Rhine water levels 2022 and similar topics

[Canal archive]

Ohh like the masks!

[notamermaid]

Yes, after yesterday's bright red forearms, I can see that this could happen if you wore a mask the entire return journey on the chair lift. Forecast for Mainz is 34 Celsius on Saturday, Boppard 32. Expected highest temperature in Germany on Saturday appears to be 37 Celsius but that is tentative.

 

With the heat, the level of the river is falling of course but there is still plenty of water for river cruise ships. Kaub is at 161cm.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

On 6/8/2022 at 2:45 PM, notamermaid said:

There is another ferry in the Middle Rhine valley and it is a bit special. Why, I will explain in another post.

Continuing with the topic, our journey takes us to - Boppard!

 

The town has a car ferry that is part of the car holiday route "Deutsche Alleenstrasse". It is a tourist route that connects tree-lined avenues across Germany. One section crosses the Rhine from the East over to Boppard and as there is no bridge there, the route swims across with you and your car on the ferry. The "Stadt Boppard" has the brown sign with white lettering on the wall to prove it. One modern twist that makes the ferry special. But the side-loading "Stadt Boppard" is more of interest for its technical details. She was built in 1892 (!) as a reaction ferry, survived two wars, and repaired, altered and equipped with modern engines still takes people and cars across the river. This is what a journey is like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efP5vfaLhPA

If the video does not load, look for: Autofähre Boppard - alt und gut in Schuss

 

If you are interested, this is how a reaction ferry works: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaction_ferry

 

And for further info and the timetable go to the ferry website: http://www.faehre-boppard.de/

 

notamermaid

 

Edited June 14, 2022 by notamermaid

[notamermaid]

The rivers in Germany and beyond are loosing water faster now. Temperature in Mannheim is now 31 Celsius, with the Upper Rhine valley minimally hotter than the Middle Rhine valley.

 

Current forecast for Strasbourg is 37 Celsius on Saturday!

 

I will try and get out of the valley into the cooler hills where it may be 28 on Saturday.

 

Kaub is at 140cm and anticipated to fall below 130cm on Saturday. So, for this week the heat is the bigger thing to deal with. Monday and Tuesday should bring a bit of rain.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[notamermaid]

On 6/10/2022 at 12:50 AM, momofthre3 said:

We are going on the UniWorld S.S. Antionette, Castles on the Rhine -August 21, 2022.

I have had a look at the day-to-day page of your itinerary. It has reassured me that I still like this itinerary better over the one with Viking and possibly a little better than the equivalent one by Amawaterways. Although they have the small but enchanting Lahneck Castle visit in that itinerary.

 

https://www.uniworld.com/us/river-cruise/central-europe/rhine/castles-along-the-rhine/2022-basel-to-amsterdam/day-to-day

(switch to Amsterdam - Basel direction)

I noticed this following on day 6 and I would to point something out: "Kehl, directly across the river from Strasbourg, will be your ship’s base while you explore the Alsatian capital." Strasbourg is the city that I would describe as not being on the Rhine but on the Ill river (that is capital I as in "I am" with two small ll). It is correct in that the old part of the town is not on the Rhine but the large administrative district borders on the Rhine. Kehl is in Germany and the standard dock for large river cruise ships. How this works in detail others can tell you or ask specific questions in a roll call if you prefer that.

 

I also see that they have Rheinstein Castle in their "generations" programme as an excursion. A pity that this is not part of the standard programme. But then, you can go to Marksburg Castle. It sounds as if you have the choice between Koblenz walking tour and the castle visit. Anyone able to climb uneven steps I would highly recommend choosing the Marksburg over Koblenz town centre - no doubt.

 

It is hot here, current highest temperature in Germany is (no surprise!) again in the Upper Rhine valley at Rheinau with 31.4 Celsius and I see the forecast for Mannheim is 38 Celsius on Sunday.

