Rhine water levels 2024 and similar topics

[AnhaltER1960]

On 8/26/2024 at 9:10 PM, notamermaid said:

A photo of my crossing on that ferry is my avatar. The river is really wide there, so different from the Middle Rhine valley.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

Cool. Didnt know that. Not only the Rhine looks wide there, also the valley does. In the middle Rhine valley - though the Rhine does have much more water there - it probably flows faster and the steep slopes of the surrounding hills add to that "narrow" impression.

[notamermaid]

1 hour ago, AnhaltER1960 said:

Not only the Rhine looks wide there, also the valley does.

I was quite surprised how much, well, space there is in the valley in the area. I should have known but when you see it in person it is just so much bigger than you imagine it to be. I am facing upstream so you can see the Altrhein with the Dornskopf, the Rhine and the tip of the island and the canalized Rhine. It is the spot where the ships sail along the border again, i.e. the Rhine divides the two countries. Before that the border runs through the unused Rhine, meaning the navigation channel is in France (another section like that is further upstream):

 

I went from Rhinau to Kappel. Rhinau is a typical Alsatian-French village. This is the photo from the ferry back towards Rhinau:

 

There are no major towns in this area that is defined by a meandering river, only tamed and given a permanent river bed in the late 19th and in the 20th century. Ah, but what about Strasbourg, a city? For those new to the geography there: Strasbourg Old Town isn't actually on the Rhine but on the Ill (read Ill). The administration of Strasbourg and the modern parts of town extend to the river bank of the Rhine.

 

As regards the river's speed. It does flow faster in the Middle Rhine valley than in the Upper Rhine valley. In the Rhine Gorge in normal conditions it flows a bit faster than the average person walks and in flooding the river's speed increases significantly.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[notamermaid]

It is hot, the river is continuously and slowly loosing water. And it is Thursday so let us look briefly at Kaub gauge again. For the weekend - no problem. The figure now is 134cm. The lack of rain now brings the 100cm into the vicinity, for the 2nd of September.

 

Today, I think some checking in the navigation channel has been going on at an island, judging from the "erratic" path of the MS Brohl work boat:

 

From what I have read in the past there is a notorious small shallow spot that develops there at Neuwied and Weißenthurm.

 

notamermaid

 

[Canal archive]

Or maybe just a tad too much of your excellent beer maybe! 🤔 

[SAmome]

6 hours ago, notamermaid said:

It is hot, the river is continuously and slowly loosing water. And it is Thursday so let us look briefly at Kaub gauge again. For the weekend - no problem. The figure now is 134cm. The lack of rain now brings the 100cm into the vicinity, for the 2nd of September.

 

Today, I think some checking in the navigation channel has been going on at an island, judging from the "erratic" path of the MS Brohl work boat:

 

 

From what I have read in the past there is a notorious small shallow spot that develops there at Neuwied and Weißenthurm.

 

notamermaid

 

 

So, basically need to pray for rain?

[notamermaid]

17 minutes ago, SAmome said:

 

So, basically need to pray for rain?

I would say not yet, nature is still doing okay and there is a suggestion of rain that will ease the situation on 6 September. In other words: scraping along the 100cm line with a small risk of the level falling below before a small rise. We will know more by Saturday. It will be okay for sailing. What can happen is that shallows slow the ships down and a couple of landing stages may become inaccessible.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[notamermaid]

5 hours ago, Canal archive said:

Or maybe just a tad too much of your excellent beer maybe! 🤔 

Fun fact: Brohl is a small town nearby and they have "Brohler", a sparkling water company. They used to load their crates onto ships. Interesting photo, had not seen this before: https://www.brohler.de/ueber-uns/unternehmen/historie/

The area, as I have written before, is volcanic and full of sources of mineral waters.

 

notamermaid

 

[Canal archive]

Notamermaid DH and friends restored an historic working boat on the English canals your screen grab of the workboats route has now caused much hilarity and questions as they invariably retired to the pub each lunchtime for food and ‘watering’!

[notamermaid]

There has been a bit of rain over the Middle Rhine valley, it is cooler but also more humid. The forecast for Kaub gauge has changed minimally for the better, so the levels will most likely stay just above 100cm rather than scrape along.

