Rhine water levels 2022 and similar topics

[Canal archive]

I wondered how long it would be before the low water levels impacted on the locks. Their basic design has not changed for a few hundred years. There are many different gate designs but the chamber design has stayed about the same and the part of a lock that would cause a problem is the, cill if there’s not enough water the boats cannot pass over it. 

[notamermaid]

Kaub gauge relatively stable, now at 77cm. No real change forecast for tomorrow, Monday may see a slight drop. Thankfully, outlook into next week shows no major change for the worse. For now, avoiding scenes of 2018? I am hopeful.

 

notamermaid

 

[cruisestitch]

I just spoke to friends who are on a grand circle cruise on the River Harmony. They will have one more night on the boat and then bus to Strasburg for two hotel nights  and bus to Basel  for two more hotel nights because the river is too low for them from here onward.

[notamermaid]

1 hour ago, cruisestitch said:

I just spoke to friends who are on a grand circle cruise on the River Harmony. They will have one more night on the boat and then bus to Strasburg for two hotel nights  and bus to Basel  for two more hotel nights because the river is too low for them from here onward.

That is a real pity and I am surprised that they are doing this as the River Harmony is a 110m ship. But of course a captain and company can make that decision even on a smaller ship that for us would seem fine to sail.

 

I see that the River Harmony was in Bernkastel-Kues on the Moselle today. I guess that means they end the cruise at Koblenz?

 

I wonder if those switching a ship or ending the cruise get to see the Rhine Gorge on an excursion boat. It has been done in the past and is a fun experience but you do not have the luxury of your own ship of course.

 

Thanks for the info and I hope your friends can enjoy the places they will visit after the long coach ride.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

17 hours ago, RDVIK2016 said:

Egdir does not seem to have a functioning AIS transponder so I have not been able to track her. 

You may be on the Viking Egdir German registration which is locked in 2021 as the ship was handed over and re-flagged Swiss. She can be found with a CH registration and as that is signalling. Her status as per ship page:

 

From the page: https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:6599609/mmsi:269057766/imo:0/vessel:VIKING_EGDIR

For some unknown reason she is not registered on marinetraffic as a passenger vessel.

 

So it appears you are right, they both went in their respective directions as planned and then double-backed.

 

17 hours ago, RDVIK2016 said:

Next I have to tackle exactly what Pegel is and how it relates or doesn't relate to GIW, NNW, Fehltiefe, etc.

Yeaahh, sorry. I need to get some English graphics.

 

As regards Pegel, that is the gauge that measures the river depth and as that is at the side of the river on a wall it is not the depth of the navigation channel and needs to be translated to be usable for navigation. So a Pegelstation with its gauge, which is much like ruler i.e. a visible thing on the wall, is a station and a Pegelhaus is a house or rather a building of sorts that these days normally contains an electronic measuring device in addition to the "ruler", if the standard ruler is in it. At Kaub the gauge with building looks like this: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegel_Kaub

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

Edited July 23, 2022 by notamermaid

[Host Jazzbeau]

36 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

That is a real pity and I am surprised that they are doing this as the River Harmony is a 110m ship. But of course a captain and company can make that decision even on a smaller ship that for us would seem fine to sail.

The Captain has to look to the future also.  He may be able to get to Strasbourg today, but maybe couldn't get back out on the next leg.

[notamermaid]

2 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

The Captain has to look to the future also.  He may be able to get to Strasbourg today, but maybe couldn't get back out on the next leg.

Exactly a scenario that could apply to the River Harmony or any other ship of that size or larger. Thank you for pointing this out. There are logistics to consider beyond the low water as it presents itself today and captain and cruise director (and additional personnel in administration) I am sure will be well aware of the long range forecast for the rive levels that I have mentioned and partly quoted from a couple of times.

 

notamermaid

 

[CPT Trips]

It’s always a bummer when a river cruise turns into a bus trip. This is the type of situation where GCT’s “trip leader” model is an advantage. There are three, perhaps four, trip leaders that are on board the ship each with a group of passengers. Each group will stay together with their leader. Hoping all goes well.

[Canal archive]

Fingers crossed for a few drops of the wet stuff. I do so hope that river cruisers have read the small print put out by the cruise companies. We as in regular cruisers know that busing or ship switching is a possibility during low or even high water level events but it comes as some surprise to newer cruisers and some do get especially vociferous about it.

Arriving in Lyon in the dark one year we had to pull over to await another vessel coming upstream to navigate a particular bridge before we went under it, their bridge house was right down there was not a lot of clearance!

[notamermaid]

10 hours ago, CPT Trips said:

GCT’s “trip leader” model is an advantage. There are three, perhaps four, trip leaders that are on board the ship each with a group of passengers. Each group will stay together with their leader.

Sounds a good way of running a cruise. I believe Tauck has something similar?

 

21 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Kaub gauge relatively stable, now at 77cm. No real change forecast for tomorrow, Monday may see a slight drop.

Well, the river decided otherwise. The level has dropped to 72cm. That throws out the forecast for today and I will not say what they predict for tomorrow. Long range we can say that the river will stay low and the situation continue to be problematic as around this range of figures we can neither say that ships are likely to sail or unlikely to sail. We have seen that even Viking captains are making decisions to sail through the Rhine Gorge while others do not do the passage.

 

Weather: hot today, the Rhine valley in parts again over 30 Celsius. Rain in Switzerland tomorrow, not substantial.. Tuesday rain that should feed the High Rhine and Lake Constance. Good for sustaining a higher river level rather than one coming from a run-off wave from heavy rain along two tributaries for example. If it will have any impact, though, remains to be seen. Long range forecast at Maxau gauge suggests only an insignificant one.

