Rhine water levels 2017 and similar topics

Hello memadiane,

my pleasure. I have actually not reported back since the 24th as the week has been uneventful. And it looks as if it will in the next 10 days as well. The water level is at 143cm in Kaub and at 135cm in Koblenz. The trend is for falling levels but the rain that is forecast will halt the trend probably. Showers it is indeed according to the forecast, temperatures in the double digits during the day but cool. Usually cloudy with the most sunshine to be expected in the Upper Rhine valley rather than middle or lower valleys.

Have a great cruise.

notamermaid

Port expansion at Basel

https://www.thelocal.ch/20170928/switzerlands-main-river-port-in-basel-to-be-expanded

If you are interested further in the port at Basel have a look at its website: http://www.portofbasel.ch/en/index.phpIt also gives the water level and you can look up the docking of river ships in the pier assignment schedule.

notamermaid

Thank you notamermaid for the Basel pier assignment schedule (two weeks). This along with a previously posted link for Amsterdam (as much as a month) should put to rest the 'first come first serve' myth for docking assignments, at least for major river ports. (It's probably true for rafting positions.) Watching vesselfinder it is clear that some companies consistently have the same docks in some cities (Regensburg and Budapest for example).

The cruise companies know in advance where they will be docking and bear responsibility for service there - barring some unforeseen disaster. Skipping a port because "there are too many ships there" as did Vantage recently is not an acceptable excuse.

notamermaid - Your link for the Basel port expansion does not work. Can you repost? Thanks

Sorry. It happened because I did not leave a space between the link and my following word. Tried to resolve that earlier. Here it is: https://www.thelocal.ch/20170928/switzerlands-main-river-port-in-basel-to-be-expanded

notamermaid

Alternatively try: https://www.thelocal.ch/search/?q=port+Basel

Basel port again: http://www.portof.ch/de/index.php

The level has risen due to the recent rain and makes for comfortable sailing throughout according to the official figures. It has been a very windy day.

notamermaid

Thank you. The link works fine now. It's an interesting article.

We had a violent storm in Germany, I mentioned the wind in post #256. I live further South than the storm area so fortunately only experienced a little of it. People in the North of Germany where not so lucky and tragically, seven lives were lost. The storm reached hurrican force level in parts: https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/more-rain-to-target-germany-this-weekend-following-deadly-storm-xavier/70002916

Hurricane force winds happen in autumn but the severity and frequency varies from year to year. They rarely reach anything near what the US experiences. Yet the airbus trying to land in a storm at a German airport - as shown on television - was scary enough.

A friend of mine sent a message that he was stranded around 200km North of home and could not make it back that day as there was no train running, much of the Northern network was halted because of fallen trees and damaged power lines.

For the time being this is behind us in the valley and things are running smoothly.

So here is a curiousity thing...

Love the Rhine, love ships, have money to spare? - Get your own ship :D

Have you ever dreamed of sailing on your own boat on the Rhine and taking friends along or even being captain on the Rhine? You can buy the excursion boat MS Düsselschlösschen on a well-known online auction platform in Germany. With some serious money-spending you will be the owner of a nice and neat - not so new - boat. Look for: Fahrgastschiff in Düsseldorf Personenschiff Fähre. Only problem: it is 55m long and you need to pick it up yourself as sending it is tricky. ;) And hurry as the auction runs out on Tuesday...

notamermaid

Beyond the standard ports... part 9

On a recent thread the small town of St. Goar (read Sankt Goar in German) was mentioned so I am heading back upstream in my series, into the Rhine gorge. This small town has long been popular with day trippers and lies opposite the town St. Goarshausen. It was a place of pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint Goar in the Middle Ages. Here is some info: http://www.welterbe-atlas.de/rheinorte/stgoar/?L=2 Towering over the village is the Rheinfels castle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rheinfels_Castle From St. Goar it is only a ferry trip and a short drive to the Loreley rock. If you want to see it well you need to stay on the side of St. Goar of course.

As you can imagine it is quite touristy and also popular with day cruisers, at least two lines (companies) stop there regularly with excursion boats. The Goethe paddlewheeler is of course the most impressive boat. Yet, I find it not as overrun as Rüdesheim for example.

