Rhine water levels 2023 and similar topics

[slammer9876]

Ok, glad I found you.  Sailing on the Rhine in mid July 2023, looking forward to your forecasts. Thank you for your informative messages.

[notamermaid]

19 hours ago, slammer9876 said:

Ok, glad I found you.  Sailing on the Rhine in mid July 2023, looking forward to your forecasts. Thank you for your informative messages.

My pleasure. Thanks for saying hello. July should make for glorious sunsets and great barbecue evenings. Or just cocktails on the sundeck. Have a great cruise.

 

Maxau gauge peaked at 682cm and is now down to 665cm.

 

The submarine U17 safely arrived in Speyer yesterday.

 

All back to business as usual on the Rhine. Except - there is (if all goes well) another unusual vessel coming up the river, at the end of May.

 

notamermaid

 

[RDVIK2016]

On 5/18/2023 at 3:23 PM, notamermaid said:

My pleasure. Thanks for saying hello. July should make for glorious sunsets and great barbecue evenings. Or just cocktails on the sundeck. Have a great cruise.

 

Maxau gauge peaked at 682cm and is now down to 665cm.

 

The submarine U17 safely arrived in Speyer yesterday.

 

All back to business as usual on the Rhine. Except - there is (if all goes well) another unusual vessel coming up the river, at the end of May.

 

notamermaid

 

One of the more difficult maneuvers for the transportation of U17 has to be getting her off of the barge without a heavy duty crane, such as they have in big shipyards. The rig in Speyer to move U17 from the barge on to land and then to the museum is a 45 meter long 30 axle monster. Keeping the barge level with the ramp involves some pretty tricky use of ballast tanks to accommodate the changes in weight as the transporter is driven on and off the barge. Looking forward to seeing some video of this operation and the movement on the roads to the museum. https://www.rheinpfalz.de/lokal/speyer_artikel,-u-boot-auf-tieflader-wartet-auf-abfahrt-_arid,5508025.html

[notamermaid]

On 5/20/2023 at 6:17 AM, RDVIK2016 said:

Looking forward to seeing some video of this operation and the movement on the roads to the museum.

I am sure there will be something on youtube soon. Headline news again on our regional broadcaster's programme. The journey across road was only three kilometres, but quite spectacular: https://www.ardmediathek.de/video/Y3JpZDovL3N3ci5kZS9hZXgvbzE4NjA1ODk

 

notamermaid

 

[RDVIK2016]

5 hours ago, notamermaid said:

I am sure there will be something on youtube soon. Headline news again on our regional broadcaster's programme. The journey across road was only three kilometres, but quite spectacular: https://www.ardmediathek.de/video/Y3JpZDovL3N3ci5kZS9hZXgvbzE4NjA1ODk

 

notamermaid

 

As you predicted there are videos on youtube already. In one you can clearly see how the wheels on the transporter modules are synchronized to rotate at varying angles to make a turn. They could probably spin the U-Boot in place. Some transporters have drive capability as well as steering and suspension, but these need (a) truck(s) to pull and/or push. The Germans are great a making these transporters. The shipyard where I worked here in the US used units from Scheuerle and I think acquired some later from Goldhofer. The units that Kubler is using here are from Scheuerle. 

[notamermaid]

Those wheels are fascinating. I have seen a truck with the technique of those axles in real life, it tried to turn (and managed) round a corner not far from where I live. But it was less than half the size of the U-boat transporter.

 

Next unusual transport on the Rhine is a Viking ship sailing under its own steam, not sure if it is just muscle power and sails or helped by an additional engine. From my comments you can tell it is not a river cruise ship. More on that to follow.

 

Edit: the river water levels are so pleasant and uneventful I nearly forgot to mention them. All looking really good.

 

notamermaid

 

Edited May 22, 2023 by notamermaid
added info

[notamermaid]

The Viking ship is a replica of a vessel found in the 19th century in Norway. The ship is on an epic journey from Norway to Istanbul, from Lübeck it has traversed Northern Germany via some canals and is near Gelsenkirchen. It will enter the Rhine and stay overnight in Mainz from 27 to 28 May. I would love to see that. Last time the Vikings were in Mainz they did not behave themselves. Well, times have changed from more than a thousand years ago, I am confident this time it will be all relaxed and good-natured.

