River Terms ????

Ted....Capt Charlie Lehman has written a book of river terms which is now in the hands of a publisher. Hopefully it will be available soon. Since Charlie wrote it, the book should be a good one.

OK, Ted, we all now know that there is river jargon, and that you know the words! How 'bout stepping into the league of Harry Louden, "Doc" Hawley, and Ernie Wagner, and do some explaining to those whom don't know what they mean, but are interested?

Point Well Taken

Frank ,
First of all , point well taken and I apologize for not having been more informative and not have offered up some explanation of SOME these many " River Terms " that I and others have mentioned . Secondly , in my humble opinion , I don't think that either me or for that matter many others could ever be placed in that catagory of a Capt. Wagner , or a " Doc " Hawley or a Capt. Harry Louden . However , if still interested I will now offer up a brief explanation of these river terms that I and others have mentioned . Also , as Capt. Bob Reynolds had mentioned many of these terms are geographically influenced and what means one thing in one part of the country may mean something else in yet another part of the country . So here we go ; Anchor Fleet - a group of barges moored together but instead of being secured to the river bank , one of these barges is secured to an anchor and the entire fleet or group of barges is a short distance off the bank and out in the river . Back Spring - one of a vessels mooring lines that leads from the stern of the vessel leading forward to inorder to help hold the vessel in a certain position . Bluff Bank - a shore line with an abrupt drop off into relative deep water . Bull Nose - the butt end of a Lock & Dam's Long Wall or Short Wall . Chute - the passageway between an island and the shore . Greenville Flank - a short or an abreviated flank by river Tow Boats inorder to get a swing in the tow so as to manevuer around a point or to go into a landing . Hiull Inspector - any floating or partially submerged object or drift in the river of significent size or magnitude that could damage or even puncture the hull of the vessel . Kavel - a vessel's mooring bit that has a horizontal shape and design to it . Lateral Set - occurs when a river vessel becomes sideways and slides laterally in the river when making a turn or steer in the river . Long Wall - the longer wall of a Lock & Dam that extends both up and down river from the Lock Chamber and is used by vessels locking through to either tie off to and or to rub aganist whem entering or exiting the Lock Chamber . Mat Revetment - concrete squares , wired together , and fabricated by the Corps of Engineers , and then laid out on the shore line and extending well into the low river mark of the river , for bank stabliation . Point Way - the inside of the turn in the river and at certain river stages Tow Boats and even some Ships will " Run The Pointway " , inorder to get out of a swift current and to shorten the distance . Ratchet - a metal hand operated device similar to a turnbuckle used on Tow Boats to tighten the wire rope that was used to lash barges together . Rip Rap - piles of rock along the shoreline inorder to help stablize the bank . Saddlebag - occurs when a vessel laterally sets down and lands on an object such as a dock or a bridge pier , somewhere in the midship area of the vessel . Short Wall - the shorter wall of a Lock & Dam , similar to the Long Wall and used for the same purposes as is the Long Wall , These walls also have a purpose of preventing vessels from getting caught in the " out draft " and then getting carried out to the Lock & Dam's gates on the up river side of the Lock & Dam . Slow Steer - operating a vessel , either a Tow Boat or a Ship , at a reduced speed inorder for the vessel not to get into a lateral set or slide when making a turn in the river . Soft Dike - a number of literally huge sand bags , that the Corps of Engineers is experimenting with , and piled together as conventinal dikes inorder to force the river water into the main part of the channel . Towhead - very similar to an island but formed in a different fashion from an island . Timberhead - a vertical mooring bit , constructed in pairs and used mostly on barges . In conclusion this was just a brief explanation of some of the river terms that we use and if anyone would care to learn more about these different terms I would be more than happy to offer up more detail and to even provide pictures as well . Hope this has helped to inform and enlighten some of you that have never been exposed to this aspect of Life On The River !
Smoothe Sailing !
Ted davisson UOTE=Frank X. Prudent;9338]OK, Ted, we all now know that there is river jargon, and that you know the words! How 'bout stepping into the league of Harry Louden, "Doc" Hawley, and Ernie Wagner, and do some explaining to those whom don't know what they mean, but are interested?

Thanks for posting again, Ted; I didn't want to get into this one. I did learn what a "Greenville flank" was! I am waiting for the book by Charles Lehman that Alan metioned. We could all go on and on and on!

Colorful Expressions

Great stuff Cap'n Ted.

How about some of us digging into our memory banks and try to recall interesting terms, or sayings, that we heard along the river that we may still today. I will offer for starters:

"Check My Buckets"
In the days before sufficient electrical power and HVAC units to air-condition the far-reaching rooms on the DELTA QUEEN, individual window units were installed on the Sun Deck, especially for the AAA staterooms. These units, of course, discharged their condensation onto the deck making them dangerously slick, so Captain Wagner, being the inventive genius he was, hung #10 tin cans beneath the discharge spouts on the AC units and charged deckhands Ernest Johnson and Lewis "Red Rooster" Bayless the responsibility of periodically checking the buckets to make sure they did not overflow onto the deck.

It didn't take long for these gentlemen to realize that Big Cap had written them a free pass to get out of duties they wanted to avoid. So whenever something came up that they didn't wanted to do (like help the porters take on stores), one, or both, would immediately turn and head for the Sun Deck and say as they departed, "Got to go check ma buckets."

Sometimes I use this expression when I want to leave the pilothouse for a break and tell the Mate that I am heading below "to check my buckets." The most fun, of course, is retelling the story behind the expression and there-by keeping the language alive and passing along a bit of the rich river heritage that I have been fortunate enough to witness.

Across the Roof
On many of the steamboats, the way to the entrance of the pilothouse was across the roof to the door. The BELLE OF LOUISVILLE for example. Captain "Handsome Harry" Hamilton used the term to mean that he was heading down out of the pilothouse- often headed toward the galley. I find myself using this term today to mean that I intend to exit the boat via the outside deck and not down through the interior of the vessel.

Behind the Door
Another Handsome-Harryism that he used to ask the Crew Mess Steward what dessert was being offered that day. He explained that the cooks on the old-time steamboat kept the deserts in cabinets with solid doors that could be locked so that the crew did ravage the pies and cakes between meals.

So to ask "What's behind the door" is sometimes used by Y/T for the same purpose, but most often said to myself when I wondering what lies on the other side of the see-though glass doors of the desert locker.