 

The "Brohl" is now in Brohl harbour together with another work boat, the "Hammerstein". That is the village on the opposite river bank. Over it towers the Hammersteiner Ley, a slate mountain just like you know it from the Upper Middle Rhine valley. It is crowned with the ruins of a once famous castle. That rather dilapidated edifice is private and difficult to reach. I managed to walk up the hill and scramble along a few years ago. Well worth it and I think of it every time I pass in the car. The two of us went up there through the "jungle" thinking we are on top of the mountain and all alone in the world. Well, we were greeted by a lone man sitting at what used to be the keep, enjoying the view. Not quite as deserted as we thought.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

About Hammerstein Castle: the tower I meant is actually not the keep, but separate from the rest of the castle buildings. This is what it looks like from the path through the vineyards:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammerstein_castle#/media/File:Ruine_Hammerstein_08_2020.jpg

 

Hammerstein is Oberhammerstein and Niederhammerstein. Online info says that the church St. Georg in Oberhammerstein has two bells from the 11th century! I mean that is old, really old. The church: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Georg_(Hammerstein)#/media/Datei:Sankt_Georg_Oberhammerstein.jpg

 

It is an appealing, very small place. Nearest port is Linz as that is on the same river bank.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[notamermaid]

On 8/29/2024 at 12:52 PM, notamermaid said:

From what I have read in the past there is a notorious small shallow spot that develops there at Neuwied and Weißenthurm.

There has definitely been some work going on and notification for skippers says that there is a change to signals (red buoy) and the width of the navigation channel has changed, 90m does not sound a lot so I assume it is narrower than it used to be.

 

Level at Kaub still okay, 120cm. Reduction in figures is slow.

 

Another hot day in the valley tomorrow, 33 Celsius possible.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[notamermaid]

It really has been hot today (did not feel like meteorological start of autumn).

 

I happen to notice the Avalon Imagery II docking at Engers again tonight. This is where she was christened more than eight years ago. A real success story for the village of Engers, at the time they got a new landing stage as well. Since then, Avalon Waterways has been a regular guest there.

 

The river is doing okay, Kaub gauge is at 118cm. There are thunderstorms with in parts heavy rain from Basel to Konstanz.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

The heavy rain in the South has changed the forecast for Kaub gauge for the better. We should see the low today and tomorrow and then a slow steady rise back to over 150cm.

 

notamermaid

 

[fshagan]

10 hours ago, notamermaid said:

The heavy rain in the South has changed the forecast for Kaub gauge for the better. We should see the low today and tomorrow and then a slow steady rise back to over 150cm.

 

notamermaid

 

 

Good news for us! We embark in just a couple of weeks from Basel!

[notamermaid]

Here is a recap of an uneventful August at Kaub gauge:

 

From a level above the mean the river dropped below the mean but easily recovered after some rain. It is standard to see the river go to low levels some time in August or September so this has gradually happened.

 

Lake Constance is filled just above the mean still, so that helps to keep the river going for a bit longer. September is not looking too bad right now, it has had a promising start, meaning Kaub was over 100cm and after some rain is climbing in figures again. Remember that for river cruising we tend to need 90cm to 100cm to reach all landing stages and ensure a speed that means the captain can stick to the itinerary's timetable. 80cm to 90cm is a bit low for that and below 80cm first problems arise, if not for sailing as such then as regards the logistics. Many ships can still sail at 60cm to 70cm. Below that I prefer not to comment.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

It is the weekend again when in Germany many monuments open their doors with events and tours and general viewing. Some of them are not open to the public otherwise or have limited opening hours. Tag des offenen Denkmals shows you the wide range of monuments that have protected status. A bit complicated if you do not speak German but give it a try if you are interested. Here is the map that shows you the places. Put a town into the search bar, perhaps there is something that interests you if you are in the vicinity.

https://www.tag-des-offenen-denkmals.de/programm

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

The Rhine is a very busy waterway with all sorts of ships and boats sailing every day, from small to big, yacht to double barge. The age range is wide, but almost all ships were built between 1920 and 2024. Occasionally, an older one can be spotted and here is one, perhaps the oldest one to sail the Rhine at all:

 

Currently docked at Düsseldorf is the Helena, the Netherlands' oldest still sailing Rhine ship. She is visiting the museum in its anniversary year and can be visited as part of the "Tag des offenen Denkmals". Info from the museum website: https://freunde-schifffahrtmuseum.de/ein-schwimmendes-denkmal-auf-dem-rhein/

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Just a brief note on Kaub gauge. It has risen to 146cm so this takes us well away from low water. Looking really good. The temperatures are going down and you will see the first fogs over the valley in the mornings. Dramatic photo ops, drawback is it can be so bad that you cannot see the castles at all.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

It is cooler and rainy today. The chestnut trees around here are getting ready to drop their pods with chestnuts and the leaves are beginning to turn brown. Wine festivals and other merriment are plentiful, the first vineyards peaches were available in my greengrocers last week. Over this past weekend I could have gone to a food fair, two wine festivals, visit churches and castles, or a mansion not normally open to the public, do idle talking at an arts events, basically do what is normal on a September weekend along the Rhine. I chose to go to a disused water tower.

