Topic starter
22/11/2007 9:06 am
I am new here. I have been perusing the forum regularly for a few news now, but this is my first post. I am a writer (books, magazine articles, news, etc.) but my real job is teaching school. I am a lifelong fan of the Delta Queen. Here is my "Delta Queen story."
I first "met" her in 1973, when I was a youngster growing up on the Tennessee River / Kentucky Lake (mile 86). It was about 11:30 PM when a horrible storm came out of nowere, blowing our front patio furniture everywhere and blowing one of our living room picture windows completely out. No storms had been in the forecast.
My father and I stood behind a storm window and watched as a gigantic vessel slowly came into sight, tossing, turning and ploughing its way to the north. There wasn't anywhere to moor, so I guess that's why the vessel kept sailing. It was unlike the barges and towboats that frequently passed the house; this boat was huge -- the biggest I had ever seen. Despite its great size, it rocked and rolled on the rough water, twice getting blown sideways where the bow was headed east (toward the shore) instead of north. To visualize, imagine the helplessness a styrofoam cup floating on a whitewater rafting stream!
But despite the obvious, I never sensed that the boat was in any danger; whenever the weather dealt a severe blow (no pun intended), the boat's captain seemingly dealt an opposing blow with even greater force! My father remarked several times, "I know this river, and I know boats; and whoever is at the wheel of THAT boat has got to be the most capable captain I've ever seen. That man knows what he's doing and he's a pro."
My father grabbed his binoculars to take a closer look (the channel ran through the middle of the lake, a half-mile from the shore and our house). "That's the Delta Queen!" he exclaimed, twice. I was dumbfounded; at about seven years of age, I had never heard of the Delta Queen. He told me about the boat as we watched it slowly disappear into the wind and darkness as rode out the storm. Just to be sure of what we had witnessed the night before, my father called a friend up in Paducah, Kentucky the next afternoon, who confirmed that the Delta Queen was indeed docked there, having just returned (only a few minutes late) from a Tennessee River trip.
So that was my first experience with the Delta Queen. It wasn't the boat that earned my respect (remember, it was dark and I couldn't see anything but lights); it was the man DRIVING her who got my attention and respect. It was hard to believe that ANY boat could have sailed through that storm without incident. I had witnessed many towboats and barges get blown all over the lake -- and detached -- in lesser storms. I didn't know who was at the wheel of the Delta Queen that evening -- and I probably never will know -- but he was a genius in my opinion. His manuvering of the boat was what drew my attention to it, and my interest in the boat has grown ever since.
In the 34 years since that stormy night back in 1973, I've been lucky enough to catch (see) the Delta Queen only once. Even when I would look at the schedules and try to catch it somewhere for a picture, things never worked out; it was -- and still is -- nearly impossible to catch the DQ in the act of sailing. But notwithstanding, I've been a very loyal fan of the boat and I have many old brochures and postcards with her picture on them. Ironically, I now live just west of Nashville, on the Cumberland River, and I still haven't managed to catch her sailing by!
I am very concerned about the exemption issue, and I plan to write a column about it in my town's newspaper. As of my last account, the bill was still "in committee." With the committee's Chairman being strongly opposed to the legislation, the only way in which the committee members will override his recommendation would be if they (the members) receive enough direct letters from loyal supporters.
22/11/2007 5:04 pm
First of all, Welcome! Usually this board is pretty slow on holidays and weekends, so you won't get many responses today. That's a great story and remembrance of the DQ, and it shows her 'star power'. Even though you've never been a passenger or even set foot aboard, she's 'gotcha'. I can guarantee if you ever had a chance to ride her, it would be worse! 1973 was a magical DQ year for me, too. That's when I took my first trip on her, a 3 day St. Louis/Davenport Aug. 20-23, 1973... and the rest is history. I went from thinking about continuing my teaching reading studies into a Ph.D and being a diehard St. Louis Cardinal fan to becoming an incurable steamboat/river rat, all thanks to the DQ. If you've been reading this board, you know much of my history, so enough of that. I was only on the Cumberland once, several years ago, along with the webmeisters Franz, Carmen and Leonie. We were supposed to go St. Louis/Nashville, but lots of October rains stopped us in Clarksville, TN. When we were in our last port, Dover, TN. we watched the water rise on the BFR during the stop, and we knew Nashville was out. Capt. Mike Williams called a meeting for that afternoon, in which we were told the official word:Clarksville instead of Nashville. Where are you located in respect to these places? We'll be looking forward to your article and to future postings. Never hesitate to post comments or questions... welcome aboard!
