Saturday 31st August - Merzig to Dillingen

Just a short trip today with only one lock.  We departed just after 10  a.m., after Skip and Henk had gone up to the clubhouse to make a contribution for their wonderful hospitality last night.
After a  very short wait, we entered the lock with another boat in front of us, which made it a tight squeeze for us, being last in.  We had to lie across the lock, Crew fending off Henks' dinghy but all went well.
We arrived in the little port of Dillingen just before midday and found a  couple of spaces which were approved by the harbour master.  Once again, a very warm day with not much breeze, so restorative beers were in order.  We had our usual lunch on board, followed by a siesta - Crew melting in the heat so she sought the relative cool of the cabin with its’ two fans!  Skip had a much shorter rest and, along with Henk, went to pay our dues and were consequently informed that today there was a Havenfest (another harbour party!) going on throughout the afternoon and evening.....so, of course they had to investigate!  This is supposed to be the Sauerkraut route, not the party route!!!
As we didn’t eat our steaks and the vegetables Crew had prepared yesterday, we decided to dine on board and Henk took a pork chop to put on the barbecue in the clubhouse and carry on partying.
We had just finished dinner when a real party boat came by with very loud music and a lot of flashing lights......well it is the last Saturday in August I suppose!  Crew was hoping that they would return as she missed the opportunity to take a picture but they must have partied on for a few more kilometres and we didn’t see them return!
We stayed up top for a while longer after dinner as it was still very warm and didn’t go below until well after 10 o’clock.  A bit of TV and bed.

12 km. 1 lock. 1 1/2 hours

Friday 30th August - Merzig

Skip threw himself into cleaning the outside of the boat before it got too hot to do so and Crew filled the washing machine and did some galley cleaning.
We had our usual beers, then lunch, chatting about our future route - we will quite soon be in more  of the French way of things, with smaller locks.  Our route back will involve several different rivers and canals.....so quite diverse.  They do say, variety is the spice of life!!
After lunch a nice German man came along (who turned out to be the harbourmaster)
and, in German, invited us to a marina party this evening.  It starts around 6 p.m. with drinks and there is also food later and a very good band for music.  Crew had already prepared vegetables for our dinner and defrosted steaks but we decided to put those on hold and join the party.
We went over just before 7 p.m. and joined the party.  First job was to find some beer and wine and find out what the correct procedure was.  Evidently, food and beverages were free.......well, really!!!
Translated by Henk, the lady in the bar told us that we could make a contribution to the clubhouse, which we all decided we would do.

The harbourmaster and his wife had only taken over the marina four months ago and made huge improvements already.  They had obviously arranged this Havenfest (harbout party) a while ago and had pulled out all the stops!  The band consisted of only two people, one man and one woman, who had a terrific voice and sang a good mixture of songs, including a medley of Beatles songs.  The beer and wine was flowing freely, more so as the evening went on and there was also very good food on offer, which of course, we availed ourselves.  They also had a celebrity appearance by Herbert de Lorca, who is evidently well known in Germany, indeed Henk was certainly aware of him......we had no idea!  He got us all singing a ‘club’ song, which was great fun!  The evening had cooled down considerably and the party was winding down, so we decided to go home......we had truly done justice to the white wine!!  Tomorrow morning we will be putting some money into the pot!
Back on board with a digestif, the party carried on but we were assured of managing to get to sleep, despite the continuation of the music.  Night, night!!!

