DELTA QUEEN and AMERICAN QUEEN in Louisville, KY 14, July 2008

The Sternline Telegraph tells me that "Miss Helen" Prater (who will be 96 on September 3rd) along with her daughter Lil Prater Smith, and son-in-law Forrest, will be on the DQ, boarding at Nashville today and riding to Pittsburgh. A steamboat trip, as we all know, is the absolute best tonic for "Miss Helen" and keeps her going like the Energizer Bunny!

Thanks Keith! I can't say that enough.
Oh boy, he says I'm "spechul" --does this mean I get to ride the van again to the bouncy room where the walls are sooo soft. . . .Those men in white jackets were nice, but the one they gave me was too small, and the laces were too tight, I couldn't move around in it. .
S'
David "who, me?" Dewey

The late Capt. C.S. "Rip" Ware, longtime pilot on the DELTA QUEEN, was often heard to say (in his delightful southern drawl) "If yo' wuk is yo' pleashuah, it ain't haaaaard!"

Keith,
Thanks for the info on Miss Helen - last I knew they didn't have a trip scheduled until the October 21st final one. I was worried that Miss Helen wouldn't make it that far - her trips keep her going, and to go a whole year without one would drive her crazy.

Just got a phone call from Judy Patsch - Rock Island had 94 mph winds go through, and she's been without power since 6 AM yesterday . Computer and cell phone batteries have long since run out - but she still has her land phone. No damage to her house, just trees down.

Anyway, she's wondering where the AQ is - she was supposed to go through Lock 15 today, but Judy doesn't know if she can make it beyond the Burlington bridge. Of course, without power she can't bake cookies, even if the AQ gets there.

Hi Pat,

Now I know why she didn´t answer my mail :-). The AQ locked through lock 19 yesterday 23:26 pm. Since then she´s sitting in pool 19. The Burlington Highway Bridge has a clearance of 54.56 ft according to the bridge clearance calculator. The AQ is not on the Ft. Madison webcam. So I assume she got stuck in Burlington. The river should crest at 13.5 ft at Burlington today (so far the forecast according to the local newspaper). So it might take a day or two at least until the AQ might be able to pass under the bridge.

Carmen

Pat,

Now the AQ is listed in pool 19 upbound with a 12 pm arrival today.

Carmen

Hi Carmen,

Thanks for the info - I'll pass it on to Judy. Looks like she'll have plenty of time to get her cookies baked. Suzanne too, was trying to figure out where the AQ was, as she has to get her decorations up.

I'm so glad you're coming to ferry us river rats across the river 🙂 We have a bunch of doubloons for Leonie to throw when locking, on your way up the Uppper Miss. - you too!
When we were there for the BOL Race, Barb did a 2 page itinerary on chasing the boat from Louisville to Cincinnati. I'll email it to you - it really came in handy to know the best spots to watch from - and which side of the river to be on. See you soon!

Hi Pat,

The AQ locked through lock 18 at 2 pm. So she´s on her way up to Judy.

Shh, don´t tell Leonie about the doubloons!! 🙂

See you in Louisville!

Carmen

Pat and David,

You mentioned that the DQ will be in Louisville on Aug 24th.

I'll be on the boat coming from Nashville. The schedule as I've been told is as follows:

Aug 21 Dover 8a - 1p
Aug 22 Paducah 8a - 1p
Aug 23 Henderson 8a - 1p
Aug 24 Cruisin'
Aug 25 Madison 8a - 1p
Aug 26 Arriving in Cincinnati

If we are in Henderson until 1p on the 23rd I don't see how we can make 200 miles and get to Louisville on the 24th.

One other thing... If we left Louisville at 5p on the 24th we would have 38 hours to go only 135 miles to get to Cincinnati at 7a on the 26th.

The schedule has changed a few times but THIS is the schedule that came on our tickets.

Comments?

