Topic starter
13/08/2008 10:20 am
Greetings From New Orlean ,
One of the things I remember most from my early days on the Str. Delta Queen and as strange as it may sound , were the presence of a motorcycle (s) on board the boat . I use to sometimes watch in amazement of the sight of Capt. Wagner , and as giant as a man as he was , come riding up the stage on the boat's Honda 90 , which of course was miniture in comparison to him . At the time , a Honda 90 was not that much different in size to a Moped and to see Captain Wagner in a full uniform and officier's hat and with a cigar sticking out of his mouth come roaring up the stage was something that both the crew and passengers just watched in awe . I also remember Capt. Wagner telling me of his motorcycle adventure stories of when in his prime he rode an old Indian motorcycle and would terrorize the back roads of Tennesee . I also remember one early morning in Baton Rouge when Capt. Wagner asked me to go to New Orlenas , on that same Honda 90 , and somehow shang hai , I mean recruit a new deck crew . I spent the better part of that day driving to New Orleans , doing just about 45 mph and just wondering how in blazes would I find anyone that would care to go to work on a river steamboat on a one day notice . Well , the only answer to that question was to go directly to the French Quarter and Bourbon St. and needless to say there was an ample supply of burned out and down on their luck hippies that jumped at the opportunity . Actually , many of them stayed on much longer than any first thought but none of that would have been possible with out that old Honda 90 getting me to the city . Another example of a motorcycle on the boat was Franlin Mile's ( the Chief Steward ) Kawasaki 650 . Franklin just did not have the same visual effect on the passengers and crew and Capt. Wagner did but to see Franklin pop wheelies going down the stage was a sight in and of itself . Not to be out done , Capt. Wagner soon allowed me to bring my own bike on board and for quite some time at that . At the time I owned a Honda 450 and not only did it serve me well when the boat was in a town but I was also able to ride it back and forth to New Orleans when my vacations would come up . It was great having a motorcycle on the boat not only from the standpoint of having a means of transportation but more importantly at that age when we are ALL imortal and invincible , I remember the rides into the different river towns either with or without a female companion . On one very very rememberable night , after the boat had nosed into Six Mile Point ( Audobon Park ) just above New Orleans , I and a certain purser rode off the stage and into the New Orleans night and did not return until early daylight , just in time to raise the stage and steam into New Orleans . Yes , as strange as it may sound , during those early days on the Delta Queen , a motorcycle was not uncommon to see on the bow of the boat and those memories of Capt. Wagner straddling that little Honda 90 was something that you would have to see to believe . Those were really really good times that will probably either for the good or bad , never make it into a Log Book !
Smoothe Sailing !
Ted Davisson
14/08/2008 10:16 pm
Ahhh, Honda DOHC 450 twin...used to own one...married Deb and the bike was apart in the livingroom of my 10 x 50 mobile home at the time. You will never see a bike sold so fast as my Honda, basket case or not...
You know I heard about a group of Harley owners that semi-chartered the Delta Queen recently. I guess they would ride all day between stops and somehow slept at night on the boat with all their bikes parked on the bow. In the morning they would all roar off, and the boat would meet them at an upstream/downstream river town after a day of steamboatin'...actually sounds kinda cool...
16/08/2008 12:39 am
Motorcycle Prank- My Apologies
Whatever that bike Captain Ted had looked like a chopper to me. That was during the time when all the electrically-powered housekeeping cleaning equipment was disappearing over the side at night. Over went the sweepers; then the floor buffers. And no one had a clue who was tossing the things into the Mississippi. Though I was up all night in charge of the boat, I didn't have a clue, either, who the culprit was, nor when they were tossing the stuff overboard. To top it off, all the disappearing gear had been stored in Ted's Linen Room where he held sway as the DELTA QUEEN linen boy.
Ted's job was to ride herd on the tons of sheets, pillow slips, table cloths, towels, and other white goods in the days when all such things were sent to a laundry ashore. These items were inventoried by Ted and piled high upon broad bed sheets and tied into heavy bundles. As the the great bundles of soiled goods, accumulated, they were stacked into an enormous pile that took up most of the Linen Room on the stabbard side, just forward of the Orleans Room, and as mischief was a required part of the job description of the After-Watch, a plan was soon hatched to have fun at Ted's expense.
My boys and I, pulled out several of the carefully stacked bundles and gently wheeled Ted's beloved motorcycle into the void and then carefully surrounded it with the linen bales so that a not a trace of the chromed, shiny bike was seen as it was completely hidden from view. So we completed our watch and got off at 6 AM, ate breakfast, and went to our respective racks.