Thursday 29th August - Konz to Merzig

We left just after 9 o’clock as we had a fairly long day ahead of us. We were surprised on arriving at our first lock though.......the lock was open with two green lights, so we steamed straight in.  We were now on the River Saar  and the locks are four or five metres deeper than those of the Mosel, so this first lock was 11 metres deep, followed by one of 14 metres and finally another 11 metre job!!  Quite daunting looking up at the small sky above!!  Having said that they are quite easy - just putting a line around the small bollards in the wall and moving it up as the boat rises.
Unfortunately we had to wait for the next lock for over an hour - this is what takes the time in our cruising!  The final wait was around half an hour.......so, lockwise, a Goldilocks sort of day!!!
We arrived in Merzig at 3.30 and settled quite quickly with nearby berths.  Another hot day, so cold beers, then lunch.
We reconvened on our back deck for aperos and dined in a very nearby Italian restaurant, which was not bad at all.  After dinner the chef, who was operating on his own and had served quite a lot of customers, came and sat with a couple near us and opened a bottle of Italian fizz, as it was his birthday.  Very kindly, he gave us all a glass, so we cheered his birthday!  A very nice evening.
Back on board for a little TV and bed.  We have decided to stay here for two nights.

44 km. 3 locks  6 1/2 hours

Wednesday 28th August - Schweich to Konz

We departed just after 10 a.m., feeling a bit chilly for a change......we had a sprinkling of rain in the early morning.  Our one lock today was a breeze.....straight in - luxury!
We are now noticing that the vineyards are disappearing and instead of lovely German-style houses, blocks of flats are in view.........shame!
We arrived in Konz around 12.30 and soon found  two free spaces, Henk helped in by two nice ladies, who we presume are members of the yacht  club here.
By now, the temperature had reached 28c and, once again, no wind so more cold beers were in order.........Crew is not really a beer drinker but in this hot weather, it is necessary!!
We had our usual lunch on deck and decided to dine out in the evening.  We had our siesta, Skip in the front cabin and Crew in the aft cabin, which is the coolest and boasts two fans!  Skip went off to town to look at the restaurant we had in mind for dinner but it was not good news.  He reported that the town was very down at heel and the eateries were mostly of the kebab and pizza variety - it was also quite a long walk!  So we decided to stay home and eat in.
The boat adjacent were friendly Germans who had a oak maiden on their frontspit.
There was an old leakage and the police were called ..
The TV reception was very good, so after cold showers and dinner we watched for a while, then bed.

21 km  1 lock  2 1/4 hours

Tuesday 27th August - Neumagen-Dhron to Schweich

We departed around 10 on another warm morning - our penultimate stop on the beautiful River Mosel.  We have finally decided not to risk the French canals, as most of them seem to be closed.  Our preferred route is now to cruise the River Saar, which means that we miss out on the last third of the Mosel.  Having said that, we haven't cruised the Saar either so it will still be a new experience for us.
Not too long a cruise today and, again only one lock, which today was a relatively short wait of just 20 minutes.  So we arrived in the port and found our berths easily.  Skip had sent an e-mail and we were instructed to moor on the guest pontoons.
The temperature was by now pretty oppressive but we organised ourselves fairly quickly in order to quaff  a beer or two before lunch.
The 'boys' were busy looking for restaurants, shops, etc. Online and discovered a lovely sounding restaurant........then revealed that it was closed on Tuesday evenings!  Skip even read the menu out to us - sounded wonderful.......frustrating!!  We seem to have a knack of being  in the wrong place at the wrong time!
Henk and Skip went into town to the supermarket, as wine and beer stocks were low, whilst Crew opted for a siesta in the cabin with two fans operating!  They stopped for a couple of beers in the campsite restaurant on the way back, in order to vet the restaurant - and slake their thirst of course!  The consensus was that it was a typical campsite restaurant - the menu not inspiring!!
Henk came over for a quick drink around 7 o'clock and then decided to risk a bowl of soup over at the restaurant - we weren't particularly hungry, so decided against joining him - still too hot!
So, a lazy evening with some TV........and another hot day tomorrow!

