locks, but I have not seen that confirmed in writing. The standard is first come, first serve. Priority is given to boats operated by the authorities, like police launches, etc. Further priority can be given to other ships, they then carry a red triangular flag. The rule book called "Binnenschiffahrtsstrassenordnung" says: "§ 6.29 Reihenfolge der Schleusungen Es wird, soweit nachstehend nichts anderes bestimmt ist, in der Reihenfolge des Eintreffens vor der Schleuse, bei mehreren Schleusen vor der gewählten oder durch Richtungsweiser nach § 6.28a zugewiesenen Schleuse geschleust. ..." The exceptions then follow in the text. Perhaps someone can talk to captain or crew members on their upcoming cruise to find out a little about the topic. 2018 was a bad year. Avalon appears to do well, definitely better than Viking, we have established that. Amawaterways on the Rhine did better than Viking last year but in my opinion slightly failed to live up to the promise of the "hull construction less draft still sail at figure x centimetres when others stop" advertising. But then all 135m ships gave up in the Rhine Gorge for a couple of days last year. I am not worried about water levels on the Rhine (which the article was about), at least not yet. The Danube is a different matter and while I am a little surprised it went so quickly down three days ago, I kind of expected low levels in this absence of rain. Thought we may just manage to avoid the figure 290m at Pfelling. Right now it is 286cm. Remember, folks, Avalon Waterways has 110m ships still while Viking only sails with 135m ships on the Danube, Canal, Main, Moselle and Rhine. It could help with one's decision for or against a company/ship on the Danube or on the Rhine. notamermaid

That is nice. Perhaps I can get a glimpse of it later in the news or tomorrow. I am busy with work, so not much time beyond cooking and doing the washing up... and the water levels. Bumped into some French people today and tried out my language skills - good job one of them spoke German really well, much faster conversation that way. 😉 It is quite warm here but still bearable. notamermaid

Quick look at Kaub: 140cm. Still good. Barges and tankers running normally (a bit higher in the water though as load is reduced). Been to the embankment briefly. Forecast level 138cm to 136cm tomorrow. Continued slow decline Monday and Tuesday. I still ignore headlines that tell me of "river too low for shipping" "Rhine drying up" "Drought on the Rhine". Gauges colours still on green on the Rhine (excerpt of map): Moselle, Main and Lahn (East of Koblenz that one) show statistical lows in orange now but that has very little to no impact on shipping on those rivers). Starting Tuesday and then Wednesday into Thursday forecast is still for some rain and reaction of the river to that. notamermaid

Pfelling gauge shows 284cm. More or less stable, albeit a bit too low, today. notamermaid

Thanks for the info Daisi. It really is up and down on the Danube right now, unpredictable to a certain degree depending on where you are. I would say "captain knows best" and there could also be an arrangement with another ship of course. Swapping ships or cutting short a cruise or sailing later or earlier to avoid an anticipated drop or rise - those are all possible scenarios river cruisers need to be prepared for. notamermaid

As I indicated, I am bit puzzled by mentions of Nuremberg and Regensburg, as the former is on the Canal (not a problem area) and the latter on the Danube (navigation channel deep-ish and controlled by a lock). But I am not familiar with details in the Regensburg municipal district waterways. Pfelling now at 286cm. I see scattered showers on the radar over the Danube valleys and the immediate tributaries so that is at least a relief for nature. By the way, if anyone is wondering how the Moselle is doing (there are a few itineraries going from the Canal and Danube to Trier), it is doing okay. This means that while figures may look low if you see them on a graph or you are concerned by the colour codes going to low water there is no need to be alarmed - almost never - as the navigation channel is deep enough and the authorities maintain a certain water level with the help of the locks. notamermaid

While on the Danube in Bavaria the situation is a little uncertain, on the Rhine - as noted in my previous posts - we have low but reasonable levels. Kaub gauge is at 138cm. The levels are falling really slowly. So let us relax for the time being and look at a post/article from Cruisecritic in the UK. Should you not have decided on sailing on the Rhine yet or are planning a return, you may want to have a look at it and perhaps be surprised by the number of river cruise lines to choose from (and the list is of course not complete): https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/articles/the-best-rhine-river-cruise?stay=1&posfrom=1 notamermaid

Thanks for the info. I suspected as much although I am surprised it is Regensburg to Nuremberg rather than between Straubing and Vilshofen. Could it be too low for comfort at Regensburg now? Will be interesting to find out more. Just to explain - I think I have not done so this year. It is not readily available in the literature that 290cm at Pfelling gauge is low for river cruise ships. 2018, the year of the disastrous drought, established this figure by looking at the reports coming in from river cruisers and was confirmed in an interview with a spokesperson of the authorities, which I read in German news. Please note that this is a general assessment. The captain of your ship will decide as the authorities in Germany do not issue a ban on river traffic in drought. notamermaid

There is a certain element of uncertainty in the gauge at Pfelling in that there appears to be a controlling element in the two locks upstream. Impossible for me to figure out how much and at what time. I guess this last fast drop in figures has something to do with retaining water but I cannot be sure. What we can say is that predictions at gauges further upstream show stable to falling levels over the next few days meaning we will continue to see the lack of rain reflected but whereas on the Rhine the forecast is very reliable, Pfelling gauge has a certain element of "surprise". The dip we saw earlier today has gone and the level is up to 292cm. It is feasible. But we will see rain next week so I am hopeful for better levels, at least a reduction of the current trend for falling levels. notamermaid

The gauge at Pfelling stands at 283cm. notamermaid

You being in Texas I understand that you may be a bit more concerned than we are around here. Sailing Bamberg to Trier you will only encounter low water in the Rhine Gorge basically, if at all at that time. A guess certainly but it is just a little too early for an educated one I would say. I am being a little unfair perhaps because the computer modelling is pretty good these days. I prefer not to say too much as the good probability chart gives figures 14 days out. After that it is real guess work based on even more parametres and gets vague. Next week will see rain so the figures are going up towards the end of the month. 150cm at Kaub gauge looks a very likely figure on 28 June. That is not high but nowhere near drought. notamermaid

Kaub gauge is at 143cm. You can tell it has not rained for a bit. Lawns and village greens are loosing the bright green hue. Forecast and further predictions remain largely unchanged compared to yesterday. Slow decline in figures to continue. notamermaid

May we see low water on the Danube for the first time this year? The drop in figures at Pfelling is slow but according to the prediction could bring the river below 300cm soon. That would be Thursday. Current level is 308cm. notamermaid

I mentioned the transport of the hull "The Gentleman II" by the pushboat Zasavica III in the Danube thread. The new river cruise ship has completed the Danube, Canal and Main legs of her journey and was caught on camera at Rüdesheim with her new "helping hand" - a barge that is taking her on the Rhine to the Netherlands and the shipyard: Retrieved with date and time stamp from the archive of the webcam https://heimatzeithotels.panomax.com/bingen Rüdesheim is on the left of the photo on the opposite embankment to the camera. notamermaid

A quick look at Maxau gauge in the Upper Rhine valley reveals a definite trend towards low water. The weather is stable with warm to very warm temperatures and little to no rain till Sunday (isolated showers and thunderstorms, if any). But overall this will only result in the levels at Kaub falling to a range between 130cm and 105cm most likely. notamermaid

Pfelling gauge remains stable at 312cm. Trend is for stable to minimal fall. Warm to very warm in Bavaria. Scattered showers only, Thursday to Saturday. notamermaid

Kaub gauge is at 151cm. notamermaid