Pat, That's not what the flyers show: Aug 20 Dover/Fort Donelson, Aug 21 Paducah, Aug 22 Henderson, Aug 23 Grandview, Aug 24 Louisville, Aug 25 Madison, Aug 26 Cincinnati. Your list laves us with a day lost, the 20th. SO.. I HOPE they made a mistake, we haven't gotten our ticket package yet.
I hope someone on board has more info!!! Our favorite stop this trip is Louisville!!
S'
David D.

The schedule that Pat Engle posted is the same one that Franz has on the calendar for the SAVE THE DELTA QUEEN site. Hopefully, the itinerary has been revised and the DQ will be in Louisville on Sunday, August 24th!

Well, I wish I had better news myself...but this is the official schedule I have for said cruise on the DQ.

20-Aug Wed Nashville 0001 1700
21-Aug Thu Dover 0800 1300
22-Aug Fri Paducah 0800 1300
23-Aug Sat Henderson 0800 1300
24-Aug Sun Steamboat'n 0001 2400
25-Aug Mon Madison 0800 1300

~Travis~

According to the latest schedule that we have onboard, the schedule that David has posted is the correct schedule.

Unfortunately (for me), I will not be onboard. I will be off on "vacation."

Ok, lets take a look see into the River Log...and looking at MY schedule...

August 19th, Nashville to Dover 102 miles, pushing pretty hard in 13 hours even going with current and hoping the swing bridge operators cooperate.... so we leave Nashville at 6:30 not 9 PM...and get to Dover at NOON not 10 AM, plenty of time to do Fort Donelson....then it would be 17.5 hours and the ol' gal would have to average 6 MPH with current...Is this the real issue? Also, this part is awful twisty and in the past was broken up by a day stop in Clarksville, and like I said there are those pesky railroad bridges...

August 20th, Arrive Dover 10 AM (see above), leave at 5 PM to Paducah 89 miles, downriver, also a little isssue with the twisties in 15 hours, AND assuming all lock masters are having a good day

August 21st, Arrive Paducah 8 AM, leave 5 PM to Henderson 71 miles, upriver, can be done, in 19 hours...

August 22nd, Arrive Henderson Noon, leave 5 PM to Grandview 62 miles, upriver, 19 hours, sure...

August 23rd, Arrive Grandview 8 AM, leave 1 PM to Louisville 75 miles, upriver, 20 hours, sure

August 24th, Arrive Louisville 9 AM, leave 5 PM to Madison 49 miles, upriver, 20 hours, sure

August 25th, Arrive Madison 8 AM, leave 1 PM to Cincinnati 88 miles, upriver, this could be another issue, but it is 17 hours to 6 AM to be in Cincy the 26th...5 MPH is good here, right?

I guess I don't fully see the issue, sez the parlour talkin', armchair pilot...are any of my concerns above the issue? All of them?

Roger,

So the boat WILL be in Louisville on the 24th?

~Travis~

OK, I have the word from the person chartering the trip
AND YES she says, we WILL be in Louisville on the 24--ignore what you read on the internet AND what is on the MAL documents you get. She's chartered busses for the shore tours, arranged the shore tours, etc. all based on this.
So, I'm feeling much relieved, but still a bit concerned; but not a lot as apparently the home office is making lots of mistakes, our own return air tickets are one of them too! We are hoping they'll fix them, but. . . .
S
David D.

So Deb and I take it that some of you have your travel documents already? Why am I breathing heavy all of a sudden...as of now, we are document-less...

Also, I heard through some sources that the AQ's Z-drive is fixed...computer chip burnout. The problem was diagnosed quickly by the AQ's crew, and calls were made, but the repair guy bringing the part wasn't quite sure how to find the place where the Z-Drive needing repair was located, so there were some delays in getting her back to snuff. All fixed now...

And one more, somewhere in the foggy sections of my brain, I remember the DQ, Nashville to Cincy being an eight night cruise in the past?

Can't wait to see the fur fly on the boat when passengers realize that the itinerary that they "paid for", and is right there in print in their hot little hands, has changed. Frankly, with either itinerary we'll still have a ball, though I am looking SO forward to the Howard...

aha! same problem I described from a couple of years ago, right????

