Rhine water levels 2022 and similar topics

[sharkster77]

5 hours ago, notamermaid said:

I can sort of relate. I have been to the British Museum in London six times now I think and I still need lots to take in at my next visit whenever that may be. Three hours sound sufficient to fill a brain with images. Does the museum have a kind of "principal things to see on a short visit" guide? I found this quite useful at the British Museum.

 

notamermaid

 

The Rijksmuseum is set up such that upon entering you are in the "greatest treasures" gallery (it has a different name, which presently escapes me).  Straight ahead, at the end of the long gallery, is The Night Watch.  In side alcoves, you can find the Vermeers, Hals, Steens, etc.  If one is pressed for times, the "greatest hits" can be seen here.

 

Other very neat galleries include the doll houses (PBS series The Miniaturist made us very interested in this gallery--17th century wealthy women collected unbelievably realistic miniatures and placed them in these ornate doll houses), and the Delft pottery display was amazing.

 

We arrived there at about 11AM, had lunch there, and left about 3 PM.

[NJPA79]

16 hours ago, gggold18 said:

Hello. Husband and I will be traveling with Tauck on the MS Grace from Amsterdam to Basel Oct 19, 2022 and then continuing on to Milan for a few more days, as part of their Enchantment of the Rhine tour. We understand that water levels on the Rhine might require bussing between stops or itinerary changes. Hope that's not so but keeping an open mind as that's the thing about travel, gotta go with the unexpected. Would be interested in hearing your exp if you've recently been on this tour.

 

Looking for suggestions - We'll be spending 2 days in Amsterdam ahead of the cruise. Looking for a small group tour and guide for one day to visit the windmills, etc outside of the city. Also, how long should we plan for the Rijksmuseum? Any other must-sees while we're there? We already have our Anne Frank House tickets. Thanks.

I’m currently on Tauck MS Treasures traveling from Amsterdam to Budapest.  As I type, we are enjoying a morning sailing through the Rhine Gorge in awe of all the towns & castles.  All good so far.  We divert off the Rhine and onto the Main tomorrow so I won’t be able to speak beyond that, but zero disruptions thus far.  

[worldtraveller99]

Thank you NJPA79. What do you think of the ship, food and drink, excursions etc please?

[notamermaid]

12 hours ago, gentlemancruiser said:

This morning we left the AMACerto docked in Basel. 

Thank you for joining us here on the river boards before your cruise and taking the time to post during your river trip. Have a safe journey home.

 

I hope you enjoyed your time on the Moselle and Rhine with Amawaterways.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Just now, NJPA79 said:

I’m currently on Tauck MS Treasures traveling from Amsterdam to Budapest.  As I type, we are enjoying a morning sailing through the Rhine Gorge in awe of all the towns & castles.  All good so far.  We divert off the Rhine and onto the Main tomorrow so I won’t be able to speak beyond that, but zero disruptions thus far.  

Thank you for taking the time to post from your cruise. More vineyards, more castles on the Main! Okay, definitely not in that density.

 

Spotted at Rüdesheim, the MS Treasures is docked and the Vista Sky is just arriving:

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

It has rained and not little, in many parts of the valley! With high hopes I looked at the river levels this morning. So where are we?

 

A fast and nice reaction at Maxau gauge. Not that much but we are grateful for every centimetre more that does not disappear within an hour in the graph:

 

The geography again: Maxau is near Karlsruhe in the Upper Rhine valley and past the last lock, that means free flowing. It is still very warm in the valley and we need more drizzle and cloudy days to stop the river from falling to the low levels we saw at Maxau in the two previous days and in August. More rain and a slight further rise at Maxau is anticipated for tomorrow and Friday.

 

Now to Kaub gauge: 69cm. That is a drop from yesterday and understandable but a reaction to rain may be in the graph reflected as the level was even lower this morning. It is not clear if we will see centimetres added during the afternoon and evening or if this may be all the improvement we will be seeing today. Perhaps a few more centimetres tomorrow? The forecast does not think so and puts the improvement into Friday. But it does more look like a pittance than a pound, i.e. we need 40cm rather than 4cm to get us to really decent river levels that get us through autumn and get the landscape to look like it should in September in my opinion. Figure for Friday 68cm after a tiny loss tomorrow. Let us hope the forecast is wrong and we will at least see 70cm. Saturday may well look a little better but I am still skeptical about the 78cm that is suggested for that evening.

 

notamermaid

 

[NJPA79]

3 hours ago, worldtraveller99 said:

Thank you NJPA79. What do you think of the ship, food and drink, excursions etc please?

Tauck never misses.  It’s all been great.  The Floriade excursion (horticultural exhibition outside Amsterdam) was a bit too long, but we had to leave time to meet the ship in Nijmegen.  Great good, great staff…typical nice extra touches from Tauck. 

