Rhine water levels 2022 and similar topics

[RDVIK2016]

4 hours ago, notamermaid said:

I explained the idea in basic terms in the post above. Let us get a bit deeper into the technical aspects and on the right of the explanatory article is a photo of the model of the "Jungferngrund" shallows (rocks) at Oberwesel, which I have mentioned before.  And the caption gives us the English title of the project: project "Abladeoptimierung Mittelrhein, AOMR" (Optimisation of load draughts on the Middle Rhine).

https://wiki.baw.de/en/index.php/Hydraulic_Modelling

 

Fascinating. I seriously think they should offer guided tours of that facility.

 

notamermaid

 

Just watched the BAW Profil video.  If I had a chance I would visit the facility in Karlsruhe. 

[OwenSmith]

We've reached Strasbourg on Amadeus Imperial. Talking to the Captain, from Basel to Strasbourg we had some ballast water on board to get under the bridges. Now it's being pumped out and we will have a draft of 1.55m. The Captain says we should be able to get to Amsterdam.

[Canal archive]

The science of water is a wonderful thing!

[notamermaid]

6 hours ago, RDVIK2016 said:

Just watched the BAW Profil video.  If I had a chance I would visit the facility in Karlsruhe. 

 

17 minutes ago, Canal archive said:

The science of water is a wonderful thing!

 

I would really like to see river cruise companies doing a bit more with this, apart from using it practically to perfectly float the ships, of course. River crossings, ferries, museum for ships and shipping, pilot museum, the facility in Karlsruhe... Great stuff.

 

I have an itinerary in the back of my mind (and in a word file) that is honest technical stuff, stones, steel, mechanics, you name it. What we would consider traditional male interests (visit to beer garden in Koblenz in your free time). I want to see a river cruise company offer that. This river maiden says "Give the guys what they want, without a shoe shop, spa, or modern art gallery in sight!" 😃 The Karlsruhe river model will go into the file today...

 

Update: Kaub gauge is at 99cm. Forecast says 90cm tomorrow, further decline likely, but looking further, we see no fall to 78cm in the figures. The rain that is forecast shows up in the river level forecast as keeping the level steady over the GlW line. Which means Kaub should be able to keep the navigation channel depth of 1.90cm. And that is good. Not guaranteed, but it looks promising and better than what was suggested yesterday.

 

Now we just need that rain...

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[notamermaid]

Well the weather radar map now shows quite a few red blobs. More scientifically speaking, we see scattered heavy showers of rain across Germany. Interestingly, hardly any in the valleys of the big rivers yet. It is very warm and humid right now, relieved a little by the wind blowing. Perhaps the evening will bring rain and better air to my area.

 

 

notamermaid

 

 

[CPT Trips]

@notamermaid Are the Sinsheim and Speyer Technical museums on your itinerary?

Edited August 26, 2022 by CPT Trips

[notamermaid]

Just now, CPT Trips said:

@notamermaid Are the Sinsheim and Speyer Technical museums on your itinerary?

Yes, planned one of those in . Thanks for the tip.

 

I have been to the Sinsheim one, not the Speyer one yet. It is amazing, highly recommended.

 

notamermaid

 

[OwenSmith]

We're in Speyer tomorrow for the trip to Heidelberg (returning to Manheim). I can do the Speyer technical museum if I want, but I'd have to pay for entry myself and abandon what is laid on. The tour manager and cruise staff are all female, I don't think they understand a thing that men are interested in. If you want a massage or flower arranging demonstration they are exactly the people you need.

[NJPA79]

I’m traveling with Tauck from Amsterdam to Budapest leaving Amsterdam on Sunday September 4th.  Received a letter from Tauck today that warned of low water levels on the Danube only.  No mention whatsoever of the Rhine.  Found that interesting.

[CPT Trips]

21 minutes ago, OwenSmith said:

We're in Speyer tomorrow for the trip to Heidelberg (returning to Manheim). I can do the Speyer technical museum if I want, but I'd have to pay for entry myself and abandon what is laid on. The tour manager and cruise staff are all female, I don't think they understand a thing that men are interested in. If you want a massage or flower arranging demonstration they are exactly the people you need.

I ditched an optional excursion to Heidelberg (been there, dome that) in order to visit the technical museum in Speyer. If the ship is moving during the excursion, I wouldn’t chance it, but if not it’s something to think about. It’s an easy walk . . . 

And, you’ll walk right by a very nice Biergarten.

