notamermaid

@Canal archive Interesting photo. The narrowboats being so small I never figured they would have used cranes. But It makes perfect sense, I mean the boats did not carry that much load, but it was sure heavy enough to speed up loading and save on manpower otherwise needed. @Host Jazzbeau Thank you for the photos, I was going to mention Gdansk. Highly interesting city - I have been there - and the crane is quite a sight. notamermaid

A quick look at Kaub. 131cm. The forecast suggests a tiny rise. The probability chart differs a little from this, we see the two computer models not fully agreeing. However, the chart still puts the 100cm on 3rd October with the level most likely dropping on the 4th - and the 5th lower still. I am treating this with a pinch of salt at the moment. But a steady decline does look certain. Okay, I think we will look at this again some time at the weekend and go back to the topic of cranes. notamermaid

In my post above I called it "flooding" in the graph. A bit awkward perhaps, I only meant it in relation to the amount of water that came through in a short space of time. A wave. As you can see that level was not high enough to be called flooding of the kind that would alert the authorities. Up here in Germany at Pfelling the situation has worsened since yesterday. The figure now is 276cm. A screenshot of the graph (the data centre is in Regensburg, hence the name in the bottom right corner): notamermaid

Pfelling is down to 282cm. Let us have a look at Budapest: You can clearly see the flooding we had at the beginning of the month. Since then the Danube has gradually lost water again, first fast and then more slowly. With the weather being pleasant throughout most of Europe the slow decline continues but quite possibly Budapest will see a rise with rain that is to come just before it gets too low for comfort. Fingers crossed. You are probably not wondering but here for your info is the figure for Budapest in the extreme drought of 2018: 36cm on 25 October 2018. Still a long way to go from 150cm to that. notamermaid

My pleasure. Thank you for your kind words. Have had that bug since I was sixteen I think but have done much more research in the last fifteen years due to working in tourism and private projects. My favourite room in palaces? The library! Before I get back to cranes. From what past passengers have written river cruise companies give out good maps on the ships, especially of the castles in the Rhine Gorge. They are probably enough but if one would like the perhaps almost iconic and standard tourist map of the course of the Rhine it is this one: https://www.rahmel-verlag.de/de/staedte_regionen/produkte_details.php?prod_id=42 "Available from all good souvenir shops". It seriously is the map to offer tourists in the towns along the river and you can get it online of course, probably even in America. And if you want the "whole" river it is this map: https://www.rahmel-verlag.de/de/produkte/produkte_details.php?prod_id=43 notamermaid

After initially keeping above 290cm during the morning, Pfelling is now at 285cm. It is still a bright day but clouds are forming. No rain of any note in Southern Germany though for today. notamermaid

About locks, just to add. Iffezheim is not the last lock you go through on a river cruise from Basel to Amsterdam. Most of you will probably know this but it may not be obvious to some. Amsterdam is a bit of a distance from the Rhine. The city is connected to the river system by the Amsterdam Rhine Canal. The Canal is 72km long and has three locks. This is where it is: https://www.rijkswaterstaat.nl/water/vaarwegenoverzicht/amsterdam-rijnkanaal notamermaid

Yes, kilometre markers kind of all the way, i.e. from Lake Constance. This looks to be an interesting website in English: http://rhine.riverama.com/rhine-km.php It mentions inaccuracies. That is correct. Here is one - the famous "kurzer Kilometer" at the beginning of the Rhine Gorge: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kurzer_Kilometer.jpg This Wikipedia page has the list of locks (Schleusen): https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rheinschifffahrt Various locks have their own pages on Wikipedia or elsewhere, sometimes also in English. Short video of Iffezheim lock run dry for maintenance with time lapse when in operation: https://www.wsa-oberrhein.wsv.de/Webs/WSA/Oberrhein/DE/SharedDocs/Videos/Schleuse-Iffezheim.mp4;jsessionid=26854837173543D39F5432A7374B101E.live21323?__blob=publicationFile&v=3 Completely forgot: have a great cruise! notamermaid