 

Adjusted prediction for Kaub river level is for a little below 120cm on Sunday.

 

And with that I will leave you for a few days folks. I have now found a nice little shady place to go to over the weekend and if I have not melted away I shall return on Monday with a quick look at the level then - and hopefully I will see the temperature drop to 24 Celsius as suggested will happen on Monday.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

Enjoy a well-earned weekend rest, @notamermaid !

[loriva]

Lake Constance aka Bodensee from Michael’s Chapel in Bregenz.  For @notamermaid!  On the final day of our pre-cruise excursion with Scenic.

[notamermaid]

Well, I am back. Recovering from being dragged up and down a castle hill and through one of the hilliest towns I have been to in years (okay, I reluctantly agreed to my travel companions' suggestions and enjoyed it). Did not quite work out with the shade... But that is for another thread.

 

The river has lost quite a bit water and it is again hot after a cooler Monday. Moderate amounts of rain in the Upper Rhine valley are forecast for tomorrow and Friday. That should help nature.

 

Maxau 436cm (upward trend due to rain (see above))

Kaub 123cm

Koblenz 113cm

 

As a side note: the Main is party on low water status and the Moselle is close to, but as both rivers are controlled by locks that does not pose a problem. Both rivers also have a navigation channel that is in some parts deeper than the Rhine, i.e. problem areas like the Rhine Gorge do not exist.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

On 6/22/2022 at 1:21 PM, notamermaid said:

Maxau 436cm (upward trend due to rain (see above))

It is nice when the forecast turns out to be correct, Maxau has gone up to 484cm. This means a nice rise at Kaub will give the ships more water under the hull over the weekend and into Monday. 170cm are likely.

 

For those new to the subject, here is some info: I normally do not post river levels downstream from Koblenz as the navigation channel deepens and at this level few to no problems should occur that are directly linked to low levels.

 

There is the odd risk of a landing stage not being accessible at Cologne for example, but that is a minor thing that is easily dealt with.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Kaub level has risen 24cm in 24 hours. Nice. Now at 156cm, we may even see 180cm tomorrow. Time to relax about it and enjoy. Maybe talk a little more about ferries in the next few days.

 

As always, if you have some photos from your recent river cruise that you feel like sharing, do share. 🙂

 

notamermaid

 

[momofthre3]

On 6/10/2022 at 8:59 AM, notamermaid said:

Hello to you and welcome to the wonderful world of river cruising. Have you had a look at the stickies threads at the top of the title page yet? Our host has put together some great info and links to CC editor articles. You could join or start a roll call for this itinerary.

 

I really like this itinerary by Uniworld as they are one of the few companies that break the Basel - Amsterdam route with a port stop at Boppard in the Rhine Gorge. While as regards design I prefer the River Queen in the Uniworld portfolio, I find the S.S. Antoinette a classy ship (got close up one year in Koblenz, love the chandelier!). If you have any specific questions as regards life on the ship, you may prefer to post those in a separate thread.

 

Why do I like the stop in Boppard? I find it gives you more time in the Rhine Gorge with that dramatic and Romantic feel to it, but Boppard is also a typical Rhine town - a bit touristy but still pleasant (I much prefer it to Rüdesheim) to wander around in. The outstanding thing about it is the Vierseenblick on top of the hill, you can stand at that viewpoint and the Rhine appears to be four lakes.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

notamermaid

 

I have only seen ship pictures and video on utube.  I agree it looks very fancy.  It's not really my jive, but its all about the journey, right? Thank you so much for the info.  I love to research trips before I go, so this is great!  

[momofthre3]

On 6/16/2022 at 12:14 PM, notamermaid said:

I have had a look at the day-to-day page of your itinerary. It has reassured me that I still like this itinerary better over the one with Viking and possibly a little better than the equivalent one by Amawaterways. Although they have the small but enchanting Lahneck Castle visit in that itinerary.