Here's a picture of the BFR at Dover TN. that October '03. The Big --- Rock was put out at the water's edge upon arrival. You can see that the water has risen up the bank and is almost completely covering the BFR, thus telling the navigation crew we've got problems ahead with the Nashville landing. This high-tech device has been used for decades to prevent the DQ from grounding when the water is falling, or to show the rise of the water level. Shore lines are appropriately adjusted and other moves made, based on the human ocular observation of the BFR. Woe to the crew that forgets to put out the BFR in changing water level conditions!
22/11/2007 5:17 pm
Welcome aboard Pat. Now as to info in Judy's last post it's a prime example of the learning process associated with this board. For years I've had deckhands set out a marker if tied to shore, however I never in 55 years of boat handlimg ever knew it had a name. BFR, well you learn something new each day.
Topic starter
22/11/2007 5:41 pm
Hi Judy, and thanks for the welcome!
It looks like you've been a fan for a long time, too. Well, even better -- a passenger! I've met a few Delta Queen passengers over the years, and they all said they loved it; they were hooked!
It looks like the BFR comes in handy; is it patented? ha ha
I have never understood the shortened trips to Clarksville and sometimes Dover, during periods of high water. It would seem that higher water levels would mean deeper water, which of course means safer navigation. I suppose that the length of the ropes and the gangplank have something to do with it. On the other hand, the park/landing at Clarksville is at about the same elevation above the water as the landing in Nashville.
In relation to Clarksville and Nashville, I live 34 miles down the river from Nashville and 30 miles up the river from Clarksville (river miles, not road miles), in a small town named Ashland City. All we have here riverwise is a bridge that crosses the river and big, well-lit barge factory called Trinity. This section of the Cumberland is called Cheatham Lake, although the "lake" is no wider than the river itself at most points. I am 8 miles above Cheatham Dam and lock.
The Delta Queeen comes by here about 4 or 5 times a year, and this is where I caught a glimpse of her one night. Other than the Delta Queen, the only boat excitement comes when the River Explorer comes through; it's almost 800 feet long and quite a sight to see, especially when locking through Cheatham Dam.
I'll be glad to share the Delta Queen article on here.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Topic starter
22/11/2007 5:42 pm
What does the abbreviation, BFR, stand for?
22/11/2007 6:26 pm
Welcome "a board", Pat,
Pat Fitzhugh;8680 wrote: I have never understood the shortened trips to Clarksville and sometimes Dover, during periods of high water. It would seem that higher water levels would mean deeper water, which of course means safer navigation. I suppose that the length of the ropes and the gangplank have something to do with it. On the other hand, the park/landing at Clarksville is at about the same elevation above the water as the landing in Nashville.
It´s not the depth of the water which causes problems but the height of the bridges (clearance). There´s quite a low bridge at Dover which can´t be passed at high water. We´ve made two cruises which were scheduled to end in Nashville. The first one was Cincinnati - Nashville and we ended up in Paducah as we weren´t able to pass the bridge at Dover. The second one was St. Louis - Nashville and as Judy already said, we ended up in Clarksville.
I´m still joking: If I book another trip to Nashville and don´t end up there by boat do I get a fourth one for free?
Carmen
22/11/2007 6:42 pm
Pat Fitzhugh;8681 wrote: What does the abbreviation, BFR, stand for?
Why, Big Fat Rock, of course! 😉
22/11/2007 7:29 pm
Bill, your deckhands were probably much too polite to utter such a thing in your presence!
22/11/2007 10:26 pm
Carmen;8683 wrote:
I´m still joking: If I book another trip to Nashville and don´t end up there by boat do I get a fourth one for free?
Carmen
Took Deb and me three bookings to/from Birmingham before we saw any of the Tenn-Tom or the Black Warrior. River too high...river too low...well worth the wait, though.
Pat, welcome to our little nuthouse here, I enjoyed your story. This forum is an incredible place to find out anything about the DQ or any other river activity. Got a question? Somebody here will have the answer, feel free to ask.
Topic starter
24/11/2007 9:41 pm
Thanks, everyone, for the warm welcome; you seem like a very nice and knowledgeable group of people.