No sooner had a deep sleep came over me, when there was a mighty pounding on my door. It was Captain Wagner, and when Big Cap came rapping at your door when you were off-watch, Big Trouble was astir.
"Get dressed. Ted's bike is missing and might have gone over the side. I want you and yer boys to help us look around for it."
"Oh, good gosh," I thought, as I had forgotten all about last night's prank, and now Captain Wagner, himself, was involved. Not a good thing.
So I hurried into my clothes and went down on deck where everyone was searching every nook and cranny, but somehow neglected the huge mountain of soiled white goods. The deckhands from my watch had already been awaken and were in the linen room, but knew enough not to go directly to where Ted's chopper was stashed, rather, we all joined in the futile search with the rest and pretended ignorance of the disappearance of the valuable motorcycle. The look on Ted's face made me wish I had not hatched the devious plot as he surely felt the worst had happened and was certain that his beloved motorcycle had joined the sweepers, buffers, and other sundry gear scattered on the bottom of the Mississippi River.
A subtle nod to one of the boys let him understand that it was time to end the charade, so he started poking around in the linen pile.
"Hey, what's this?" he cried, as a heavy bundle rolled off the pile and a chrome handlebar came up for air. Then another bundle fell, and another, until Ted's chopper was restored to its rightful ownership.
Of course, we late-night guys never let on it was us, and I don't know if the Great Captain ever found out who the guilty parties were who made it look like Ted's beloved bike had joined a long line of other expensive gear that went overboard into the deep.
Later, we did find out who had been deep-sixing the housekeeping equipment. It was the trusted Housekeeping Steward who believed that if all his powered equipment disappeared, he would not have to work, but rather ride and enjoy himself hanging out in the Pilothouse and other favorite haunts he cherished aboard the steamboat. Rather, it was he, himself, who disappeared, not into the Mississippi River, but ashore at the next stop along with the dirty linen.
Topic starter
16/08/2008 11:51 am
" Thanks For The Memories " !
CaptainDon ,
" Thanks for the memories " !! You ae the BEST ! It was practical jokes like that and the comradie that it produced that made life special and exciting on those early days on the steamboats ! From what I am hearing now that atmosphere just does not exist today . What a shame for those that are on the boats now . YOU should write a book on your steamboat adventures and memories ! Thanks so much !
Smoothe Sailing !
Ted Davisson
16/08/2008 12:29 pm
Captain Ted,
Glad you liked the telling. We had great times on the DELTA QUEEN and made many friendships that have lasted a lifetime. I wonder if the world is ready for the book I'd really like to write? We'll see how the DQ exemption goes and what happens to my own job, as the USCG will not inspect our type vessels after 31 December 2009.
16/08/2008 12:30 pm
Ted Davisson;12231 wrote: CaptainDon ,
" Thanks for the memories " !! You ae the BEST ! It was practical jokes like that and the comradie that it produced that made life special and exciting on those early days on the steamboats ! From what I am hearing now that atmosphere just does not exist today . What a shame for those that are on the boats now . YOU should write a book on your steamboat adventures and memories ! Thanks so much !
Smoothe Sailing !
Ted Davisson
I don't know, Ted. I lived in constant fear that my banjo would end up over the side ..... but that's a different story.
REALLY enjoyed Captain Don's story. The more modern "practical jokes" on the boats are tame compared to you guys. I've been told that the wildest it got on the MQ in recent years was someone would keep placing a banana on one of the objects d'art in the Paddlewheel Lounge.
Doesn't quite measure up.
Paul
16/08/2008 1:09 pm
I too enjoyed that great story, wonderful stuff. But the thought of throwing good tools into the river...brrr, made me shiver.
I always thought that past crewmembers, especially Capt. Don, that were in the thick of it, back in the less regimented love and peace days, could be invited back to the ol' gal and tell us their incredible stories, like the one above. Wouldn't that be a great themed cruise? We could name it "Diabolical Times on the DQ". I predict it would be an instant sell out. And if the company could also bring aboard a late 60's to mid 70's band, I'm thinking something like CCR, or another favorite of Deb's and mine, Average White Band, ohhh my! or a good Motown group! even if the music isn't steamboaty...I cannot figure out why Deb and I haven't had the luck to cruise with Capt. Hawley. We have always so enjoyed Jane Greene's talks.
Ahh but to really dream. If only we could spend an hour listening to Capt. Wagner...or Capt. Way...or Capt. Tom Greene.
Sam, you gotta write a book...please...