Judy, from what I gather it sure sounds the same, a computer chip with a DOS interface...sounds like they need to carry some spares and the specific computer interface to bring a new chip alive...

Impressive machine, the AQ, some of the maneuvers she's done while I was onboard were unreal considering her, ahem, delicate size...

Charlene is working on getting them out right now! Except, of course for those of us who have mistakes in their flight schedules. . . .
You should see them soon!
S'
David D.

According to the German agency for Majestic there is a stop in Louisville on the 24th (August). This schedule was published Sep 17th 2007.

Carmen

We would LOVE it if the boat landed in Louisville. There are so many things we wanted to do here that we scheduled a day to DRIVE back to Louisville after the cruise so we could tour the Howard Museum again and visit the Louisville Slugger Museum and see Thomas Edison's place and best of all...ride the Belle of Louisville in her home town.

I'll have my wife call Majestic and see if THEY have a new itinerary. We live in Seattle so it's a local call (haven't cell phones made THAT statement obsolete!)

As for the missing Aug 20th reference... Majestic told us that the boat would leave the dock at 10pm on the night of the 20th (Tue) and drive around until 10am Wed morning and re-dock in Nashville and then leave again at 5pm on Wed. Of all the crazy things! We have called them so many times to confirm this crazy schedule and the nutty driving in the middle of the night to "nowhere in particular". (Excuse the Mr. Toad's Wild Ride reference)

Sometimes I wonder if the Captain of the boat is setting the schedule and isn't bothering to tell Headquarters.

Anyway, if we leave Nashville for good on Tue night that would be awesome.

If we get to go to Louisville THAT would be awesome.

Stay tuned.

Bruno,

I use this as my source for river mileage:
Intracoastal Waterway - CaptainWiki

Nashville to Dover: 102 miles
Dover to Paducah: 82
Paducah to Henderson: 130
Henderson to Louisville: 189
Louisville to Madison: 45
Madison to Cincinnati: 88

It is still possible to get to Louisville on Sun IF we leave Nashville on Tuesday night at 5pm.

Nashville to Dover 102 miles; Tue 5pm -11a Wed; 18 hrs; 5.6 MPH; 1 lock
Dover Wed 11a – 5pm

Dover to Paducah 82 miles; Wed 5p – 8am Thu; 14 hrs; 5.8 MPH; 1 lock
Paducah Thu 8am – 1pm

Paducah to Henderson; 130 miles; Thu 1pm – 1pm Fri; 24 hrs 5.4 MPH; 2 locks
Henderson Fri 1pm – 5pm

Henderson to Louisville 189 miles; Fri 5pm – 7am Sun; 38 hrs; 5.0 MPH; 3 locks
Louisville Sun 7am – 5pm

Louisville to Madison 45 miles; Sun 5pm – 1am Mon; 8 hrs; 6.0 MPH; 0 locks
Madison Mon 1am – 1pm

Madison to Cincinnati 88 miles; Mon 1pm – 5am Tue; 16 hrs; 5.5 MPH 1 locks

Disembark on Tue morning

I am sure there are seven ways to Sunday to map out the schedule but the boat only goes so fast, there are locks to contend with, and the mileage between cities is pretty much NOT going to change.

Pat

Pat,
Our documents arrived today! Noted on the MAL schedule is, "Ignore this" Everything else points to the 24th in Louisville. You're welcome to join our group, we just have to find enough cars to get us to the Howard!!
Hmm, this is becoming an "unoffical shore toure"!! 🙂 Uh, Keith, you OK with this, our group is growning larger!! (counting around 14-16 from the boat + the transportation friends, if everyone wants to go--and can get a ride! We can't wait to meet y'all in person!
S'
David D.
PS We have a few other surprises up our sleeves too. (HEY ROCKY!!! Watch me pull a rabbit outa my hat. . . )

Can I make a suggestion here? Apparently this "unofficial" shore tour is growing. Perhaps you can get the tour coordinator on board to procure a vehicle of a size appropriate for the number of people involved. And my guess is that you can wait until you're on board to make that request. Then you could all go together?

Just a thought.

Paul