Topic starter
15/11/2011 2:30 pm
Greetings from NOLA, finally. It seems like more than 3 months since I've been here. I got in Monday in time to take 2 trips on the steamer NATCHEZ. The afternoon trip happened to have Bill Dow aboard. It was good to see him after several years. The dinner trip got 'interesting' around the sugar refinery as fog started rolling in. It was never shutout and you could see bank to bank, but the little harbor boats working around the anchorage were difficult to spot. It was great teamwork by Capt. Troy C. Delaney the pilot and Capt. Steven Nicoulin the master who watched the AIS. This Capt. Steven is the younger - he was a month old when I started working on the NATCHEZ... As river people are so good to help each other, Capt. Troy called the CREOLE QUEEN as she started her downbound cruise to alert them of the fog ahead, which allowed them to rearrange their route a bit. One of the changes I noticed from August is the removal of the old levee around Algiers Point. They had breeched it this spring to relieve some pressure from the high water, but now it is gradually being leveled. The newer levee which has been in place for about a decade, is about 100 feet inland from the original one. The river level is low, about 2.5, so the 'beach' isn't showing yet below the Toulouse St. Wharf, but you can see the wave action affected by it. It appears that ship traffic is up - there were more ships in the Anchorage than usual, quite a few at the docks, and quite a few passing us, including NOBRA 70 on an upbound yesterday afternoon. Over at the Beauregard-Keyes House (where my apartment is still vacant), they've had to do some emergency shoring up under the ballroom area as the foundation wall is bowing. There is a new director and the house is again open for tours and rentals. There is no 11:30 trip today, so it looks like a trip to a golf course while it is still hot and muggy - a cold front is due tomorrow.
1) The NATCHEZ at Toulouse St., river stage 2.5. You can see the nameboard beginning to be obscured by the wharf - and of course the new food and beverage shed obscures the view all the time.
2) Capt. Bill Dow watching Capt. Troy C. Delaney landing at 4:30.
3) The levee over on Algiers Point. Some of you might remember the old looking restaurant which was built right out on the point for the 1984 Worlds Fair business. It lasted a few years, was closed for several, and finally bulldozed, leaving the Point land empty.
Topic starter
15/11/2011 2:45 pm
More pictures
1) the Lunkenheimer whistle
2) the new (current Spanish flag) and the Louisiana state flag. The old Castille y Leon Spanish flag used to be one of the six flown. Other flags on the roof are the city, French, and two US flags.
3) a surprise to see this - the LADY LONE STAR was the replacement for the LONE STAR which was the last steam sternwheel towboat on the UMR. She ran for Moline Sand and Gravel in pools 15 and 16. Here she is in NOLA, waiting for the Industrial Canal lock and she's now registered in Mobile. Have to do some research on this relocation...
Topic starter
15/11/2011 3:01 pm
The NATCHEZ' steambuses
Great American Steamboat Company is going to provide their own buses to follow the AQ to provide the shore tours. They say they'll look like the AQ... Here are some Grayline buses with the NATCHEZ wraparounds
I'm having trouble posting pix, Franz/Carmen. I get a Fehler 500, that I'm using an old URL or something.... these are new pix.
Topic starter
16/11/2011 12:31 am
Tuesday pix
After a sunny morning on the golf course, the 2:30 trip had intermittent rain showers, but the cold front still hasn't arrived. Temps were in the 80s...
1) Capt. Steven Nicoulin, the younger, pilot and Capt. Steve Nicoulin, the elder, master
2) I hadn't seen the aurora effect in a while on the NATCHEZ, but it was dark at 5:30 for the dinner concert by Debbie.
Sorry, but I'm getting the Fehler 500 again. I'll try to post the pix of the MISSISSPPI QUEEN's capstans after the dinner cruise.
Topic starter
16/11/2011 4:41 am
MISSISSIPPI QUEEN's capstans
On Aug. 31 Steven Nicoulin and CJ Lardner drove the company pickup to Belle River to buy one of the MQ's stern capstans. The price was so good, they bought both of them. One will be installed on the NATCHEZ during January layup. The other one is available, if anyone feels the need for a rather large capstan....
Topic starter
16/11/2011 5:01 am
and here's the other one
The second of the MQ's capstans on the Toulouse St. wharf
Of course I'm getting the Fehler 500 message again. Sorry. This is frustrating.
Topic starter
17/11/2011 12:57 am
Wednesday in NOLA
We'll see if I can get any pix posted tonight after a round of
golf at Audubon Park, a 2:30 ride on the NATCHEZ, and a gathering at the Le Richelieu bar.... temps in the 80s, at home 39...