Okay, I am back from the library. Here it is from one of the pages on the website elwis.de: As you read from left to right you read the depth of the navigation channel in the downstream direction. Locks up to Iffezheim, free flowing after that. Depth of navigation channel from kilometres 508 to 557 is 1.9m, reference point is Kaub at a level of 77cm. Kaub is at km 546.3. The river itself has a large range of depths, from obvious shallows around islands and rock formations and notorious places where gravel collects to deep ravines that can easily "swallow" ships - two or three on top of each other. Yes, the deepest ravine on the navigable Rhine is at the famous Lorelei rock - 25m. notamermaid

My pleasure, moonriver54. As I indicated yesterday, things are looking good along the Rhine. Kaub gauge area, for us here meaning from just before Rüdesheim to just before Lahnstein near Koblenz, is the only area where we may see low levels that are of significance at this specific time. But we are not near such a situation just that the river is losing water as it is not replenished fast enough by rain in the upper reaches and by Lake Constance. Having said that, the recent rain has helped all over - also Lake Constance - and we are seeing the effect at Kaub since Saturday. Not much but enough to keep us going, that is ensuring the level stays half decent for commercial shipping and pleasant for river cruise ships. 140cm is the level at Kaub right now, 130cm is forecast for Thursday, the probability chart now takes the level down to 100cm on 3rd October with the potential for lower on the 4th. Which would put you in the Rhine Gorge when the level is almost at its lowest before a rise may happen. So overall, not looking bad but there is from today's perspective a minimal risk of "adjusted sailing times" which is all the responsibility of your captain and I will leave it at that. As for the other parts of the Rhine - just to explain - they are either controlled by locks or deeper than the Rheingau area (between Mainz and Rüdesheim/Bingen) and the Rhine Gorge. I know that those sailing the river may frown at my not perfectly accurate geography but I wanted to keep it simple with familiar places just to explain the overall situation. Somewhere hidden in my bookmarks is a profile of the river's depths. I am off to the virtual library to try and find it, could take some time. notamermaid

Pfelling gauge at 296cm - stabilized then? According to the forecast the level could hold or at least stay above 290cm today and into tomorrow. But Pfelling is Pfelling so I would not bet on it. If the weather is a bright along the Danube as it is with me on the Rhine you are having a great day of sailing the Wachau valley or exploring towns and cities. notamermaid

No matter how often they have done this before it will always be a logistical challenge for them to get the best done for all passengers when things need to be rearranged. No idea how they manage to organize this, really admirable. A pity there was not a bit more rain to keep the level at Pfelling satisfactory for a little longer. It is not too low for sailing as such but Uniworld can clearly see where the river's level is headed. notamermaid

The river is certainly presenting a challenge this early autumn. It appears that the Czech authorities have let some water through again so we see a spike in the graph, albeit a really small one. The level at Dresden is down to 67cm again. Rain is not due to hit the area before Thursday afternoon and it does not look substantial. notamermaid

Yes, bad luck. Pfelling has already dropped to 298cm - faster than I had feared. So you are going through Pfelling twice and the captain wants to make sure his ship is back at Passau before it gets too low and I suppose could ruin the next sailing? Picking up the next passengers at Passau rather than Nuremberg or Regensburg I mean. notamermaid

More out of curiosity than necessity (we know the Rhine is doing fine) here is a quick look at Kaub gauge.The figure now is 139cm, forecast for tomorrow is stable with perhaps an added centimetre or two. After that we will see a decline in figures - splendid warm and sunny weather is the reason - with the figures staying above 100cm for the rest of the month. First week in October may well see the 100cm being reached but for now no problem in sight. We will leave it at that and review this in a few days time. notamermaid

Looks as if the rain is through now and the majority of Europe is under the influence of this high pressure weather. Should continue until well into Wednesday when clouds will come to the continent via Brittany, turning into the Netherlands and then sweeping East into Germany. Rain along the Rhine the night into Thursday. Probably reaching the Danube Thursday afternoon. notamermaid

I suspected it - but did not want to post the level forecast last night as it has been not accurate enough in the past. Yes, Pfelling gauge has fallen, and fast. It is now at 304cm. The forecast suggested 310cm for lunchtime. So the river runs below that figure already. Tomorrow 300cm as the forecast says or even less seeing that the river is close to that already? If you are on the river I hope you have been enjoying the early hours of this morning and can bathe in the sunshine of this (in the list) cloudless sky: ☀️🙂 notamermaid