Who stops there on river cruises? Ther German lines Arosa, DCS Touristik and Phoenix Reisen offer a few cruises each with a stop in St. Goar. Of international European ones I could only find CroisiEurope on its New Year's cruise. Viking has chosen St. Goar as a stop on its fairly new itinerary Paris to the Swiss Alps. It is a convenient vantage point for the offered excursion up to the Loreley rock. Which would mean a ferry ride across or the ship letting passengers get off the ship at a short stop at St. Goarshausen.

If you have been on this itinerary or with another company to St. Goar not mentioned here it would be great to hear about your experiences.

notamermaid

St. Goar

I really like the idea of St. Goar as a stop on the Rhine. In researching trips I've looked at and even looked into staying at the castle hotel. I think that more and more people are being turned off by the crowds in Rudeshiem so St. Goar is a nice alternative. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

Thank you FuelScience for your comment. I am happy to give the community some ideas and was pleased to read that companies are "daring" to include other stops like during the mentioned Viking itinerary with St. Goar and the Loreley rock from the top and on the water, also the Avalon itinerary including Wiesbaden(-Biebrich) - see further above in my series about ports - is a step in that direction. Logistically both are doable alternatives to Rüdesheim in my opinion.

Concerning the excursion boat Düsselschlösschen (see post#258): it sold for 75,050 euros.

Onto weather and river level: it is a pleasant weekend with what we call a "goldener Oktober". Lovely warm with plenty of sunshine and leaves turning from green to all hues of yellow, orange and red (admittedly, brown after three days on the ground). Temperatures will rise to 24 degrees on Sunday and peak on Monday at 25 degrees. Only in sheltered places though, most places will see 21 to 23 degrees Celsius maximum. Rain will be virtually non-existent for the next three days.

River levels on the Rhine look very good, stagnating or varying very little, very reassuring figures.

A perfect sailing weekend on the Rhine, it can hardly get any better on an October weekend.

Enjoy!

notamermaid

I mentioned St. Goarshausen in post #259. And as I have found companies that use it as a port on river cruises the small town opposite St. Goar is eligible for being entered into my series. Here goes:

Beyond the standard ports... part 10

St. Goarshausen is a pleasant small town opposite St. Goar and right next to the Loreley rock. It is quite old but historically a kind of outpost of St. Goar (hence the similar name) and therefore younger. The wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sankt_Goarshausen

Although only in German this site is interesting to look at for the appealing photos: http://sankt-goarshausen.welterbe-mittelrhein.de/startseite/

Who stops there? 1AVista Reisen and Phoenix are the German companies that have St. Goarshausen in an itinerary. Of international ones I could find charters by UK tour operators. As all companies use smaller ships than the 135m ones a restriction on ship length might be in place preventing large ships to stop there. This is something one would need to find out in a phone call with the town council most likely.

It is a pleasant place for a stroll and to watch the river traffic; for more shops and sights one can take the ferry to the other bank, i.e. St. Goar.

notamermaid

P.S.: The river level has fallen as there is no rain, but remains well above anything that could worry river cruisers (and companies).

A bit off the standard topics but I have linked this story as it has made it into the worldwide news. An old tooth was found in what is called the Ur-Rhein. This means an old riverbed from ancient times - the old course of the Rhine; the river we know today has changed its appearance quite a bit over many thousands of years. I myself live not far from an old riverbed that dried up a few thousand years ago. Here is the story as published by Deutsche Welle: http://www.dw.com/en/archaeology-fossil-teeth-discovery-in-germany-could-re-write-human-history/a-41028029

This find is certainly more significant for mankind than the old steam engine that enthusiasts are still searching for... Although, I would love to see them succeed and unearth (literally) the engine which would then classify as the oldest German steam locomotive in existence.

Onto today and the water levels: Kaub is at 120cm and Koblenz at 115cm which is still above any level that could trouble river cruise ships. The river has "lost" quite a bit of water in the last week as it has been warm without rain, but the weather has changed and rain as well as lower temperatures will mean stagnating or probably slightly rising water levels. It also depends on how much rain falls in the valleys of its large tributaries as well as the Alpine regions of Switzerland in the next couple of days.

notamermaid

Just to follow this up about the tooth (two in fact). Other experts have come foreward and question the archeologists findings about the teeth. Ape or ape-like creatures? They will now debate the significance of the find further...

