Danube water levels 2023 and similar topics - plus tips and info

[notamermaid]

Another month has passed and it is time to recap. But first, something else.

 

Talking of high water, I happened to stumble across a video the other day. I had never paid much attention to that little line saying "historische Ereignisse " on the Bavarian authorities' website over all the time that I have used that website but then decided to click on it and explore. Just in time for the anniversary of the flooding at Passau. The flood of the century happened ten years ago, over Corpus Christi hence the word “Fronleichnam” in the title. Just to explain: the animation shows the precipitation as coloured pixels. The dots mark flooding levels and as you can tell purple is the colour nobody likes to see. It was a long disastrous week, not helped by the fact that the Danube’s tributaries kept supplying the large river with high volumes of water over several days. Passau suffered and suffered.

This is the animation, it starts on 30 May with benign levels, almost everything on green, the only one on red is a gauge on the Aisch river, the water of which goes to the Rhine system not the Danube system. Then the rain sets in…

https://www.hnd.bayern.de/2013_hochwasser

 

notamermaid

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

Wow

[Ritabob]

[CastleCritic]

I saw that picture earlier when I looked up the flood, the ship on the left is still moored to a dock that has managed to stay above water (though its "bridges" are now leading into the water at a steep angle), the other two....I have no idea, some decent deck crew Im guessing.

 

Betting they didnt leave in time and got trapped between the bridges.

[Host Jazzbeau]

"Where do I board the ship?"  "Don't worry, we'll pick you up at your hotel – 2nd floor."

[Canal archive]

Flipin eck (Londoner toned down expletive) now that’s a ripple effect magnified, wow.

Edited June 2, 2023 by Canal archive

[notamermaid]

Another "baby" is on its way to the Netherlands. Built in Turnu Severin, Roumania the hull is on its way for completion and currently docked at Regensburg awaiting a push boat for the transport via the Canal to the Main. Usual procedure after that is to hand over a hull to a ship that pulls it along on the last leg, the river Rhine, to the shipyard. The name of the ship will be the "Gentleman II" which is already displayed on a sign attached to the hull together with the shipyard info.

 

notamermaid

 

[gnome12]

45 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

Another "baby" is on its way to the Netherlands. Built in Turnu Severin, Roumania the hull is on its way for completion and currently docked at Regensburg awaiting a push boat for the transport via the Canal to the Main. Usual procedure after that is to hand over a hull to a ship that pulls it along on the last leg, the river Rhine, to the shipyard. The name of the ship will be the "Gentleman II" which is already displayed on a sign attached to the hull together with the shipyard info.

 

notamermaid

 

I thought ships were always “she”. The “Gentleman II”?

[island lady]

Have only been a couple of river cruises, but it has been many years ago...will be on Viking Vidar this Sept.   Having been mostly ocean cruising...and always called a "ship"....question is the river cruise.   Is it called a ship or a boat?

 

Captains on ocean ships cringe and some get pretty upset if you call his ship a "boat".  😉 

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, island lady said:

Have only been a couple of river cruises, but it has been many years ago...will be on Viking Vidar this Sept.   Having been mostly ocean cruising...and always called a "ship"....question is the river cruise.   Is it called a ship or a boat?

 

Captains on ocean ships cringe and some get pretty upset if you call his ship a "boat".  😉 

The old rule was that river cruise vessels were called 'ships.'  But they are so much smaller and more intimate than ocean cruise ships that I am seeing more people calling them 'boats' – which I take as a term of affection. 😉

 

There was a rule of thumb that said a boat can ride on a ship [think dingy] but a ship can't ride on a boat.  We have been seeing pictures here of river craft riding on ships to get from one part of Europe to another – so does that clinch it that they are 'boats'?

 

Me, I sometimes say one and other times the other – and I don't correct people either way. 😀

[gnome12]

But boat or ship, I thought they were all “she”.

[Host Jazzbeau]

19 hours ago, gnome12 said:

But boat or ship, I thought they were all “she”.

I think we had a thread here not too long ago that established that in France ships are 'he.'  In any case, Ponant's ships are all named after male explorers.  So it would be odd to say "Le Jacques-Cartier, she..."

 

[edited to correct the last word from my fat fingers...]

[gnome12]

5 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I think we had a thread here not too long ago that established that in France ships are 'he.'  In any case, Ponant's ships are all named after male explorers.  So it would be odd to say "Le Jacques-Cartier, he..."

I must admit that I don't remember that information. Thanks for the reminder.