 

The end of the Rhine Gorge with its famous castles is marked by Schloss Stolzenfels on the left and Burg Lahneck on the right (yes, Koblenz is not part of the Rhine Gorge geographically but do not point it out to them, they will not be happy😉). The UNESCO World Heritage Site does include Koblenz which is just after the two hilltop edifices. Schloss Stolzenfels is not normally offered on an itinerary but Burg Lahneck is visited as part of an exclusive Amawaterways arrangement. The ships dock in Lahnstein for that. That town has a partially still standing town wall, a mixed arrangement of architecture from 1500 to 2024 [the last twenty years things are eyesores rather than buildings IMO] and a railway. There used to be a lot rail yard stuff but over the last five decades life has changed and steam engines have completely disappeared of course. But the water tower is still there so this being open yesterday for the monuments event, this was in my top three places of choice.

 

I went to this water tower that supplied the steam railways with Rhine water (endless supply😉) through a system of pumps and really enjoyed it. The couple have spent vast sums of money and many weekends over several years slowly and thoughtfully turning this into a small space to live, store stuff and eventually make this available as a venue for small events. It is private so I am not going to post any photos, just tell you that they have a completely new floor with tiles that have been manufactured to an old design by a company in Bacharach. Bespoke, expensive and beautiful to look at. Parts of the pump system are still there and of course the massive dome of steel (or iron, not sure). You need to be steady on your feet to manage the steps. I love riveted metal so touching the walls was a good feeling. A nice experience. Next month I may try and go to the railway museum in the Westerwald run by volunteers which was also on my wish list.

 

This is not the best photo of the tower, but you get the idea: https://www.kuladig.de/Objektansicht/KLD-252755

 

notamermaid

 

 

[notamermaid]

Forgot to mention this: there is another company that uses Lahnstein and that is Uniworld. It is a relatively new itinerary that includes a visit to the brewery in Oberlahnstein. Here is a CC review of this unusual itinerary that only goes on a smaller section of the Rhine (part of the German Upper Rhine valley and the Upper Middle Rhine valley) but arguably takes you through the most scenic parts. There is much daytime sailing on this Rhine and Moselle itinerary and I must admit that it is one of the best itineraries for scenery on the two rivers that I can think of: https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/articles/moselle-rhine-uniworld-ss-victoria?stay=1&posfrom=1

 

notamermaid

 

[Izengolf]

The scenery on the Uniworld Rhine and Moselle trip was spectacular. An absolute fairytale. I would do the Basel to Brussels itinerary with a trip down the Moselle next summer in a heartbeat!

Edited September 9 by Izengolf
Added more information

[notamermaid]

10 minutes ago, Izengolf said:

I would do the Basel to Brussels itinerary with a trip down the Moselle next summer in a heartbeat!

Remind me again please - is that Basel via the Moselle detour to Nijmegen and then to Brussels? Never really cared for ending (or even being) in Amsterdam, if others feel the same this could be a good alternative.

 

notamermaid

 

[Izengolf]

https://www.uniworld.com/ca/river-cruise/central-europe/rhine/rhine-moselle-and-belgium-grand-discovery/2025-basel-to-brussels

 

No Amsterdam stop or Nijmegen, I think it looks like a wonderful trip. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

Thanks for mentioning the Uniworld Magnificent Moselle and Rhine itinerary.  It seems like just what I've been looking for.  And the ex-Crystal ship solves my issues with Uniworld's baroque house style!  But there is as yet no mention of this itinerary on their website.

[notamermaid]

1 hour ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 But there is as yet no mention of this itinerary on their website.

I see the itinerary (Frankfurt to Frankfurt) header here but the link does not give it for 2025. Perhaps they will not offer it in 2025? That would be a real shame: https://www.uniworld.com/ca/ships/ss-victoria

 

Still, the one Izengolf linked looks really good. They even stop in Cuijk on the Meuse, which is a rarity for river cruises.

 

notamermaid

 

Edited September 9 by notamermaid
correction