notamermaid

Using a canal system to supply water to areas for the purpose of managing low levels in a river system is what part of the Canal is also used for. Some water that was in the Danube system now gets diverted to the Main and therefore the Rhine system. It helps navigation on the Main. The Rhine-Main-Danube-Canal is impressive but is only the third longest canal in Germany. We have so many waterways. Many of the Northern ones are unexplored territory among foreign river cruisers. Worth checking out for something completely different. Just do not expect anything like the Rhine Gorge or the Iron Gates... It is a pity that almost all English rivers and canals are self-drive, I prefer to be chauffered. notamermaid

So, the two rivers. The Emperor Charlemagne planned to connect the Rhine and the Danube water systems in the 8th century. Sounds quite a task, but arguably the Romans managed to solve bigger problems like supplying a city with fresh water and install a sewage system. However, it is a different challenge to connect two rivers via a mountain that flow in opposing directions, especially for shipping. That project was the Fossa Carolina. The way this was meant to happen you can read online. Times changed and the great undertaking was only picked up again in the late Medieval period. Fast forward more centuries (and ignoring the Ludwig Canal and further efforts for this post) and modern shipping puts the idea literally on the map on a huge scale. This is the modern Rhine-Main-Danube-Canal. A canal needs water, first to fill it and then a constant supply. Either you can have a canal near a water supply or you use a river turned canal or a mix. The engineering is fascinating in that like Charlemagne's project, the modern canal uses the Altmühl river again. But it also uses the Regnitz river. Both rivers are not just used for the water supply they are partly the Canal, meaning stretches of them are canalized to the standard of modern shipping requirements. The Altmühl and the Regnitz are the two additional rivers (that are hardly ever mentioned) you sail on from Amsterdam to Budapest and the solution to my quiz question. You can look this up here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhine–Main–Danube_Canal and more info in German for the statistics and history fans is on this website: https://www.schifffahrtsverein.de/daten-und-fakten/ And remember, you are sailing "on top of the mountain" as far as commercial shipping is concerned. The summit elevation in the Canal is 406m above sea level, the highest spot on earth you can reach by a ship from sea according to English Wikipedia. The German Wikipedia says only of Europe. Which is pretty impressive already I would say. notamermaid

Reports on international shipping and business websites are coming in for "low water" or "levels having fallen to a low for the first time this year", etc. Following on from my post #243 I can say that, yes, shipping may be affected now but it is fine for river cruise ships. Kaub gauge level is falling, the figure now is 169cm. We have had some rain so the trend has been slowed down today. Next week will still see levels of 150cm and also likely below that. The margin of error shows that levels of below 120cm are unlikely. notamermaid

Yesterday was Corpus Christi - Fronleichnam. Always thought it is a weird name for a day, who puts "corpse" in such titles, although fitting? Anyway, tourists are out and about a bit more, meaning the type of tourist shifts a little as the German "long-weekenders" are having a great time. Again, the Thursday being a public holiday, people take the Friday off and have four full days of fun. I sometimes wonder how we keep the economy going.😉 I am also a bit more busy for that reason - the tourists - and not looking forward to this heatwave that has just started and will get us over 30 Celsius for the first time this year. Fan is now operating in my office space. Hope the computer appreciates it as much as me, he (German grammar dictates it is male and this girl thinks it must be true) has not said so yet... Rivers are loosing water a bit more than was shown three days ago, but does not look worrying yet. Have a good weekend. notamermaid

Thank you for your review, good to read you had a very nice time overall. I also appreciate the comparisons to Viking. Interesting details. notamermaid

Great. Whether it is the Danube or the Rhine, for a first river cruise you cannot go wrong with either. I am sure it will be splendid. Lovely autumn colours in the second half of October and often still very pleasant daytime temperatures for much of October. Have a great cruise. notamermaid

It is not what I am looking for either. Thank you for joining in. Next clue, connected to Emperor Charlemagne: Fossa Carolina. notamermaid