26 km 1 lock 3 hours

Monday 26th August - Bernkastel-Kues to Neumagen-Dhron

We left Bernkastel just after 9.30 with the idea of arriving in Neumagen for lunch as there are a few restaurants  close to the marina.
We had the usual wait for the lock of just over an hour - this means idling around, turning in circles, as there are no waiting pontoons for pleasure craft which, frankly, is a bit of a pain!
We arrived in the port just before 1 p.m. and got settled quickly.  The restaurant  closest to the  marina looked pretty  good, so we opted for that one - it was called Kapt'n Cook and was indeed very good.  We all chose a dish of mixed fish, which was excellent, with  very generous portions.
After lunch and a very amusing conversation with a German lady we all walked into town - Henk looking for an ATM and Crew a pharmacy.  Indeed the town did have most amenities but it was a long walk in the searing heat.....by then over 30c with no wind!  In fact Skip and Crew stopped off for refreshment on the way back.
Henk was already on board when we got back to Aphrodite and informed us that we had to move the boat to the other side of the port as we were taking someone' s place.
After this effort we rested- in fact, Crew had a very long siesta - so long that she missed the thunderstorm we had for almost an hour.
Unfortunately we could get no TV reception so we watched some episodes of Poldark before bed.

22 km 1 lock 3 1/2 hours

Sunday 25th August - Bernkastel-Kues

Just a few jobs for us all today and some relaxing in the sunshine.  Skip went off for a long walk around town whilst Crew did a bit of cleaning and  Henk cleaned  his deck.
Since Crew has brought a lot of vegetables and some meat from home, she decided to cook dinner this evening.  Chicken thighs had been defrosted yesterday, so a version of a Thai curry was in order - we also have Pak Choi......so, makes sense!  Also the German restaurants are not up to much really, to say the least, so eating at home is a better option.
Henk came over around six o’clock for an apero and joined us for dinner.
A bit of TV and bed.

Saturday 24th August - Traben Trarbach to Bernkastel-Kues

Skip had a disaster before we set off for the days’ cruise.  He went to take some photos with his new tablet and fell down a step, losing the tablet into the water!!  So, unless we can get WiFi, he has a bit of a problem - he will have to get used to using his phone more!

We left port just after 10 a.m. on another lovely morning.  Not too long a trip today, after our long day yesterday - Crew is very pleased about that!!  We still had to wait at the lock for a for a ferry boat  to arrive and, as the lock became free we noticed a barge coming behind us, so we wondered if he would fit in the lock with the ferry boat......it was our lucky day, we slotted in behind the ferry!

We arrived in the little port around 2 p.m. and were welcomed in by two very nice German gentlemen who guided us to moorings, assisting us at the same time.  So we were quickly settled and enjoying a cold beer!  

I forgot to mention an incident that happened yesterday, although I am currently typing on my old I- Pad as we have WiFi and it goes much quicker!  Crew has not seen fit to secure all the loose objects down below as, so far, the cruising is pretty smooth.  An idiot (in a very ugly square boat) came steaming past us as close as he could get and before Crew had time to get below and save things, an opened bottle of red wine had discharged itself all over the carpet and breakages were sustained!  Steam was coming out of Crews’ ears!!  Idiot man!  A lot of paper was used to try and soak it up and the broken glass thrown away.

We have decided to stop in this lovely little harbour for two nights, as we feel we need a rest day.
We lunched on melon and Parma ham and agreed to meet on deck for an apero at 6.30 before walking into town for dinner.  All the menus seem to be the same, with schnitzels and wursten playing a big part in all of them, neither of which any of us likes, so we were pleased to find steaks and fish on the menu in the restaurant that we chose.  We all opted for fish, which was passable but covered in breadcrumbs and fried.......a fish schnitzel!!!  It did make the fish taste a bit dry though, so not a total success!  Home for a digestif, then bed.

26 km 1 lock 3 1/2 hours

Friday 23rd August - Senheim to Traben Trarbach

Firstly dear readers, an explanation as to why the blog will be somewhat erratic this trip.  The only way for us to get an Internet connection is via a different tablet which Crew is finding VERY difficult, to say the least!
We left port at 10 a.m. on another sunny morning and enjoyed yet more beautiful scenery for an hour before reaching our first lock.  We were waiting for an unusual amount of time, presuming that there was a problem with the lock.  In the  meantime, a commercial barge had arrived and only two cruisers were able to slot in behind  him, which included Henk, but not us.  In all we hovered around d for over two hours- nightmare !!
We fared much better in our second lock and arrived at the marina just after 4 p.m.  as we had pre-cooked spaces we were able to get settled fairly quickly and down a very well deserved beer.
We had a very late lunch (cheese again!)  and decided  to take it easy for the rest of the day........all feeling  tired!