 

On a more positive note: we still see no indication of a further drop that would get the river to a situation (by the 4th of August that is) that is similar to the autumn of 2018. It will still see a lot of river cruise ships making it through the Rhine Gorge.

 

And (this is personal) there is no horror/panic scenario of the river drying up or being impossible to sail. I do not like those headlines in newspapers and online click bait stories! Excursion boats are sailing and they will continue to do so (depending on size) and there are barges that are small and shallow constantly transporting goods. If they continue to write such stuff I will personally put on my wellies and take a video of the water. Hah, you will see how deep the river still is!!

 

notamermaid

 

[bluestocking7]

I'm looking at this thread a couple of times a day now.  I arrived in Basel last night--from Scotland, where it is chilly!--and it is very hot here.  I haven't heard anything from Tauck about changes to the itinerary.  The cruise is scheduled to depart this Wednesday.  

[notamermaid]

Welcome to "my" river. I can imagine that the temperature in Scotland is a bit less than along the Rhine were it can heat up so much and stay hot. Around Basel you are not far from the "Riviera", the Bavarian one . Basel is far away from me, but the waters will reach my area in a few days. So will you and I hope everything goes as planned.

35 minutes ago, bluestocking7 said:

I haven't heard anything from Tauck about changes to the itinerary. 

Sounds promising. I like the hull design and livery of the Scylla ships for Tauck. The Inspire, the Esprit, the Sapphire, etc. -  they all look classic with nice elegance I find.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[notamermaid]

36 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

Around Basel you are not far from the "Riviera", the Bavarian one .

Well, I understated the distance a bit, i.e. it is a little bit of a drive still from Basel but if you fancy a different pre-cruise or post-cruise experience you can go to Lake Constance and the Bavarian Riviera at Lindau: https://www.lindau.de/en/experience-lindau/parks-gardens/bavarian-riviera/

 

Unfortunately, a few excursion boats are now struggling with the low water at Lake Constance. The Lake is very deep, so the problems are obviously close to the shores. Most are still sailing but the level should not fall much further for them.

 

The graph:

 

331cm is not officially low but it should be higher at this time of year. Hopefully the rain that is forecast for tonight will help.

 

No impact, i.e. a rise at Maxau gauge, is forecast in the next 36 hours. Kaub gauge is at 69cm and following what happens upstream in the valley of course is not expected to rise either. Can the rain prove this wrong? I am skeptical but let us see tomorrow.

 

notamermaid

 

Edited July 25, 2022 by notamermaid

[undecided45]

@notamermaidthank you for all of this wonderful reporting you have provided us. I have been checking this thread every couple of days as well. My husband and I are going on our honeymoon embarking August 1 on Viking from Trier to Basel. While we’re worried about hotel stays, your reports have made us a little less anxious! 😅Thank you for keeping us informed. 

[notamermaid]

10 hours ago, undecided45 said:

My husband and I are going on our honeymoon embarking August 1 on Viking from Trier to Basel.

Congratulations! Starting in Paris, city of love? I actually I prefer this Viking itinerary over the one from Amsterdam to Basel. Okay, you do not get to put a love lock on Cologne Hohenzollern Bridge, but the Moselle has lovely romantic spots. Hope you get some impressive sunsets.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[notamermaid]

The rain sweeping over Germany yesterday mainly came down beyond the Rhine valley, meaning the biggest amount will go beyond the watershed, feeding the Danube and its tributaries. But some of it hit the area around Lake Constance, so this should add to the Rhine's drainage basin. Will see how it goes. For now, no real change at Kaub: 70cm. Forecast suggests little change for today and tomorrow.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Right, geography lesson. ("Nooo!" - "Yesss!) Who can tell me which river contributes the highest volume of water to the Rhine? This is an advanced class, so no multiple choice.

 

notamermaid

 

Edited July 26, 2022 by notamermaid

[Canal archive]

Okay - pure guess the Mosel?

[notamermaid]

7 minutes ago, Canal archive said:

Okay - pure guess the Mosel?

That is not a bad guess. But it is another river further South that I am looking for and there is no letter m in the name.

 

notamermaid

 

[PaulS]

Would it be the Neckar river?

[notamermaid]

9 minutes ago, PaulS said:

Would it be the Neckar river?

I am afraid it is not. A clue: the river has its source in Switzerland.

 

notamermaid

 

[Canal archive]

Is it the Maine?

[DougK]

Perhaps the Aare?

[notamermaid]

39 minutes ago, Canal archive said:

Is it the Maine?

I am afraid it is not.

 

A difficult question and without an atlas or checking several websites not so easy to find I reckon. The river is the Aare, the second longest river in Switzerland after the Rhine. As it carries the most volume it is very important for the river levels. In fact, at its mouth it has a higher volume of water than the Rhine itself, which in hydrology terms makes the Rhine a tributary to the Aare!

 

To put this into context of where we are as regards weather and low water levels I will talk about this a bit more, probably tomorrow.

 

During this geography lesson the river has actually risen. At Kaub, after a peak at 77cm, the gauge now shows 75cm.

 

Edit: well done, DougK. You posted while I was typing the answer, so you solved it.

 

notamermaid

 

Edited July 26, 2022 by notamermaid

[bluestocking7]

We board MS Inspire tomorrow in Basel.  Wish us luck!