 

@notamermaid I understand that the Sinsheim museum focuses more on autosports. Speyer is big on motorcycles and has several ships. As I noted, Speyer is walkable, while Sinsheim requires a coach. Perhaps you can arrange for the coach to lap Hochenheimrimg on the way. When are “we” going? 

Aerial views follow:

Sinsheim 

 

Speyer

 

 

[notamermaid]

On my river cruise on the Danube I was fortunate to have a captain that one afternoon officially let us visit him in the wheelhouse. It was fascinating.

 

Just now, OwenSmith said:

We're in Speyer tomorrow for the trip to Heidelberg (returning to Manheim).

Tough choice. People love Heidelberg and I am not sure if Speyer Technical Museum is more enjoyable. Things that go "vroom" or "clonk", or old stones? Not sure what I would choose. In Koblenz there is the small but interesting railway museum, only open on Saturdays, special group openings by arrangement: https://dbmuseum.de/en/koblenz/information

Koblenz also has a army collection with lots of "big things made of metal" that is open to the public. But you would need to inquire for more details. Or you could go to the fish pass info centre. Or the museum on Ehrenbreitstein Fortress where they keep the famous big cannon. Or further upstream, Mainz has got the Museum of Ancient Seafaring (currently closed due to renovation).

 

There are lots of places beyond the standard generic interests but it takes a bit of effort (and sometimes language skills) to find them and enjoy them. That is where a knowledgeable CD is a real asset.

 

The offers of excursions have become broader but there is still room for improvement I would say.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[notamermaid]

Just now, CPT Trips said:

Perhaps you can arrange for the coach to lap Hochenheimrimg on the way. When are “we” going? 

Ah, yes a detour via the Hockenheimring for a few laps is a good idea. Come to think of it, the excursion choice should be Speyer Museum or Sinsheim Museum, i.e. both in my itinerary to choose from rather than either, i.e throw out Heidelberg. For the autosports and the motorcycle fans. Can you imagine the comparing conversations in the evening at the bar?

 

I am still hoping a river cruise company will pick up my ideas for a trial run itinerary next year around Fathers' Day. 🍻

 

And I am entirely serious about this - okay the Hockenheim laps are a stretch, but I know there is a river cruise company out there that has offered a tour to the famous race track in a past year.

 

notamermaid

 

 

Edited August 26, 2022 by notamermaid
spelling

[notamermaid]

Just now, NJPA79 said:

I’m traveling with Tauck from Amsterdam to Budapest leaving Amsterdam on Sunday September 4th.  Received a letter from Tauck today that warned of low water levels on the Danube only.  No mention whatsoever of the Rhine.  Found that interesting.

Hmm, yes, Tauck sound confident about the Rhine. I can imagine they have looked at the weather forecast and the projected river level in the next 14 days at Kaub. It does indeed look good for the Rhine being just within the good levels to keep more or less all river cruise ships sailing. And with the experience and info from the captains on the ships they will have a pretty clear picture what will be possible for their ships in the first week of September. All that is needed is the rain that is forecast to actually fall. Rain has fallen around Lake Constance earlier tonight and has also reached more parts of the valleys but Rhineland-Palatinate still has not profitted enough. I hope we will see proper rain during tomorrow.

 

notamermaid

 

[CPT Trips]

55 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

 

There are lots of places beyond the standard generic interests but it takes a bit of effort (and sometimes language skills) to find them and enjoy them. That is where a knowledgeable CD is a real asset.

GCT/OAT trip leaders contact “Inner Circle/Sir Edmund Hillary” members a week or so before a trip. It’s a really great benefit, particularly if you do advance research as so many on here do. That provides a great opportunity to give them a head’s up about places or the sort of place that I’d like to visit. Often they also provide information of spots to visit in other stops for consideration. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, notamermaid said:

Ah, yes a detour via the Hockenheimring for a few laps is a good idea.

I've been on coaches mfd by Mercedes Benz.  Does their AMG subsidiary do racing coaches???

[CPT Trips]

Just use the seatbelt if the CD introduces the driver as Nico.

Checked my Magic Eight Ball, “signs point to yes.”

[Haqdeluxe]

9 minutes ago, CPT Trips said:

Just use the seatbelt if the CD introduces the driver as Nico.

Checked my Magic Eight Ball, “signs point to yes.”