To the present day and more importantly things are fine along the Rhine. The water level has fallen only slightly and some rain is coming, which should keep the level from falling further.

Storm warnings are in place for the hilly regions with hurrican-like winds in remote high areas. Storms will hit the valleys tomorrow with a low level warning in place for Cologne for example and the Black Forest. Not a good day for visiting a cuckoo clock workshop perhaps. Temperatures are still in the double digits during the day.

Next week will see the once-in-a lifetime (even less than that) occurence of those two church holidays in Germany, see https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=54356710#post54356710 post#12, no doubt resulting in frantic shopping in some "affected" parts of Germany this Monday. Some areas, including border areas of other countries, will experience many day trippers.

Take care when being close to forests and scaffolding (I never trust either in strong winds) and enjoy your river cruises or whereever else you are headed this weekend.

notamermaid

Notamermaid,

Your information is amazing! We are scheduled for Basel to Trier on March 17 next year. Will you be doing water level reports then. Thank you.

Hello tobique33040,

thank you. Perhaps I should start a thread for 2018... If all goes well and if popular demand on CC keeps up (thank you everyone :):):) who has expressed their interest in the 2017 thread) I shall start reporting in February with some miscellaneous info and in March about water levels.

You will be one of the first sailings on the Rhine of all the river lines at an often still cool time of year (brrr) and flooding can happen. But on the good side, you will not experience the large crowds and not so much rafting.

Remember, you can add yourself to a roll call, where there is some great info on little details to be found for your cruise (being so early you will need to take advantage of what 2017 cruisers have shared). If there is no roll call yet for a 2018 sailing you can start your own thread. As you are going Basel to Trier I suggest you make that clear in the name not just "Rhine sailing" or something. It would not do the beautiful Moselle justice. :)

On the subject of the Moselle perhaps you might like to have a look at this thread: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2353480

Have a great time planning and sailing.

notamermaid

PS: Love the cat photo. I have a lovely black cat living next door who will no doubt greet me happily next time she has a stroll through our yard.

notamermaid, I really will be looking forward to your reports next year we finally get off on our cruise. I am hoping for a "normal" winter for you guys over there so water levels are good.

Thanks for all your reports & bits of info you supply, they are quite interesting, and I am enjoying leaning the odd bits about the river.

Hi Notamermaid,

Thank you for your note. I do hope you can do the 2018 river levels as many people benefit from your firsthand experience and information. Yes, it will be cold in March, but if there are fewer crowds that will make the travel easier I expect. I am looking forward to researching during the coming months and will check out the thread you suggested. Thanks again for so kindly sharing your knowledge with all of us. Thomas the Cat says hello :)

Hi Notamermaid,

Thank you for your note. I do hope you can do the 2018 river levels as many people benefit from your firsthand experience and information. Yes, it will be cold in March, but if there are fewer crowds that will make the travel easier I expect. I am looking forward to researching during the coming months and will check out the thread you suggested. Thanks again for so kindly sharing your knowledge with all of us. Thomas the Cat says hello :)

I second that emotion.

Hello Daisi,

thank you for your kind words. Hope we get a little bit of flooding actually, in February, to get it over with and leave some water in the river for early Summer, that would be best! I expect your winter will be a little colder than ours.

Hello tobique33040,

thank you for your kind words. Mimmy the cat has been around but the last two days I think she has preferred to stay indoors to develop her winter fur. It is getting cold, I wore my gloves today for the first time this season.