[CastleCritic]

9 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I think we had a thread here not too long ago that established that in France ships are 'he.'  In any case, Ponant's ships are all named after male explorers.  So it would be odd to say "Le Jacques-Cartier, he..."

Hmm Riviera tends to name their ships after authors(Chaucer, Shakespeare, Wilde) Wordsworth, do they refer to most of those as male as well?

 

 

Edited June 4, 2023 by CastleCritic

[notamermaid]

20 hours ago, gnome12 said:

I thought ships were always “she”. The “Gentleman II”?

They are still I think. In Germany the ships including barges and tankers have all sorts of names, including standard boys' first names but I see "she" used. The Gentleman II is also a "she" according to maritime tradition. But is sounds odd to say the Gentleman II, she sails... . Perhaps this is a changing thing.

 

It is ship - or vessel. But excursion boat as far as I know. By the way in German it is Flusskreuzfahrtschiff as well. But the maritime/technical word is Fahrgastkabinenschiff, the ones without cabins are then obviously called Fahrgastschiff.

 

It is assumed that the Zasavica III pushboat will collect the hull at Regensburg. That boat is now near Nuremberg.

 

notamermaid

 

[Canal archive]

Sorry but regardless of the name and nationality a ship, boat or vessel it is still a she. ************ the French!

[island lady]

17 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

The old rule was that river cruise vessels were called 'ships.'  But they are so much smaller and more intimate than ocean cruise ships that I am seeing more people calling them 'boats' – which I take as a term of affection. 😉

 

There was a rule of thumb that said a boat can ride on a ship [think dingy] but a ship can't ride on a boat.  We have been seeing pictures here of river craft riding on ships to get from one part of Europe to another – so does that clinch it that they are 'boats'?

 

Me, I sometimes say one and other times the other – and I don't correct people either way. 😀

 

Thanks!  LOL...that is what a favorite captain on RCI would tell us during an event (every time 😉 ).   

He also used to tease that one of the older, much smaller ships they had in the early years is now "Lifeboat #12".   😄 

[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

 

 

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

3 hours ago, island lady said:

RCI ... one of the older, much smaller ships they had in the early years is now "Lifeboat #12".

Sadly, that isn't far from the truth! 

[CPT Trips]

On 6/3/2023 at 4:24 PM, gnome12 said:

I thought ships were always “she”. The “Gentleman II”?

The “gender”/ pronouns of a ship need not match its name.🌈 Particularly if it is a US Navy warship, eg USS Ronald Reagan, USS Gerald R Ford, and USS George HW Bush, just to name a few big non-binary boats. 

 

Edited June 4, 2023 by CPT Trips

[RobInMN]

14 hours ago, CPT Trips said:

The “gender”/ pronouns of a ship need not match its name.🌈 Particularly if it is a US Navy warship, eg USS Ronald Reagan, USS Gerald R Ford, and USS George HW Bush, just to name a few big non-binary boats. 

 

I'm not in the Navy, so I can't say how the aircraft carriers are referred to by the Navy, but in general, in English, that would not be true. The name of the ship would not have anything to do with how the ship would be referred to gender-wise.

Applying a "gender" to inanimate objects is called "metaphorical gender", and at its most simple, things you can get inside of are female, and objects that are solid are male. Something about ships, cars, trains, even countries, and the Earth are all things that protect the contents, like a womb.

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

6 hours ago, RobInMN said:

I'm not in the Navy, so I can't say how the aircraft carriers are referred to by the Navy, but in general, in English, that would not be true. The name of the ship would not have anything to do with how the ship would be referred to gender-wise.

Applying a "gender" to inanimate objects is called "metaphorical gender", and at its most simple, things you can get inside of are female, and objects that are solid are male. Something about ships, cars, trains, even countries, and the Earth are all things that protect the contents, like a womb.

 

It may be confused in French, as both 'le bateau' and 'le navire' are masculine nouns.  'La croisière' seems to mean 'cruise' (the activity, or a cruise line) rather than a ship.

 

BTW I've read several explanations for why ships are generally called 'she' and they all feel like 'back formations' devised after the fact to explain an existing custom...

[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

 

 

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

2 hours ago, notamermaid said:

So you can own "einen BMW" and "eine BMW" meaning car and motorbike.

And you should properly call your vehicle a "bimmer" (car) or "beamer" (motorcycle).  Sadly yuppies fail to make the distinction and call their cars "beamers" [at least this gives us old fogies another reason to look down on them...  😉]

[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