36 km 2 locks 6 hours

Thursday 22nd August - Treis Garden to Senheim

We left at 10.45 on another lovely day, if a little bit chilly first thing.  The scenery was still very beautiful - the towns are very attractive too, very neat and picturesque.  The river was busier than yesterday with quite a few ferries moving up and down, picking up and dropping off people here and there.
We were followed by two German boats, one of which soon overtook us.  As we  neared  our one and  only lock of the day, the other boat, which bad been lingering
behind us, suddenly revved up and overtook  us too........presumably to make sure he got into the lock! There was no problem as there was plenty of room.

We arrived at the port around two o'clock but by the time we managed to call the harbour mistress to ask for two berths and got ourselves settled, it was after three!  So a  very late lunch!
We arranged to meet in the on site restaurant for dinner as our berths were a long way from each other.  The men ordered trout which they declared to be not bad but Crews' pizza was not so good unfortunately.
An episode of Vera, then bed.

27 km 2 locks

Wednesday 21st August - Winningen to Treis-Garden

Departure time was to be 10 a.m. but it was getting on for 10.30 before we left on a beautiful sunny morning.  The locks on the Mosel are large but quite quick and efficient, as one would expect and often entail a long wait for the commercial traffic.  However, we were very lucky - the barges were coming in the opposite direction (downstream) and we had no waiting time at all!

The scenery was breathtaking, with very steep vines on both sides of the river and lovely little towns with church spires and often a castle of course.  

We entered the marina just before 2 p.m. having thoroughly enjoyed our first cruise of the second leg.   The port was pretty full, so we ended up rafting up against Henk.  We all partook of a beer as the thirst was upon us and then the boys went to find out whether we had to move or not.  They were gone for an hour, so Crew started lunch without them.....they eventually arrived back with all the relevant info and €27 lighter!!  There is also a camp site adjacent and therefore there are a lot of facilities to be enjoyed which makes it expensive!

The boys got the cheese out for a quick lunch - Crew is not quite sure how anyone can get so excited about the ripeness of the Camembert!!!  It was decided to eat on board in the evening......we dined well on steaks brought from the U.K. and chatted a while before Henk retired to Cornelis k. For the night.  We watched a bit of TV, then bed.

28 km 2 locks 3 1/2 hours

Tuesday 20th August - Winningen

We arrived back in Winningen yesterday afternoon, after taking the Chunnel on Sunday and staying overnight in Ghent, Belgium.
Henk helped us unload the car, then we had a little welcome beer and catch up on deck.  Then the task of stowing everything away.....never easy on a boat as space is so limited!  Crew made up the bed which took some time as we had some new bed linen to accommodate and duvet covers are not Crews’ favourite thing, to say the least!!
We dined in the marina as we were pretty tired after two days travelling and loading up the boat.
This morning, Skip set to cleaning all the bird muck off the boat - flocks of swallows had used Aphrodite as a perch, resulting in a terrible mess.  Crew, in the meantime, tried to sort out the tangle of ropes - we are still changing old for new and it seems to have become rather complicated!!
We went, in turns, over to the fuel pontoon to fill with diesel (€1.35 per litre), Henk going first.  We took on 400 litres.
The men went off to the supermarket in the car, taking with them our empty gas bottles and a TV that Henk wanted to dump as he’s just installed a new one.  Crew decided not to accompany them, having been told that the supermarket wasn’t up to much!
We drove into town for dinner - Henk had eaten there a few times, so he was our restaurant guide.  His preferred choice was, unfortunately closed so we opted for second choice.  Skip was very brave and ordered an ox cheek stew, whilst Henk and Crew had spare ribs (all you can eat!!).  The stew was OK but not as good as Skip had hoped - the ribs were.passable although

Aphrodite Cruise summer 2019 part 2

Summer Cruise 20919 part 2
I will now publish our intended cruise to Metz initially and will continue with a further posting when completed
We have a problem with the lack of water in Central France and 3 canals closed so we have one last chance via Toul Vitry le Francois and Chaumont to return to Saint Jean de Losne for winter  but we have done this trip before and the top of the navigation wasnt easy because of lack of water, weed and no moorings!