1)2) the second capstan from the MQ
3) Capt. Nicoulin repositioning the US flag in the wind
Topic starter
17/11/2011 7:41 pm
Thursday morning calliope by Doc
Once again MairzyDoats, Abba Dabba, and Running Wild wafted through the French Quarter - or were blown across to the Westbank, as Doc Hawley played the boarding concert for the 11:30 trip. He will be doing the same tomorrow, as Debbie is playing for funerals at her church both days. It has been a while since I've heard Doc play in person, but this makes it 59 years that I can remember hearing his calliope concerts. Got to go take some Geritol...
Topic starter
18/11/2011 12:35 am
Live from TWO levees...
I was eating dinner prior to posting this evening report when I got a phone call from Keith - live from the Chattanooga levee. He and Travis arrived this afternoon and will stay until Sunday. Keith says the DQ is decked out in Christmas lights and is absolutely glowing. Curator Keith is glowing too after having seen just a bit of the historical collection recently donated to the DQ. Back on the New Orleans levee, after Doc and I tracked down the new location of Ruby Red's, I rode the breezy 2:30 cruise. I don't know what the river stage is today, but it is obviously lower than when I arrived, as the sandbar is beginning to come out for air downstream of the Toulouse St. wharf. There is no dinner cruise tonight, but there is a charter from 10-midnight for a college group. This is one time I'm glad to not be on board!
The sandbar is evident at the end of the starboard boom. Incidentally, the acorns on the boom were made by high schoolers following the pattern of Larry Walker's acorns. Larry's acorns still adorn the NATCHEZ everywhere else.
Topic starter
18/11/2011 12:41 am
The NATCHEZ' steambuses
We'll try again to post the pictures of the Grayline buses. Grayline is jointly owned by N.O. Steamboat and Hotard Buses. The AQ is to have decorated buses which I presume will have some sort of similar wraparound. These buses are very eyecatching.
Topic starter
18/11/2011 12:57 pm
MISSISSIPPI QUEEN's capstans
I should point out that one MQ capstan will be mounted on the bow, replacing the original one. This smaller one will then be placed on the stern fantail. This work will be done during the January layup, beginning Jan. 11 after the BCS championship game. This layup will include the 5 year drydocking, so if you're planning a trip to NOLA, be aware the NATCHEZ will be laid up from Jan. 12 to early February...
18/11/2011 1:43 pm
MQ Capstans
Judy, do you know if these are the two capstans from the stern of the MQ? I remember that there was one on the starboard side. I assume there was one on the port side as well.
Topic starter
18/11/2011 2:28 pm
MQ capstans
Yes, these are the stern capstans off the MQ. Its a shame the owner did not allow the NATCHEZ and other interested parties to buy items before the dismantling started. The power units have to be rebuilt because the capstans were basically just pulled off without thought to being reusable. Likewise for the searchlights, and probably running lights and other electronics. The NATCHEZ also wanted to buy some overhead reels for stern lines to use in hurricane situations, but those reels were gone. Obviously somebody has been given access to things like the mermaids, but the MQ could have lived on navigation-wise on other boats, had the owner been more cognizant of the value of those items.
Topic starter
18/11/2011 9:34 pm
Leaving on a jet plane..
Live from Louie Armstrong International Airport: time to fly north to the chilly clime. I was able to catch one more trip on the NATCHEZ this morning, on a brisk windy and sunny day. Prior to the trip there was a meeting of the braintrust viewing the MQ capstan to see what Chief Scotty has done to it so far. CCH played the calliope concert, including South, which I piped to Larry Walker in Cincinnati. That's his favorite song so i thought I'd surprise him a bit. Larry sounds good and seems to enjoy living in the retirement community. He was astounded to learn that Steven Nicoulin has been running Master this week - I had to remind him we've been around a while, and he isn't Little Steve any more! I've got a few more pix to post but that will wait a bit as its about boarding time to Atlanta. Another great time way down yonder in New Orleans!
Topic starter
19/11/2011 9:47 pm
Final pix from the southern foray
1) Checking over the work done already on the MQ's capstan:
Mates CJ Lardner, Steven Nicoulin; Doc Hawley, Capt. Steve Nicoulin, Chief Scotty Vieages
2) the sad state of my former apartment - now just a storage area for boxed books (so far about $7000 in my rent lost)
3) CCH never misses a thing - he's waving to some fans out on the wharf
Once again I suggest that you don't pass up a chance to ride a steamboat - we've seen how quickly they've been taken away from us. I can't imagine a visit to New Orleans without a ride on the NATCHEZ...
21/11/2011 12:05 am
Near Miss
Judy: I just missed you by about a week. I was on the NATCHEZ also Nov. 5th and 6th. And got to shoot some Video of Doc's Sunday consert..
Enjoy..
NATCHEZ Steam CaLLiope Capt. Doc Hawley - YouTube
Steam CaLLiope on the NATCHEZ Doc Hawley playing - YouTube