notamermaid

Thanks! That means it is coming over to the continent for sure now. Slightly different direction and shifting, this means there is a weather warning at Basel and Bremen! Unusual combination. Have a great cruise. notamermaid

Thanks. I see 29.5 Celsius again. Just like my flat. Glad to see Koblenz is looking after its trees. In this heat they may be driving round with lorries and water them, not sure. Have seen it in the past. They have a bit more soil than many small island trees. The fine details reveal the drought, like the area around the mobile home campsite. You should see the standard green! I wonder what this year's grape harvest will bring? The heat normally makes for good but not plentiful wine as long as the soil is not too parched. They say many grapes here do not like the heat that much. Dryer and warmer conditions may change the vineyards in the long run and growers are going to lean towards different grape varieties the industry says. But then again, they may just be speculating... notamermaid

Thanks Daisi. Our conditions are better than on the Po or some areas of France, but I am getting a tiny bit nervous about autumn. You can tell nature is suffering immensely, not much lush green left along the river banks. Parks are parched and trees on the river islands that grow on little soil are struggling, even turning red as if burnt or in autumn. Completely wilting. Everywhere is so dry. notamermaid

I think @Canal archive meant in England. Which is actually connected to our weather here. I explain a few details. Anything more complicated I leave to meteorologists. Our basic weather is made over the North Atlantic mainly. The general direction is East and then towards the continent. We get lows so often from the British Isles that in my family it became what one in modern terms calls meme. "She is sending us rain again" they said when I lived in England, something I found out when I returned to Germany. So when it rains in England we usually get this in Germany something between one and three days later. notamermaid

Good to read that! If you can prepare yourself mentally it is easier, isn't it? So good that Viking keeps managing to put people on the small boats in the Gorge. Do you recall the name of the excursion boat? Enjoy the rest of your time on the river. notamermaid

Thanks for the link, Daisi. That is a Canadian website, right? Never seen it before. The generalization is there, but at least they do not call it "death of river cruising". Still cannot get over that stupid headline. Anyway, in this logistics article they say and quote: "Closure of the German waterway was announced late on Friday as water levels on the Kaub gauge hit 37cm – 41cm is necessary for operations..." and "Barge operator Contargo said: “For reasons of safety we shall largely discontinue our navigation on the Upper and Middle Rhine.”" The first is obviously not correct as barges are still sailing even as I write, but the second I have read in German myself. The company has done that and much cargo is going by rail and road instead. Meanwhile, I read that the large barge - a "Verband" as we call it - that had got stuck during the night near Oberwesel is free and had has moved further up to Bingen. The river was closed to shipping but is now open gain for upstream sailing. Downstream is not possible as the double-width barge is too dangerous to pass. The authorities expect full traffic to resume later today. Video says it had engine problems and needed to throw anchor. It is 190m long and 23m wide! https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland-pfalz/koblenz/schifffahrt-mittelrhein-gesperrt-motorschaden-100.html notamermaid

Kaub gauge is at 36cm. Meanwhile Emmerich gauge has fallen to minus 2 (again). I think this fixes the lowest ever record at that spot at zero or lower at the end of the year. Will today be the last day of heat and no rain, a return to more pleasant temperatures and better sailing? They say the rain and thunderstorms are only a short thing and the overall weather will not change. It will get hotter again shortly after the clouds have passed through. I just hope it does not produce dangerous heavy downpours in isolated areas. The computer modelling for Maxau gauge has been adjusted and the fast sharp rise is not as pronounced anymore. Still, rain and a rise in water levels is coming. Getting towards the rain and the weather forecast getting more reliable, Kaub gauge forecast now says the river will rise more slowly and we will see figures of 40cm and above from Saturday. The long term forecast still suggests we may see the 78cm at Kaub again next week. Oh and: Sorry, bad English. I meant to say there is limited space so in effect you have only one full lane. And passage is regulated with the help of traffic lights that warn before the bends about oncoming ships. notamermaid

Thank you. I am hoping for a door to open, or that I will open a door that I have walked past many times for lack of time or patience. Scenic Railway Journeys, now there is a perfect suggestion, thank you! I am still part-filling my evenings with watching Time Team, but I enjoy watching Michael Portillo's railway journeys also. notamermaid