Thank you for trying. Good choices, but I am afraid it is the wrong answer as regards sailing, but I give you that you can dock on the Moselle and possibly the Inn at Passau, so you are in some ways right, i.e. it is the waters of two other rivers. I am looking for real sailing for longer than a hundred metres. A wide clue: Emperor Charlemagne. notamermaid

Okay, after all these ships, old and modern, let us throw in a few Roman remains. This piece of news comes from Switzerland: https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/romans/1700-year-old-roman-watchtower-ruins-discovered-in-switzerland Much of the Rhine eventually became the border of the Roman Empire or was near it. Of course, the boundaries and borders shifted over the centuries. But quite a few geographical features and borders either remain to this day or have had such a lasting impact that they are still clear or easily explained by getting an understanding of the few centuries of Roman influence or occupation. I myself, having been born within the Roman Empire borders, regard, with a twinkle in my eye, the people coming down from the far hills into my area as "wild Germans". notamermaid

Thank you for investigating. As you say, it can sail on the Rhine (and many other waterways) but this amphibious class seems not to have been on rivers beyond their mouths and was mostly patrolling along the coast and operating in the Baltic Sea. As the Wikipedia page says, a training exercise took at least one boat up to Strasbourg but it is not clear if it was the "Lachs". This current journey is the last one for "Lachs", she is saying goodbye and according to a promotion website of the Germany navy "will bring the German Navy to you ((on the river))". It is an information and recruiting tour: Düsseldorf 10 June, Bonn 12 June, Cologne 14/15 June. notamermaid

Thank you for saying hello and your kind words.. Usually still a good time before we get low water, low for river cruise ships that is, and less risk than on the Danube where around Pfelling low water tends to set in earlier in the year than on the Rhine. And the evenings will be welcomingly warm after potentially hot days of exploring places. Have a great cruise. notamermaid

Pleasant surprise! The Amadeus Elegant is back on the river proper and sailing towards Cologne. notamermaid

A quick check on Pfelling gauge. Prediction still stands for slowly falling levels. Uncertainty as to what June may still bring for the Danube in Bavaria comes in around the 12th. Rain may stop the trend then. Pfelling now at 332cm. All good. But nature could do with a short shower. notamermaid

TUI, apart from running a few more unusual itineraries that no other company offers, are now also bringing unusual activities onto their ships: https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/entertainment/tui-brings-book-club-and-stargazing-its-river-vessels notamermaid

Several weeks in advance will get you a good deal. Called "Spar-Ticket". But you may not be so flexible as regards which trains at what time of day are available. You should be able to book such a ticket six months in advance, that is when the date opens up but you do not have to book then. But there is also the 49-Euro-Ticket now that I recommend checking out. I am not sure how well it would work for him on long distance travel. It has been a while since I last used a train, so I hope travellers with more recent experience will chime in. notamermaid

There is always something happening on the Rhine, this busiest of inland waterways in Europe. Normally mundane things happens, we get a new barge or there is a ferry that goes into dry dock, etc., etc. I really doubted the date when I read this piece of news: "The navy ship "Lachs" will be on the Rhine". Surely it must be the first of April! But it clearly says that now, after the U-Boot, a navy vessel will sail up the Rhine and when it can be spotted at Wesel. This needs further investigating... notamermaid

I am not that much of a car person but those events we call "Oldtimer Rallye" are such fun. It is particularly good when the really old cars mix with the old-ish ones from the Sixties and Seventies. I always enjoy the designs, especially the Triumphs. Did you know that a German-Jewish immigrant founded Triumph? And then he got another German on board. Never knew that. Eyeyeh, ze Germans you cannot get away from them... notamermaid

Yes, most likely. An investigation is obviously happening and it looks like the captain will face a fine. notamermaid

Depending on schedule, either tonight or during the morning tomorrow, the modern river cruise ship hull will meet an ocean-going replica vessel of some or our earliest visitors on the continent. The Viking ship Saga Farmann is at Nuremberg where the Zasavica III is headed. Wish someone could take a photo of that sail-past. Do follow the epic journey, very much recommended. The captain has now got a bench, made from wood gifted by a local carpenter, Oregon pine from a Main river resident for a Norwegian ship: https://www.sagafarmann.com/posts/1538 notamermaid