I understand it holds the touring coach lap record on the Nürburgring Nordschleife. 🙃

[Host Jazzbeau]

42 minutes ago, CPT Trips said:

Just use the seatbelt if the CD introduces the driver as Nico.

Checked my Magic Eight Ball, “signs point to yes.”

Sign me up!

 

[CPT Trips]

45 minutes ago, Haqdeluxe said:

I understand it holds the touring coach lap record on the Nürburgring Nordschleife. 🙃

Another coach trip . . . from Koblenz. A lap around the Nordschleife as a passenger means I’ll need some Bonine on that river cruise. 🤮 

[Canal archive]

Scenic includes a trip to Hockenheim absolutely brilliant good little museum with a special bit about Jim Clark, stand on the winners podium, wave the chequered flag, visit the stewards room. It was a free motorbike day when we went and a bit drizzly so ‘interesting’. Our ‘coach driver’ discovered that on the far side of the circuit they were drift racing so we all piled on board and raced, not against other coaches, boo hoo there. Watching the racing and the various cars being prepared made us somewhat late back to the boat but our Captain just complained that he didn’t get to go. Now even us ladies enjoyed that day it was a bit special.

[notamermaid]

2 hours ago, Canal archive said:

Scenic includes a trip to Hockenheim

Ahh, it is Scenic! I just could not remember with which company I had read about Hockenheim.

 

Nürburgring from Koblenz is a bit of a distance but doable and I am sure enthusiasts would happily spend that time on the coach, especially if it is that sophisticated one in the photo above. From Andernach it is a little less time and the scenery is nicer.

 

I must admit I am not into racing and find going round in a circle weird, I normally go from place a to place b with a purpose or do a slow round trip to enjoy the scenery. But standing on a podium or getting to go inside a place that is normally not open to the public is great. I would choose Hockenheim over Heidelberg.

 

I find it nice to have guided tours and standard stuff, but the exceptional, unusual places, especially when they are away from the big cities make itineraries stand out. Scenic is very good at that along the Rhine I find. But Avalon also has a couple of unusual places in their portfolio that they offer passengers. Amawaterways also does one or two but the APT itinerary passengers on the Grand Tour get the better offers I find. Uniworld stops in Boppard in the Rhine Gorge so that is what makes them stick out positively. Not as spectacular as mechanical technical stuff, but for craftsmen the museum there on Thonet chairs is an attraction.

 

Update on Kaub gauge: 94cm, forecast for relatively stable figures, 90cm tomorrow probable, no further drop indicated. Rhineland-Palatinate did not get enough rain overnight so the landscape is dry but rain further upstream is keeping the river at a level that is somewhat satisfactory for river cruise ships, albeit not good enough for commercial traffic, still half load and impeded logistics. If it does not rain it could of course go down fast and affect river cruising to a greater extent again. The somewhat lower temperatures are helpful in reducing the loss of water in the rivers and the soil but we do need more rain.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[OwenSmith]

Our ship moved from Strasbourg to Speyer last night and the decks were wet in the morning. I went to the Speyer technical museum to see Buran, I could spend a week in that museum. We are in Heidelberg now, and will be returning to the ship docked at Manheim.

[bluestocking7]

@OwenSmith Tauck includes the Speyer technical museum as an excursion on the Bridges Family Rhine tour we did in July.  My son and his four kids loved it, especially the go-kart track outside.  (Daughter-in-law chose Heidelberg instead and enjoyed that.)  Glad you had a good day there.

[gentlemancruiser]

18 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Sign me up!

 

maybe try this bad boy!!

 

[notamermaid]

Oh my goodness, what a vehicle.

 

Just now, OwenSmith said:

I went to the Speyer technical museum to see Buran, I could spend a week in that museum.

Great, you went! Happy to read that you enjoyed it so much. I saw the Buran many years ago when it was being transported on the Rhine to Speyer Museum. It was quite the spectacle. Many things are being transported up and down the Rhine, but that was something else. "Space shuttle spotted on Rhine" article with webcam photo at Koblenz: https://www.bafg.de/DE/07_Nachrichten/Archiv/2008/buran.html

 

Old stones but also unusual stuff: I will get back to the upcoming special heritage day again probably, but here is the short info for your planning. If you happen to be in Germany on 10/11 September you can go and see listed buildings and structures, many of which are not open to the public at other times. It is "Tag des offenen Denkmals" (the Sunday) and is partner of the initiative "European Heritage Days": https://www.tag-des-offenen-denkmals.de/

 

notamermaid