 

This is the project: https://www.sagafarmann.com/

Video from earlier today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byCzYDsGUtg

 

So if you see a sailing barge with some odd-looking bearded folk on board, it is not the fault of the bar tender's drink on your river cruise ship...

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[notamermaid]

As far as I know all vessels (perhaps exceptions exist) on the waterways have to have a few specifics/equipment to comply with modern navigation. The Saga Farmann is no exception. I can see on the hull some basic info displayed. So she would have a transponder we can use for tracking as well, right? She does. Here she is on marinetraffic: https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:6781228/mmsi:257081140/imo:0/vessel:SAGA_FARMANN

 

notamermaid

 

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

2 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Last time the Vikings were in Mainz they did not behave themselves.

Was it a stag party, or some rowdy football fans???  🤣

[notamermaid]

20 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Was it a stag party, or some rowdy football fans???  🤣

Naah, that is the English and they are Anglo-Saxon. But that partying or football exuberance may be a relic of the Norse manner in the Normans coming from Normandy in the wake (pun intended) of that William guy. Who knows.

 

I should have been more precise actually as the story of the Viking raids is an interesting one as regards Mainz, the city was spared. The Vikings indeed raided the Rhineland and outside of Mainz but did not enter the city. For the history nerds: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking_raids_in_the_Rhineland

 

But the Vikings also traded, Bonn and Koblenz for example were important centres. Products from the Rhineland are known to have reached Scandinavia during those centuries.

 

Not many years after the main raids had stopped, the Vikings were given Normandy and never returned to the Rhineland. The rest is history.

 

notamermaid

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

12 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

Not many years after the main raids had stopped, the Vikings were given Normandy and never returned to the Rhineland. The rest is history.

Right, and they never attacked Paris again either.  The problem with Viking as a profession [the word was originally a gerund, as in 'to go Viking'] is the lack of a retirement plan.  You get old, the work gets too hard for you – and you're thrown overboard [literally].  So at some point the chance to settle all your loyal friends on estates in a warmer climate, and play the Lord, has a great appeal.  Hello, Rollo! – the great-great-great grandfather of said William...  [And Charles the Simple, the French King who made Rollo the offer, wasn't so 'simple' after all...]

[notamermaid]

22 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 So at some point the chance to settle all your loyal friends on estates in a warmer climate, and play the Lord, has a great appeal.

The Rhineland is really nice to spend your later years in, but, my, is Normandy beautiful! When you are coming from the North Sea and fjords, the beach easily beats our measly river embankments.

 

notamermaid

 

[Canal archive]

I must admit - to go a Viking - I thought meant ********* & pillage.
One of our late Queens titles was Duke of Normandy used mostly in the Channel Islands dating from the aforesaid William, the title has a huge history.

If a French person gets annoying just raise two fingers and mutter ‘remember Agincourt’ it worked on our first Seine cruise with the only fly in the ointment a guide who had an I’ll concealed dislike of us Brits which the Aussies decided was not on.

[RDVIK2016]

7 hours ago, notamermaid said:

The Viking ship is a replica of a vessel found in the 19th century in Norway. The ship is on an epic journey from Norway to Istanbul, from Lübeck it has traversed Northern Germany via some canals and is near Gelsenkirchen. It will enter the Rhine and stay overnight in Mainz from 27 to 28 May. I would love to see that. Last time the Vikings were in Mainz they did not behave themselves. Well, times have changed from more than a thousand years ago, I am confident this time it will be all relaxed and good-natured.

 

This is the project: https://www.sagafarmann.com/

Video from earlier today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byCzYDsGUtg

 

So if you see a sailing barge with some odd-looking bearded folk on board, it is not the fault of the bar tender's drink on your river cruise ship...

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

notamermaid, Draken Harald Hårfagre is the largest Viking ship sailing in modern times and is currently located at a maritime museum a few miles from my home - Mystic Seaport Museum. Hårfagre not a replica of an actual ship as Saga Farmann is, but is a reconstruction of what the Norse Sagas refer to as a “Great Ship” based on historic documents, archeological findings, and Norwegian boat building traditions. A crew of 32 sailed the boat from Norway to North America in 2017. They rely on the facilities at Mystic because of their experience with many old and reproduction wooden ships. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kb2HDL-tMq0

 

[Canal archive]

Wow now that’s a beast of a boat, imagine that coming towards you on the river at full tilt filled with red bearded worriers.