Hello hostjazzbeau,

thank you. I think I cannot keep from reporting in 2018 now. :)

In the present, well, not much to report actually. The storm I mentioned on 28th October caused again more damage in the North of Germany than along the Rhine. The unusual holiday week last week caused a bit of confusion in brain routines - friends saying that they had problems on waking figuring out if they have to got to work or not ;) - but this week is back to normal apart from the fact that we are reminded of remembrance days for the (war) dead coming up. Both Jewish history and Volkstrauertag: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkstrauertag

The water level is keeping above 100cm and below 150cm at Kaub and Koblenz. That is a bit low for commercial shipping (problems with how much load a barge can carry) but is fine for river cruising. It is perceived as a little low by locals but as regards the gauging stations it is not official low water status.

notamermaid

Hello Daisi,

 

thank you for your kind words. Hope we get a little bit of flooding actually, in February, to get it over with and leave some water in the river for early Summer, that would be best! I expect your winter will be a little colder than ours.

 

It is getting cold, I wore my gloves today for the first time this season.

 

 

 

notamermaid

So glad to hear you will keep up with your interesting thread. I was thinking of your bomb reports the other day when I saw the report about the gentleman who mistook a large zucchini with an old war bomb.....I guess they get found quite a lot, and to be honest, I would much rather call the authorities and have them find out it's a veg than dig it up and discover it's a bomb!

Winter unfortunately is on it's way, we have hit the -C temps for over night, but so far days are still rising above the 0 temps. I guess we can't avoid it. Oh well, guess it just means Spring will be on it's way eventually.

Thanks for all your reports

Hello Daisi,

I have found the "zucchini or WWII bomb" story: http://www.dw.com/en/wwii-bomb-scare-leads-german-police-to-heavy-zucchini/a-41229185

When you scroll down you will find some explanations on what is termed "unexploded ordnance" and if one wants to get to the real life stories on previously discovered bombs there are more to click on further down.

The sky yesterday and today fitted the somber mood of November and remembrance days, it is cold, wet and slightly windy around here. More rain will come in the next three days and temperatures will stay in the single digits in many places during the day. Cologne will see 10 degrees Celsius, being one of the warmest places in general in Germany and in the next three days especially. The Feldberg mountain in the Black Forest at a height of 1,493 metres will see gales and snow. It is a popular area for skiing and for those with a greater interest in the area (remember, the Black Forest is usually accessed on river cruises from Breisach) here is the wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feldberg_(Black_Forest)

The water level has not been affected much and is still medium to slightly low throughout France and Germany.

notamermaid

Interesting read about the unexploded bombs. I didn't realise that such a large number were "duds". Sad to see how many have passed trying to defuse them, hopefully they will be able to use robotics soon and save lives. I realise that it's an annoyance having to evacuate all the time when one is found, but I guess it's better than having more injuries/deaths.

Info to post #259 Beyond the standard ports... part 9 concerning St. Goar

I wrote: "... Viking has chosen St. Goar as a stop on its fairly new itinerary Paris to the Swiss Alps. It is a convenient vantage point for the offered excursion up to the Loreley rock. Which would mean a ferry ride across or the ship letting passengers get off the ship at a short stop at St. Goarshausen."

This no longer applies as Viking has changed the itinerary and no longer does this stop and excursion. The reason is given in this thread: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2560311

We are having miserable weather this weekend and people are complaining, winter blues is affecting some already, but the Karneval guys are defying the cold and rain. It is the "11.11." today, the official start of the crazy merry season and the fans are walking around in uniform or costume, celebrating with music, food, drink and speeches. Me, I just feel like hibernating! :D

notamermaid

The water level literally doubled within 48 hours at Kaub and Koblenz from the 12th to the 14th. I was getting slightly nervous... But the level has already peaked upstream in the Upper Rhine valley and is going down again. Maxau gauge at kilometre 362.3 was on low flooding status but has gone down by quite a few centimetres, meaning the situation has eased. Koblenz and the Middle Rhine valley look as if the peak has been reached. Bonn and downstream are still rising but this should not lead to any significant flooding.

To give you an idea in figures: Kaub was at 158cm on the 12th at 8am and 332cm on the 14th at 8am. Kaub right now is at 386cm and stagnating.

Hardly any rain is forecast for the Rhine valley in the next three days so things are looking o.k.

This is the little building that plays such a major role in telling the shipping industry what the river is doing: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxau#/media/File:Pegelmaxau.jpg

notamermaid

P.S.: I hope the high level has not led to any of you cruisers getting stuck before a low bridge. There are a couple along the way.