Starts with a cruise of 242k 15  locks to the French border

11.8Winningen  to Tries Karden

40.7 marina Treis-Karden  www.mosel-islands.de
..E-mail:
campingplatz@mosel-islands.de

Mrs. Ujj and Mr. Brandl

Tel .: +49 (02672) 2613

3locks   29k 

40.7 Treis Karden to Cochem pk 51
Tel 02 67 16 08 113 www.cochem.de/tourismus/
Hafenmeister Markus Breitscheidel

Tel .: + 49 (0) 2671-4610 with call diversion 
Mobile: + 49 (0) 151-54727870 
e-mail: hafenmeister@cochem.de 

10k no locks 

51.3 Cochem to Senheim 67.9

presence

8-12, 13-18. The harbor master's office speaks German and English.

address

Harbor Senheim

At the campsite 1

D 56820 Senheim

Contact information

Tel.  +49 26 73 46 60

Fax  +49 26 73 41 00

E-Mail  info@moselhafen.de

Web  http://www.moselhafen.de

Search number in book  RH876

1 lock  18k 

67.9 Senheim to Traben-Trarbach 103.7

Motor Yacht Club Traben-Trarbach 

el. Harbourmaster: 06541-2300

33k 2 locks

Traben-Trarbach 103.7 to Bernkastel -Kues 130.6
No email reservations 

www.bootsclub-bernkastel.de 

CONTACT IN THE HARBOR: 06531-9879311

2. Chairman and contact person for the moorings in the harbor:

Manfred Thiesen 
+49 (0) 6531/73 41 
+49 (0) 172/90 66 176

hafeninfo@bootsclub-bernkastel.de

.

26k 1 lock 

130.6 Bernkastel to 152.8 Neumagen Dhron 

https://www.marina-mittelmosel.de/

Contact

Moselstrasse 21 
54347 Neumagen-Dhron

 +49 (0) 6507 70 16 70

Mobile: +49 (0) 6507 172 938 9136

Fax: +49 (0) 6507 - 70 16 80

 info@marina-mittelmosel.de

22k 1lock

152.8 Neumagen  Dhron to 178.4 Schweich

06502-9130-0 boote@kreusch.de

26k 1 lock
178.4 Schweich to  either
Trier/Mosel www.yachthafen-trier.de E/W/T/S Tel (0651)84311..pk 197.4
 info@pst-segeln-trier.de
or
 portboothafen Konz www.wsc-konz.de E/W/T/S Tel (06501)4431 pk 199.9

Harbourmaster :

Tassilo Gall

Telephone: (06501) 4431

harbor master (at) wsc-konz.de

I think Konz will be nearest restaurants
19k 1lock
at 200.8 junction with Saar
199.9 Konz to 237.5 Schwebsange
\yachthafen Schwebsingen
At the harbor | L-5447 Schwebsange 
Schwebsange 
Tél. : +352 23 66 44 60 
E-mail: info@camping-port.lu
37k 3locks 
At Pk 242.6 having passed through the infamously named Schengen  we arrive in France 
still on the River Moselle 
 Apach  to  Neuves-Maisons    150k 6locks 
We then head into France where the Moselle is less interesting and commercial
261 Basse-Ham      
+33 (0) 382 500 530+33 (0) 635 823 728 nautic.ham@outlook.com 
19k 2locks 
Basse Ham to Metz 299
https://port.regatesmessines.fr

Marina Manager

Harbor Master's Office, 3 Quai des Régates

METZ

Great East

57000

la France

+33 7 70 73 49 99