[NJPA79]

1 hour ago, notamermaid said:

Thank you for taking the time to post from your cruise. More vineyards, more castles on the Main! Okay, definitely not in that density.

 

Spotted at Rüdesheim, the MS Treasures is docked and the Vista Sky is just arriving:

 

notamermaid

 

Yes, thats us in Rudesheim right now.  What a town!  Leaving in about an hour.  

[worldtraveller99]

Thank you very much NJPA79

[notamermaid]

On 8/13/2022 at 7:02 PM, CPT Trips said:

What is the primary type of cargo transported by ship/barge. Is it bulk (coal, grain, chemicals)?

Remember I put this on the back burner? I had given you an answer but wanted to provide more details. I was looking at the report's section for river cruising so checked if they provide a graph or pie chart on cargo, so among other stuff this is what I found:

 

 

Taken from https://inland-navigation-market.org/chapitre/2-freight-transport-on-inland-waterways/?lang=en

 

I had forgotten how much sand and gravel is transported, raw materials for concrete, etc. In 2018, building sites actually ran into problems as the reduced transport lead to supply chain problems.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[CPT Trips]

👍👍

[notamermaid]

Rain sweeping over Germany, the radar film is a nice arc of yellow and darker colours that goes from the Alps over Bavaria and then turning in a Northwesterly direction towards the North Sea. So little rain is actually falling in the Rhine valley, with the Lower Rhine for a change getting more than the Upper Rhine. Which does not help Kaub gauge in the Middle Rhine valley. It will be interesting to see how the afternoon develops.

 

Kaub gauge at 68cm. Forecast for tomorrow shows figures in the 70s, Saturday a jump to 80cm and above. Firm 90s on Sunday and possibly above? I am skeptical.

 

What is pleasing to see is that the recent rain has turned patches of brown stubble back to half green parks and river embankments. But trees will not go back to full summer foliage in many areas, I fear it is too late in the year for that. Still, I think our trees in the streets around here are saved and that is a good thought.

 

notamermaid

 

Edited September 8, 2022 by notamermaid

[notamermaid]

On 9/2/2022 at 3:15 PM, notamermaid said:

The castle on the island is Pfalzgrafenstein: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pfalzgrafenstein_Castle

It is one of the many unusual places open to the public on 11 September as part of the "Tag des offenen Denkmals". These are all places that are listed and protected for their importance to heritage. It can be almost anything, from a castle to a mine to a private house to a ditch in the forest. A guided tour in German is planned: https://programm.tag-des-offenen-denkmals.de/denkmal/kaub-burg-pfalzgrafenstein

 

Going back to the programme again we find a place that stands out from the collection as a ruin that is neither a castle nor an old Roman edifice and among all the old stones is actually quite a young "Denkmal": the Bridge at Remagen or to give it its proper name, the "Ludendorffbrücke". With its military history it is a monument that the armed forces website would naturally choose as the featured monument in their article. And the article has reminded me about something I forgot to mention in my previous post on the subject - all monuments can be visited for free on that day:

https://www.stripes.com/theaters/europe/2022-09-02/remagen-bridge-museum-open-house-7188477.html

 

Remagen by the way has a landing stage but the town is a stop on only a handful of itineraries.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

River levels update. Kaub gauge went up to 79cm this morning, a pleasant little rise, but has since gone down to 73cm. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next 24 hours, could the level fall again further or will we see the level stabilize before we get those forecast figures in the 80s? Maxau gauge is showing a considerable rise and that volume of water has reached Worms. The forecast suggests we will see a steady rise during Saturday and at Kaub gives figures even firmly over 100cm on Sunday. Not bad at all, looks very good for continued sailing but the 100cm I will believe when I see it.

 

notamermaid

 

[phoneybaloney]

Thank you so much.  We are on uniworld B to A leaving on the 25.  I been following your reports on the Rhine River and have been discouraged until today.  I now have a bit of a smile.

 

sandy

[scvgirl]

Thank you for your frequent updates notamermaid.  We are sailing on the 15th from Amsterdam on the AMA Siena.  Your posts are most encouraging.

Edited September 10, 2022 by scvgirl

[Bet & Peg]

Presently we are on the Viking Hervor sailing to Cologne (will dock at Vons for bus into town) and, last evening, were told Sunday we would be in Koblenz in the morning, sail the castles in the afternoon and arrive in Rudesheim at about 5 pm!!! The trip to Kinderdike left earlier than the original schedule to give us extra time to sail to Cologne! Have to hand it to Viking - they are really trying to deal with low water problems while giving us the most they can!!!! Will report back on how things work out Sunday - fingers crossed!!!! (BTW - the Herfor is new state of the art ship and fabulous!!) 