Sorry to read that you cannot experience the S.S.Antoinette. I would say come anyway but quite frankly on the Rhine it is dry, parched and other ships do not have much water either. Not sure if land trip is your thing. Perhaps the Netherlands or a river cruise from Cologne downstream towards the Netherlands? They are still running. Accessible is the Moselle. The rare Moselle-only itinerary is done by bike & barge cruises.Viva Cruises does one in September on a large ship, August sailing sold out. Frankfurt to Nuremberg is still on, if you can find such an itinerary. The Seine? Or use a CroisiEurope ship on the Rhine and hope for the best? Hope you find a nice replacement holiday and that Uniworld is good to you with refunds. notamermaid

No, it varies. I would call it on the low side, generally, in August. July closer to mean water levels. Really low is not normal in July. Really low is getting more frequent on the Danube in August. Last year we had flooding in July. notamermaid

Indeed, a short interim thunderstorm rain. Rain in Passau will only help Budapest and all other places that struggle, I am afraid. Not Straubing to Vilshofen. But rain is forecast over Bavaria as a whole so that is good. I see it as a chance for possibly a few more ships getting through the shallow stretch. Quite frankly I cannot see Viking and some other 135m ships making the passage. Always depending on individual draft/captain/upstream or downstream direction of course. No way of knowing. I am just very skeptical and happy to be proven wrong. By the way, many ships of varying size/length/design/draught have given up sailing the Danube for the time being. One crew member of a ship stranded at Linz harbour (reported on Binnenschifferforum) told a crew member of another ship when asked about not sailing (translated): "Man, we have propellers not wheels!" Pfelling gauge at 221cm. Forecast downward trend, possibly down to 212-210 before the rain takes effect. notamermaid

This is the B2B company that now has the Vivienne: https://navibelle.com/fleet/vivienne It is interesting to follow some ships of where they have ended up. "My" ship the Belvedere is the ex-Avalon Poetry. notamermaid

Good to hear from you, papa B me. Nice that I have been the inspiration for the trip, now I feel a responsibility towards it being a great one. Weight on my shoulders in a good sense. I have had a look at the itinerary, had not noticed this new one before mentioned it: https://www.uniworld.com/us/river-cruise/central-europe/rhine/belgian-holiday-markets/2023-brussels-to-brussels/day-to-day Quite different. It says Germany in the description but the map says they only cruise in Belgium and the Netherlands. I checked and found that Germany is only an excursion to the Christmas market in Aachen. That is not much time in the country but a good time I think. I like Aachen and in Advent I am sure is even better. In past years I have recommended the city as an excursion from Cologne. It has never occurred to me that it is also easy to reach from Maastricht. Good idea of Uniworld. Third recommendation for Bruges. notamermaid

Further down the river after Emmerich we soon hit the Dutch border and the first gauge there is Lobith. I am not familiar with the structures and reading the gauges in the Netherlands, so do not really mention them. Needless to say, the drought has also reached that country. Weird when you think about it, a country that has a substantial area as officially being under sea level. A Dutch online newspaper (?) has compiled photos of the situation on the Waal in Summer 2021 and now. What a difference between the two years: https://www.gld.nl/nieuws/7749793/de-waal-vanuit-de-lucht-het-verschil-tussen-nu-en-vorig-jaar notamermaid

Good. We have scattered showers close to the North and Baltic Seas, but the real water will come Thursday afternoon. It looks pretty heavy in the forecast symbols. I expect we will read a weather warning on Thursday morning. No wonder the river gauge forecast at Maxau shows a huge spike after Thursday. The level may rise by 60cm in 24 hours it says. That would be a lot of rain. Looks like the perfect weather pattern Thursday into Friday over the Rhine catchment area. Hope it is not too much in one place. notamermaid

That sounds rather uncomfortable. Sounds as if they were getting it to more or less maximum capacity. So far, I have not had the displeasure of that. The ships I have been on were busy but pleasant. Apart from one but that was a school party with "intrinsic hazard" . I have often wondered what that would be like. For example, the Loreley Star: A ship of 11.20m width and 50.2m length with 600 people on board?? I mentioned earlier that there are companies besides KD. Here is the one that operates, among others, the Loreley Star: https://loreley-linie.com/ notamermaid

