We’ve finally made it into Croatia. After camping at the Hungarian border post for a several hours, our luck changed and we were allowed on our way. After ~20km to the border, we went through the motions at the Serbian side. The sky was clear and the moon was bright so we decided to pull an all nighter and row […]

All was going to plan yesterday until… We were stopped by our friends the Hungarian river police. We’d just gone through Mohacs, the last town before the border. The flooding is still bad here and as a result the border is closed. Another frustrating delay. We hope it will open up later today. Either way, we’re now under massive time […]

We’re now back on the move. And it is hot! 38C yesterday and today. We’ve got a good pattern established: in the early mornings we row together. Once it gets intolerably hot, we row in shifts of 30 minutes allowing time to rest and rehydrate. We hope to sneak into Croatia this evening. Entry requirements and port of entry location […]

The Hungarian Danube remained closed downstream today. As a result, we had an enforced rest day which coincided with my birthday. We’ve recharged and are raring to go. Fortunately, good news too: from 0800 on the 19th we are free to continue south!

It was a bit of a slow start today when we thought me might get stopped and/or arrested as the Hungarians had shut the Danube to all but essential traffic. It did allow is to refuel on water and some food though and we set off when part of the river re-opened. The river is obviously high and there are […]

We made excellent progress yesterday and covered approximately 120km. Rowing through Budapest was a real highlight. However, we’ve run into more trouble. We were stopped by the river police here who have advised us that the river downstream is only navigable for some vessels, because of the high water. Ours is not one of them so we have been forced […]

After an early start, we’ve rowed hard to reach Hungary this morning. Now aiming to get through Budapest before nightfall. Refreshing (and much needed) swim in Danube last night.

Another early start this morning to tackle the Gabcikovo canal and lock. It’s a newish canal which runs parallel to the true Danube for ~30 kms. Made it through after a 2 hr wait which was to allow regular shipping through. Great to have got this lock dealt with as the next one is the Iron Gates in about 900km […]

‘In Ulm, um Ulm, un Ulm herum’ is a tongue twister meaning ‘in Ulm, around Ulm, all around Ulm’ and that is pretty much what we have been up to. The Danube is still suffering from the worst flooding in 500 years of German records and the worst flooding ever in Hungary so we have been waiting for the water […]

English press release. See the German version here. Two Brits will tomorrow depart on a mission to row the entire length of the Danube for charity as the European river returns to normal levels after the worst flooding for 500 years. Jon Cowie, 31, from London and Mark Hughes, 32 from Edinburgh, are the first rowers ever to attempt the […]