[notamermaid]

6 hours ago, Bet & Peg said:

Presently we are on the Viking Hervor sailing to Cologne (will dock at Vons for bus into town) and, last evening, were told Sunday we would be in Koblenz in the morning, sail the castles in the afternoon and arrive in Rudesheim at about 5 pm!!!

Well hooray to that! Sounds good and I am confident too about this.

 

I am happy to report that Maxau gauge went up well during yesterday and while down to 411cm now will obviously give that higher volume of water to the Middle Rhine valley where we should see a rise at Kaub. Worms is now turning to go down so the wave is further downstream by now so we see the rise at Mainz, Bingen and Kaub! Kaub is at 86cm and rising, with Koblenz now also going up. I think we can say the 90cm is definite for Kaub gauge today and I am willing to believe that the 100cm for tomorrow is likely. The forecast looks good.

 

notamermaid

 

[ghbham]

14 hours ago, Bet & Peg said:

Presently we are on the Viking Hervor sailing to Cologne (will dock at Vons for bus into town) and, last evening, were told Sunday we would be in Koblenz in the morning, sail the castles in the afternoon and arrive in Rudesheim at about 5 pm!!! The trip to Kinderdike left earlier than the original schedule to give us extra time to sail to Cologne! Have to hand it to Viking - they are really trying to deal with low water problems while giving us the most they can!!!! Will report back on how things work out Sunday - fingers crossed!!!! (BTW - the Herfor is new state of the art ship and fabulous!!) 

Thanks for the updates on your trip. Hope all goes well for the remainder !

[notamermaid]

Update on Kaub gauge: 113cm! According to the forecast triple figures are here to stay at least until Wednesday.

 

I was in the Eifel region just past Andernach yesterday and it was pouring down. It has cooled down a lot but while it felt cool yesterday, today has been pleasant.

 

Oh and newsworthy is an earthquake near Mulhouse. Happened yesterday, was not minor, i.e. a bit stronger than what we usually get in the Rhine valley, or rather, geologically this is called the Oberrheingraben: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_Rhine_Plain

 

http://www.seismo.ethz.ch/en/earthquakes/switzerland/eventpage.html?originId='c21pOmNoLmV0aHouc2VkL3NjMjBhZy9PcmlnaW4vTkxMLjIwMjIwOTEwMTYzMzUwLjE5NjA3MS45Nzk0OQ=='&date_ch=2022-09-10&time_ch=17:58&region=Mulhouse F&magnitude=4.7

 

It was also felt in Germany of course, about up to Freiburg.

 

With things calming down about river levels we should have a look at places along the river again. I think Andernach this coming week. I have a couple of photos and an article that may be of interest.

 

Have a good week.

 

notamermaid

 

[Bet & Peg]

On the Viking HERVOR and presently docked at Rudesheim (9:45pm now, sailing at 11:30 pm!) after sailing the UNESCO Rhine Gorge today - beautiful day weather- wise!!! Trip has been wonderful - getting everything in with just slight adjustment in schedule!!! 

[notamermaid]

And just like the Viking Hervor, I think all river cruise ships will get through the Rhine Gorge very comfortably. At Kaub we saw the level peak at midnight and it is going down again but at 109cm there is nothing to worry about and I may not even post an update tomorrow. When is the last time I skipped a day posting? July? What an extraordinary year.

 

@worldtraveller99 You asked me to update a bit on the situation when autumn comes. Will get back to that soon as we may see some happenings out of the ordinary as regards life and travelling in Germany.

 

notamermaid

 

[worldtraveller99]

Thank you notamermaid. I really hope there are no happenings out of the ordinary? Do you mean running out of gas / fuel? I sincerely trust not?

[notamermaid]

4 hours ago, worldtraveller99 said:

Do you mean running out of gas / fuel?

Oh I had not even thought that far,  I do not like scaremongering. I mean theoretically there may not be enough fuel to go around, but it would not be because the Rhine is low, it would mean that it would be taken from unnecessary activities and allocated to necessary activities to keep the economy going. No, it is only September, I do not think like the media writes...

 

Okay, let us start with one thing. Our Federal Government has told us to save energy and actually put it into writing, like what public buildings are supposed to do, for example turn off the heating in hallways. I have not looked at details but our lives as locals will be that tiny bit different from the norm. I have no idea if anything has been agreed for the tourism sector, like reducing the heating in hotel lobbies as an example. It is a bit odd, you know, we are aware of energy saving measures without some guy in Berlin telling us to.

 

But that is too political (when you live on the Rhine Berlin is like a foreign country 😉). I will see what info I can get hold of through work that may affect travellers further. Some measures for autumn and winter are decided in Berlin, others are the responsibility of the individual states.

 

notamermaid

 

[worldtraveller99]

Thank you notamermaid. Am crossing all our fingers that we still have wonderful Christmas markets to go round!