 

https://www.uniworld.com/us/river-cruise/central-europe/rhine/castles-along-the-rhine/2022-basel-to-amsterdam/day-to-day

(switch to Amsterdam - Basel direction)

I noticed this following on day 6 and I would to point something out: "Kehl, directly across the river from Strasbourg, will be your ship’s base while you explore the Alsatian capital." Strasbourg is the city that I would describe as not being on the Rhine but on the Ill river (that is capital I as in "I am" with two small ll). It is correct in that the old part of the town is not on the Rhine but the large administrative district borders on the Rhine. Kehl is in Germany and the standard dock for large river cruise ships. How this works in detail others can tell you or ask specific questions in a roll call if you prefer that.

 

I also see that they have Rheinstein Castle in their "generations" programme as an excursion. A pity that this is not part of the standard programme. But then, you can go to Marksburg Castle. It sounds as if you have the choice between Koblenz walking tour and the castle visit. Anyone able to climb uneven steps I would highly recommend choosing the Marksburg over Koblenz town centre - no doubt.

 

It is hot here, current highest temperature in Germany is (no surprise!) again in the Upper Rhine valley at Rheinau with 31.4 Celsius and I see the forecast for Mannheim is 38 Celsius on Sunday.

 

Adjusted prediction for Kaub river level is for a little below 120cm on Sunday.

 

And with that I will leave you for a few days folks. I have now found a nice little shady place to go to over the weekend and if I have not melted away I shall return on Monday with a quick look at the level then - and hopefully I will see the temperature drop to 24 Celsius as suggested will happen on Monday.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

Thank you for your suggestions! I am taking notes in my book! We live in Texas, and it has been hot here as well...last week and later this week it will be 38.4 C and up.  Thank goodness for a pool and air conditioning......

[notamermaid]

Potential slight delay around Iffezheim lock today as a river cruise ship got stranded on a groyne this morning. River traffic is not halted, but near Karlsruhe there is no overtaking or passing. More news to follow.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

More info and slight correction. The "Lady Diletta" got stranded on a groyne during the night and could not free herself. The ship has now been towed away by another ship to the lock area at Iffezheim. After inspection it will be decided if she can continue to sail. All 166 passengers can remain on board till the decision has been taken. Hope it works out for them. Actually, of the 166 one had to leave, the lady was slightly injured and taken by police launch to the embankment. Hope she can return swiftly.

 

Edit: river traffic was halted for only 45 minutes, probably too short for news outlets to pick that up, it appears in the police report.

 

All in all not too bad and it sounds as if the river traffic situation will return to normal shortly.

 

https://bnn.de/karlsruhe/rheinstetten/bei-rheinstetten-fahrgastschiff-faehrt-sich-auf-dem-rhein-fest

 

Rheinstetten where the accident happened is at Rhine kilometre 353.1.

 

notamermaid

 

Edited June 28, 2022 by notamermaid
added info

[notamermaid]

Good news on the Lady Diletta. Inspection yesterday showed that she can sail. Journey will be curtailed but at least the passengers can go down to Mainz (destination would have been Düsseldorf). The injured lady could also return to the ship.

https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/baden-wuerttemberg/karlsruhe/fahrgastschiff-auf-rhein-festgefahren-100.html

 

It is a very nice day in the Rhine valley today, not too hot yet where I am. Good day for castle viewing. There are many in the Rhine valley, I actually do not know how many, 60 in the (complete) Middle Rhine valley me thinks. And then there is the Upper and the Lower and the Dutch Nederrijn/Waal...

 

Here is a short video, a teaser perhaps we should call it: 

The young couple is in what I recognize to be first Stolzenfels Castle and then Ehrenbreitstein Fortress. Last year, I went to Lahneck Castle opposite Stolzenfels, promising myself (and you folks) that I would go to Stolzenfels in the near future. Hope to keep my promise this year!