[notamermaid]

A splendid ship. The specifications are given on the ship project website. With a draft of 2.5m she could indeed sail up the Rhine and would be strong enough with that manning against the current, I reckon. The dragon bow looks tall but I guess is low enough to fit under bridges.

 

I hope I can spot the Saga Farmann, if not, a webcam image will have to do. She is now not far from Düsseldorf.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

The Saga Farmann has hitched a ride and is towed alongside the barge Heike Lucie as the current is too strong and she does not have the necessary papers for sailing by herself. Apparently this will continue to be the case for quite some kilometres, i.e. up to Mainz. She is starboard so you may not see her going upstream when you pass downstream, she is quite small compared to her 135m "helping hand". This is what it looks like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvbVZeyECIE

 

Thankfully, there is no flooding, which would have made the voyage a bit trickier.

 

And the weather forecast looks good.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[Canal archive]

Oh dear can a ship get embarrassed? 
 

Notamermaid question where do Saxons come from? We’re closer than we thought.

[notamermaid]

Angles and Saxons were two distinct tribes. The Saxons' origin (land) is still clear in the modern word Lower Saxony, or Niedersachsen. It has geographically nothing to do with Saxony in the East of Germany but there is a small connection to Saxony-Anhalt. The Lower Saxony language group will sound closer to your English than High German will.

 

notamermaid

 

[Canal archive]

‘’ okay’’ high German? Sorry teasing my history expertise is more recent so don’t get me set off at a tangent I’m more used to why a canal was constructed, when and did it survive or did it succumb to the railways. Little known fact the majority of long distance railways owe their existence to canals and rivers.

[notamermaid]

High German or "Hochdeutsch" is what is in the dictionary and in the news. And what you write in your essays in school, etc. A typical example for the difference between High German and Low German is das Wasser - dat Water. You see that Low German and with it the Lower Saxony dialect family is closer to English. Also Dorf - dorp which is the -thorp(e) surviving in place names in England. Basically the further down the Rhine you go the more the dialects sound a bit like English. Dutch is also Germanic and has retained those traits. Going full nerdy: A couple of years back I stumbled upon the fact that "lützel" is the German equivalent of little in English. It is a word that has fallen completely out of use in High German, but a few Saxon/Low German dialects retain it. It actually has something to do with a place on the Rhine. Koblenz has a suburb called Lützel. And there is a Lützelstein in Alsace, which the French language gives away in its meaning, they call it La Petite Pierre. "Small stone" and all together now the English is: "Littlestone". That happens in stark contrast to the fore mentioned Alsace place to be a flat village at the sea in Kent.

 

Right back to rivers and canals. The Heike Lucie with the Saga Farmann should arrive in Koblenz in about 30 minutes, which is 19.45 local time, provided she docks there and not before.

 

notamermaid

 

Edited May 25, 2023 by notamermaid

[Canal archive]

A friend of my eldest daughters father was a professor of ancient French now that’s way off kilter. I think it’s really fascinating working out the routes of words. 

[notamermaid]

Okay, I had this feeling... I suggested that there is a chance that the Saga Farmann may dock before Koblenz. It has turned out to be correct. The twosome is in Engers:

 

A barge and a Viking ship replica in front of a Rococo Palace. Now that is something. Although I think she may be further upstream at the industrial harbour if the signal is perfectly accurate.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[notamermaid]

The Heike Lucie with the Saga Farmann left Engers at dawn and after a stop at Boppard has left the Rhine. The captain of the Heike Lucie has kindly provided some photos for upload on Binnenschifferforum. Here they are: https://www.binnenschifferforum.de/showthread.php?115130-Saga-Farmann-FGS-257081140&p=458449#post458449

 

notamermaid

 

[CastleCritic]

I wonder how that was set up.

 

my messed up mind is just seeing the barge captain going down a list of possible jobs to do on the way for extra money (like the cars you always see on these ships..I think) and finding "Mooring a viking ship to your ship, take it to Mainz"