The Amadeus Elegant has arrived in Erlenbach for repairs. I reckon these will take a while and the ship will need to skip more than the next itinerary. As a side note: this is an unusual version of the Grand European itinerary. Düsseldorf is certainly not the first choice for the end of such a journey but I would be very willing to do that. Düsseldorf has a convenient airport for flights to the UK so is good for those customers. I could not find the Elegant on the company website, so looked for a charter. It appears that she is much sailing for SAGA - hence the reports about British passengers - this season and was scheduled to do a Rhine itinerary next. notamermaid

The Zasavica III has picked up the Gentleman II at Regensburg and is now headed to Kelheim where she will enter the Main Danube Canal. Here are some photos of the pushboat and previous hull transports. Notice the additional bow attached to the hull: https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:4160846/mmsi:244730011/imo:0/vessel:ZASAVICAIII The Gentleman II´s long journey through Europe brings me to a quiz question. Quite a few of you also embark or have embarked on long itineraries, a very popular one is Budapest to Amsterdam. That means you are on the Danube, the Canal, the Main and the Rhine/a bit more Canal/Waal/Nederrijn and the Canal towards Amsterdam. Correct, yes, but here is the nerdy, über correct question: which two other rivers do you also sail on? notamermaid

Interesting explanation @RobInMN . German uses this metaphorical gender as well although we of course have the grammatical gender and the natural gender. Fun and frustrating to learn. Car - neuter, gets the metaphorical "he", motorbike - neuter, gets the metaphorical "she", locomotive engine - female, gets the metaphorical "she". A few exceptions apply to cars. So you can own "einen BMW" and "eine BMW" meaning car and motorbike. Ship is neuter but turns into a "she" if you give it a name. So you get "Die "Achim" sank in der Geislinger Schleuse". This means: "The "Achim" sank in Geislingen lock". A male first name, the female article. notamermaid

At the Himmelstadt lock on the Main a river cruise ship hit a small rock and sprung a leak, necessitating an emergency call at 23.10 hours on Saturday. The ship was evacuated. On board were 126 British passengers and 22 crew members. The Amadeus Elegant was sailing from Budapest to Düsseldorf. The fire brigade was able to keep the ship from sinking by pumping off the water, it had stood up to knee high in the crew area hallway. The Amadeus Elegant is not able to sail and after emergency repairs at Karlstadt harbour, where it made it to, will go to the shipyard in Erlenbach. Nobody was injured and as the second video says, it was a calm rescue operation. https://www.br.de/nachrichten/bayern/passagierschiff-mit-englischen-rentner-auf-dem-main-havariert,TgCCnBK notamermaid

It is June, time to have a look at what the river at Kaub did in May: A good month. It started on a good level. After a gradual decline substantial rain gave the river a high volume of water and lead to a high level but nowhere near flooding so that gave a good level that gave the river a buffer to keep the levels from falling too fast too low, seeing that we now have very warm temperatures typical of May and June. Nevertheless in the absence of rain there has been a steady decline. This has been halted now and the first few days in June have found the gauge at Kaub being at steady levels. The forecast is for a gradual loss of very few centimetres per day so that we will likely see the level fall to 150cm by the middle of the month. This is absolutely fine for river cruise ships. notamermaid

It is June, time to have a look at what the river at Pfelling did in May: The month started at a high level that could have led to flooding had there been a big amount of rain. The river lost some water though and the rain set in later at a time when there was enough room, i.e. a buffer that kept the level from going to more than just a very brief rise to what one may see as high water getting close to mild flooding. HSW is at 620cm, the figure from which river traffic is suspended. The level did not get close to that. The fall came fast and after a small peak a few days later, the figures made their way to the mean water level again. The river is loosing water in this warm weather gradually, the month ended on a still good level. In the absence of rain, the last four days have seen a further reduction in level and Pfelling is now at 335cm. A very gradual further decline is likely for a few days as indicated by the predictions for gauges further upstream. notamermaid