As forecast, the weather has improved and this is what this early evening just after the autumnal equinox looks like in Bavaria: Pfelling gauge has risen well and is now at 334cm. But this appears to be the plateau. Weather forecast for tomorrow morning says there could be mists with these even turning to light fog in the river valleys and the visibility may be as low as 150m. Great for atmospheric photos! notamermaid

[Shouting down the hallway] "Anybody here?" A bit deserted at the water cooler lately. We can play, the cat is away, folks! [mischievous grin] Host Jazzbeau is on holiday. @Host Jazzbeau Have a great river cruise. It is cooler during the nights now and I think we will get some autumn mists soon. I am a bit too busy for going places like festivals, etc. Tourism has really picked up compared to last year (also in the official statistics) and I meet a few more people from overseas again, i.e. another plus compared to last year. Talked to a couple from the US during my previous shift at work. Just stopping by here really to say hello. I am off to try and get some delicious fruit for pudding. notamermaid

Time to have a look at what the rain did to the river around Pfelling. Yes, it was enough rain, figure is 304cm. Weather calming down, most showers now in the North of Germany. Tomorrow should be pleasant with the temperatures due to rise again and latest day after tomorrow hitting 20 Celsius in Bavaria again. notamermaid

Back to cranes. Further upstream, just outside the Rhine Gorge, is the town of Bingen opposite Rüdesheim. There you can find the oldest crane between Mainz and Cologne standing on land and serving the Rhine ships. The foundations date back to1487 but the wooden construction you see today is from 1787 with much restoration as it had been damaged during WWII. The crane is actually functioning and is operated for tourists, demonstrating how the mechanism of the tread wheels works. Here is a video (you do not need to watch all of it to get the idea) that shows it in operation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjsmfzbCFj4 notamermaid

Two (old) new ships for A-Rosa Unexpected news comes from the German company A-Rosa. The have issued a press release saying that two 110m ships built in 2009 will join the fleet in 2024 - apparently due to high demand mostly for the Rhine. Well, it sound to me as if A-Rosa found a couple of ships standing idle and to be had for a bargain It was all a bit at short notice. The ships will be called A-Rosa Alea and A-Rosa Clea and operate the Rhine during that season. They are according to German sources the Avalon Creativity and the Avalon Affinity which are indeed not sailing now. They were last operating in 2019. The press release of A-Rosa: https://www.arosa-*****/fileadmin/media/presse/PM/2023/KW38/PR_A-ROSA_New-Ships_21.09.2023.pdf notamermaid

It is raining a lot here along the Rhine as well. The heaviest rain along the Danube was actually over the Isar river and the Alps during late afternoon which does not do much for Pfelling but it should still be a good amount for the river before Pfelling (the Lech river also comes from the Alps for example). The other band of rain is feeding the Upper Danube and tributaries and is sweeping in the right direction. Current situation: . Pfelling gauge has dropped to 265cm. This is definitely temporary with all the water coming... Forecast suggests a fast rise and a figure of more than 310cm by tomorrow evening. notamermaid

We are having some rather windy weather. It has not been confirmed yet, but it is believed that a tornado hit a small village in the Southern Eifel region. I looked at the sky during my late shopping trip decided to hurry up. It was quite dark and menacing. Made it home in good time. Radar image: This means the river will rise - as the forecast suggests - and I am afraid we are firmly headed for autumn now. Not all regions of the Rhine valley will get to 20 Celsius tomorrow. The night into Saturday could see some areas going down into single digits. Autumn mists are not far away. notamermaid

My apologies, Trier, as the link says, has actually got two old cranes! A note on the Moselle wines. At the suburb Trier-Ruwer the river Ruwer flows into the Moselle. The Ruwer valley is also used for growing vine. Until 2007 the wine region was called Mosel-Saar-Ruwer but was then changed to just Mosel. The Romans brought viticulture to the Mosel and that is an interesting bit of trivia that spans 2000 years of shipping on the river. I will explain in a following post. notamermaid