DQ turnover in Cape Girardeau instead of St. Louis

And here´s another article from Alton.

Carmen

"Due to river traffic and mechanical difficulties, the boat is currently in Cape Girardeau, Mo., and not expected to make it as far as St. Louis"
UH, WHAT mechanical difficulties?? we are only 7 days away from boarding her, hopefully in Nashville.?????
Inquiring minds want to know!!
S
David D.

DQ in CG

Calm down, David. I just talked to the reporter in CG. The reason he was given was high water (its 22.18 and falling, flood is 32), and heavy traffic(those towboats and barges are heavy, ever try to lift one?)
Hopefully our intrepid calliope research team made it to CG - they were duly apprised of the non St. Louis arrival by one of David's DQ crew buddies, and should have been able to get the extra 90 miles in today.
Let's just use our English skills and do an analogy here:
AQ:RedWing::DQ:Cape Girardeau, and leave it at that publicly, anyway.

I am going to answer this once and for all, since I am on the boat, which the reporters are not, and the posters on this board are not. We did not have any mechanical difficulties. We had big water on the Upper Mississippi, followed immediately by a medical emergency. That delayed us some. There is a lot of traffic out here, despite what people think they know. The river was closed for awhile earlier this summer because of the flood, necessitating some catch-up time. Since we are the upbound traffic, we must yield to the down-bound boats. We had to pull over for downbound traffic multiple times between the confluence and the Cape. Yesterday, while doing pilothouse tours in Cape, I watch a northbound tow sit above us the entire time--more than an hour, and he still had not moved--waiting for the two southbound tows I could see on the GPS. This is what we faced. We had 180 miles to make at 4 miles an hour, not counting the holds for the traffic. Please, you do the math. We could get there--but the passengers would not have made their flights.
Any mention of mechanical difficulties was false. As always, we work on routine mechanical maintenance every day. Perhaps someone mistook that for a problem, but they were mistaken.
I am asking posters in this forum to stick to what they can prove, not their speculations. Unless you are working on the boat during a cruise, you should not comment. You do not know. Anything else is a rumor, and rumors are always destructive. I gave that up when I was ten.

Whew, that's good to hear. I suspected that it might be something like that, but was hoping someone (like yourself) could re-assure us! The days are growing VERY close to when we get to see you again!
Steamcerely,
David D.

Mea culpa, mea culpa

Sorry, Mary Sward Charlton, you are right - I know nothing about the DQ, the river, or anything connected to them, as my postings have proven over the years. You are right, you are on the boat, we are not. But you are WRONG to say that only those on the boat should post and that only they know what is going on. Many a time, over the years, we ignoramuses on shore have known about a boat situation well before the crews on the boats have. You have poured yourself into your various jobs on the DQ and have worked your way upwards thanks to your dedication and hard work - but that does not confer upon you the right to condemn me or any other poster who dares to comment on the DQ or anything else related to the river. We are all on edge concerning the DQ's future, but that is no reason to condemn and alienate the very people who support her, and yes, directly or indirectly, allow you to have and keep your position on the DQ. Please remember that NO ONE, not even you or I or any other poster or crew member, knows the whole truth about any of these situations, whether we be on shore or on the boat. The purpose of this message board WAS to share comments about the Queens and other river topics. If this is no longer the case, then perhaps we would be best served if Franz would shut it down.

Annie Blum here. Even a dumb person like myself realizes that we cannot believe everything that is published in the newspaper. Unfortunately, sometimes that is all we have for a while. On the one hand, I cannot be criticized for repeating what I read in the newspaper. On the other hand, it is a relief to get the truth from someone who is in the position to know that this time our Delta Queen is working just fine and that all is well with her innards.

Hi Mary,

When you have a moment, please check your private messages.

Jazzou

I agree with Annie...

As far as credibility goes, there is Judy who's opinion I trust 227% and there is my friend Mary who's there where it happens and knows what we can only surmise. I take both of their knowledgable inputs and find my mind becoming at ease. And you know something, I see Judy and Mary saying the same thing in a roundabout way, I admire and envy them both...

The reporter? On the crediblity scale you would need a microscope to see 'em, considering how far down on the credibilty scale they are...

Mechanical difficulties? Geeze, if you use Xerox's "thinking outside the box", God only knows what this means without more definition. Think about it, being delayed at a lock could be seen by the ignorant as mechanical difficulties, don't you think...

But, "what do I know"?

I think no more discussion about this is needed, everything is said; I'm closing this thread.