Evolution of the Str. IDLEWILD / AVALON

Keith to Keith: Grand stuff indeed! How might I (and others) get a look-see?

Keith N. is offline for the weekend, so I'll sort of answer: he tried to scan them to post today, but they were too light. Doc wants these to go to anyone who wants them, so I presume that you can simply pay Keith for the postage and copying, and he'll get a set to you. One thing about Doc Hawley that can't be said about every person - he is generous to a fault with sharing, both his artifacts and memorabilia and his knowledge. There aren't many, but still a viable number, of people who 'hoard' things and work angles to get themselves promoted by virtue of this ownership - not Doc. A trip to NOLA never ends without receiving something Doc just happened to find in his attic. He is glad to share, without profit motive, with almost anyone interested in the river. So contact Keith Monday when he returns to work and his computer.

One interesting aspect of the various remodelings of the BELLE that Doc tells is when the aft Texas cabins were removed, opening up more space on the stern for public seating. Capacity with the longer Texas: 1300. Capacity with more seating space, lowered to what, Alan, 1100?

Judy, I have heard that tale about the sponsons being added to increase the boat's stability only to have the Coast Guard cut the passenger allowance. I do not recall the numbers involved. The Belle of Louisville was allowed 1,353 persons (passengers plus crew) from 1963 through 1968 and we often carried more than 1,200.
The wildest passenger count we had was on a trip up Green River. The Corps sponsored a trip from Rockport to Rochester, Ky. A large group of Corps people from Louisvilleand Evansville showed up as well as the entire Louisville Coast Guard contingent. At Rockport passengers just kept a-coming over the hill and, mindful of the Coast Guard's presence, when I reached 1,300 I asked Captain Paul Underwood what to do. His answer was short and succinct - "Stop counting!" We left Rockport with well over 1,600 aboard. We ran out of tables, chairs, soft drinks, ice, weenies and souvenirs. Seated passengers dared not stand lest someone grab their chairs before they could straighten their knees.
Today the boat is restricted to 800, not by stability considerations, but by the operating board. At about 400 tables become scarce and at about 600 chairs have a premium. More than likely the actual allowance is more than 800, but I do not know what it is.

Steamboating colleagues:
Judy is right regarding Doc's open, honest spirit in sharing his collection and knowledge with people freely--no strings attached or ulterior motives. My packet of IDLEWILD/AVALON drawings with notations arrived in the mail here late yesterday thanks to both Doc and Keith. What a surprise. When Doc writes a note or letter it's a work of art with his mastery of wet ink caligraphy rendering it a collector's item.

Thanks Doc for your hospitality in the past and many more years of collecting, writing and sharing.

Cheers,
R. Dale Flick

Helo, all,
I too received the same material from Doc and I'm planning to work it into an article for the S & D Reflecter. I have photos of the boat in various stages of its career to go with the text. Any one with other photos they want to share is invited to contact me. By putting this into article form it will be widely distributed and available to many.

John,

I´m currently working on an article for the Swiss Steamer Magazine which will be published in the December issue of this magazine 🙂

Carmen

This is going to turn into a week-by-week history if we're not careful. One of the major frustrations of steamboat researchers is that boats change from start to finish. A real steamboat mate would paint an entire boat international orange if that's all he has in the paint locker.

Keith back to Keith: Ask and ye shall receive! Doc wants this information made available to all who are interested and I've already mailed out a batch of copies to other buffs and buffettes. E-mail me ([email protected]) your snail mail address and I'll have copies into the mail for you today. And please don't even think about $ for copies and postage. People on the river are happy to give!

Will do, Keith - thanks a-plenty! And an extra heaping of gratitude to Captain Hawley!

Carmen: Copies of the drawings are en route to Munich! Let me know if you need anything else!

Thanks a lot, Keith!!

Carmen

Carmen, with all of the info thats being distributed, perhaps there's no need now for me to do a Reflector article. I'd like to see what you wrote - but then I probably won't be able to read it.

Come on John, don't be that way...do the article!

John,

You definitely would be able to read it (hey, it´s not hand written but typed :-)). But as it is in German the main question is whether you understand what I´ve written :-).

I have a bit more than 5 pages and have to shorten the whole thing to a maximum of 4 pages :-(.

Carmen

Judging from the number of requests I've received for Doc's drawings, LOTS of folks are very interested in how the BELLE changed in her former lives as the IDLEWILD and AVALON. With the wharfboat still over at Jeffboat (since November) for hull repairs, the BELLE is very visible from the Second Street Bridge as I commute to the office each morning, and the old gal makes quite a memorable picture with her decks and pilothouse aglow in lights. Reminds me of the good old days when Louisville still had the sloping cobblestone wharf and the BELLE was moored ahead of the wharfboat RENOWN, making her easy to see from the bridge.

During dinner last night at Rocky and Carlo's (Ruby Red's was closed), I told Doc of the great interest in his drawings and notes on the boat's evolution. He was quite pleased. In case you've never heard of those New Orleans eating establishments, they're not exactly Galatoires or Commanders Palace! R&C is where the Chalmatians gather, down in Chalmette, and Ruby Reds is the reincarnation on the West Bank of the original RR on Esplanade, a hamburger dive....incidentally this meal was a bonus, as I should have been home yesterday morning, but due to the snowstorm in the midwest, I had to stay another day in sunny warm NOLA, darn....

And the requests are still rolling in! The "On The River" monthly magazine section from The Quad CityTimes arrived yesterday with the nice article by John Willard on Doc's upcoming talk for the Henry Farney Dinner in Rock Island on February 22nd. A full page article, it's illustrated with three photos (two of them in color) of Doc, supplied by Judy. One image, taken in the pilothouse of the Str. NATCHEZ, also includes the late Capt. Roddy Hammett. And there's a dandy one of Doc at the calliope of the AVALON. The article is available on the QC Times website, but does not include all the pictures.

Keith,
I received my copies of Doc's papers yesterday. Thanks a bunch. A great addition to my IDLEWILD/AVALON/BOL file.

Jerry

You are very welcome Jerry! Capt. Doc phoned me Friday evening and is very pleased that there's been such a BIG interest in his sketches. Stay tuned for further information and "amplification" from his pen!

Keith,

I am on pins and needles waiting for more!

I can't even begin to tell you how much time I have spent studying them already and waiting to walk the decks and look for things. Specially that splice in the staircase! After all these years, you'd think I would have know about that or noticed it. To think of all the history under our noses we don't see!

Thank you Capt. Hawley!

~Travis~

Well, there isn't anyone alive today who has 'lived' the IDLEWILD/AVALON/BELLE more than Doc, and hopefully his narration accompanying these drawings will be published in the REFLECTOR. Doc has shied away from submitting articles since he was once rejected for an article that he had been asked to write. This would certainly be a great way to return to contributing for him.

Hi Judy,
My name is Danny Gray. I haven't seen you in a while. Are you in New Orleans?? I recently moved from NYC where I was working at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Roddy introduced you to me. I now I live in New Orleans again. My email address is [email protected]