Emmerich. Normally not a place that is of much interest beyond those that deal with the Rhine or go there for a specific reason, but now the town on the Lower Rhine is in the international news. For a figure: 0. In a word: zero. Obviously hitting the German headlines and being a photo op par excellence, the zero appearing on the gauge at Emmerich has attracted attention beyond our borders. But the gauge actually fell further into minus. You should find some news in English when you google Emmerich Rhine. It fluctuates of course so here is a quick screenshot to record the zero: It is not yet clear what will be the new record put in the files at the end of the year as the daily fluctuation is levelled out for the statistics. The previous record (NNW) was 7cm. One German business article with a nice shot of the bridge at Emmerich: https://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/handel-konsumgueter/niedrigwasser-neuer-rekord-tiefstand-rhein-pegel-bei-emmerich-sinkt-auf-null/28602542.html notamermaid

Well, I had planned to go to England again in August, but my little group of travellers for various reasons disbanded and now I am stuck here in what was the saying about limbo? Forgotten the English. I am hanging around with different ideas in my head but no real travel plans have emerged yet. Not sure at all what I want to do. Going solo budget is limited to three nights on a river cruise ship but all that I can see are four nights or longer. I do not feel like being on a one night party ship in Düsseldorf. Perhaps endless hours of ship spotting? Annoy the public library attendants? Organize my archive? Clear out the cellar? Feeling a bit lost. notamermaid

Oh well then you will be very happy with renting a car, if you do that itinerary, although Paris and Brussels are more than "a little traffic". It has been a fun journey going through your thought processes and planning. Have a great time during your next adventures and hope to read back from you when you come back to us and tell us you and your travel companions are ready again to look at being on a river. notamermaid

That is fascinating about the sister ships. Have briefly learnt of that, something with laws of physics of course, I mean about the upstream and downstream difference. But details of that is for all those with a mind for that, not me! The variables are very important to me. When you think about it, it makes sense that in the offices no one can actually tell you days before if your ship will be sailing. Unless the captain phoned them up on the same morning that you call the office. Or unless it is on the Bavarian Danube right now where almost nothing goes... But there for example the situation could change again at least a little this weekend. We will see. Fingers crossed. I understand when phone reps have no real clue regarding a certain itinerary, but I still think the communication could be better with their customers. By the way, Arosa have posted online which cruises right now on the Danube are running. Oh, about Emmerich. That was interesting. More later. notamermaid

It is an important aspect on the Elbe according to AnhaltER1960. The bends of the shallow river are a problem. On the Rhine so far 135m barges are still managing round the bends at the Lorelei rock. That is where there is one way traffic regulated with traffic lights. Of course they sit very high in the water now with some of them only having 1/4 of normal load. So if you are light enough you can still navigate the bends very carefully... The much reduced load can result in a financial loss and therefore, to prevent that, one logistics company stopped operating on that section of the Rhine. Trimodal transport is standard anyway, so a lot of goods are now on trains and lorries, but capacity is partly reaching its limits there. notamermaid

Clearly they mean differences among their excursion boats. Not only size matters of course. Hull design and where the propeller is, materials used, the water tanks etc. All the physics. Differentiating between 110m and 135m river cruise ships can only be an approximation. On a personal note, I am not fully friends with KD. Working in the tourism industry I have experienced negative things with the company and I find it hard to shake that off. By the way, folks, other companies apart from KD sail in the Rhine Gorge as well. I will come back to that. notamermaid

Maybe pack the wellingtons. Have a great time next week. I thought it was Scotland again for you. notamermaid

Just caught on web camera coming upstream out of the Rhine Gorge and approaching Rüdesheim, the MS Vivienne: Remember you can look at this yourself on: https://heimatzeithotels.panomax.com/bingen The MS Vivienne is the refurbished MS River Concerto By Grand Circle Cruise Line and she is 110m long. notamermaid

Kaub gauge at 32cm. Forecast suggests stable figures. Then on Friday we may see a slight reaction to rain. On Thursday, the forecast will give a clearer picture of what the weekend will bring. Long term probability forecast suggests a temporary easing of the situation and the potential to bring the gauge up to 90cm. Hmm, that would mean a lot of rainfall in the Southern half of Germany and quite a bit in Switzerland as well. I am skeptical still. notamermaid