 

notamermaid

 

[bluestocking7]

@notamermaid  Thank you again for keeping us posted on Rhine water levels and other issues.  Will be monitoring this thread like a hawk until our Tauck Basel-Amsterdam cruise on July 27.

[notamermaid]

My pleasure.

30 minutes ago, bluestocking7 said:

Tauck Basel-Amsterdam cruise on July 27

Nice. We do not hear too much about Tauck. Would be nice if you had time to post a bit after your cruise to inform folks about your experience, you know, what the standard is these days, having got rid of the cobwebs of covid non-cruising and apparent staff shortages in the industry. I believe Tauck has a couple of specials that no other cruise line has as excursions. Would be nice to hear about that.

 

But first, have a great river cruise.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[worldtraveller99]

Hi bluestocking7 We are (hopefully) doing the Tauck Christmas Market cruise on the Rhine this November. Are you on the Inspire? I also would love to hear all about it, thank you.

[notamermaid]

Yesterday morning a manoeuvre at Rüdesheim did not go as planned. A 135m river cruise ship demolished a green buoy trying to leave the dock at 8.30am. Those river traffic signs can take a minor impact, but this one was too much. The buoy had to be replaced by a boat of the authorities. Not too big a deal, but the captain still faces what we call an "Ordnungswidrigkeit", the sort of thing we would get for running over a small street sign in our car I suppose:

https://www.presseportal.de/blaulicht/pm/43615/5261095

No damage to the ship, it is on its way to Trier.

 

One of the maintenance boats on the Rhine, the St. Goar: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_von_Schiffen_der_Wasserstraßen-_und_Schifffahrtsämter#/media/Datei:Arbeitsboot_St._Goar_(1).JPG

It was probably this one which was called in to replace the buoy as she is stationed quite close. Or a similar vessel.

 

I know this is stretching language skills but for fun, if you like such technical stuff, have a look at the first couple of minutes for the images of the different buoys and tons (or cans?) that André Heller makes in his workshop in a village high above the Rhine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SC2-NCBFZB8

 

 

The river is loosing water in this heat but rain is forecast so I am confident. Kaub gauge at 146cm. Upward trend from Saturday.

 

notamermaid

 

[bluestocking7]

On 6/29/2022 at 2:25 PM, worldtraveller99 said:

Hi bluestocking7 We are (hopefully) doing the Tauck Christmas Market cruise on the Rhine this November. Are you on the Inspire? I also would love to hear all about it, thank you.

Yes it's the Inspire.  We're doing a Bridges Family tour, so the excursions are a bit different, but I should be able to post some comments on the ship at least.  Hope all goes well for both of us.  

[worldtraveller99]

Have a wonderful holiday bluestocking7! We will be off in Alaska, but look forward to reading all about it on my return.

[Canal archive]

Notamermaid super YT of the maker buoys thank you, loved the dad and daughter bit, nothing to do with the rest but it’s interesting to see it’s world wide. Keep posting these my understanding of German is growing slowly but shourly.

[notamermaid]

3 hours ago, Canal archive said:

loved the dad and daughter bit

Yes, one of those "melts your heart" moments. The daughter asks if daddy had made the buoy. He replies yes, together with his employees (says their names).

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

It has been twenty years since UNESCO declared the Upper Middle Rhine valley a world heritage site. So before returning to ferries and talking about moated castles, I will be all happy tourism assistant and further promote this section of "my" river with the splendid hill-top castles 🙂.

 

Why is it so special? Here is the educational bit, i.e. what UNESCO says: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1066/

 

And as the name Rhine Gorge is frequently used for it, let us see what Wikipedia says about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhine_Gorge

 

Really nice photos already, but I think I should further enhance the experience with a video. Will be back later in the day or tomorrow...

 

notamermaid

 

[CPT Trips]

On 6/30/2022 at 9:31 AM, notamermaid said:

different buoys and tons (or cans?)

Here in the States, it’s either:

 

Nuns 

or Cans