Topic starter
15/08/2010 2:04 pm
Saturday morning Madison newspapers always include a syndicated magazine called "American Profile". The main topic of this week's American Profile was on remaining steamboats of the US. It's a nice article covering the Natchez, DQ, Belle of Louisville, Graceful Ghost and Minne-Ha-Ha. They missed the Julia Belle Swain and Chautauqua Belle, but the author did pretty good homework on the boats he did cover. There are quotes from Doc Hawley, Bill Dow, Capt. Troy Delaney, Capt. Mike Fitzgerald and others.
Here is an online link to the article and video:
Rollin' on the River
15/08/2010 5:16 pm
magazine article
Thanks for that link. Its a pretty good article, especially since it features the NATCHEZ. And while so often people are misquoted or quoted out of context, I can verify that Capt. Troy C. Delaney most certainly would say that blowing the whistle is the best part of his job. Its hard to reconcile that both he and Capt. Don are now 47. I met them when they were first on the NATCHEZ and they were 21... where does the time go?
Speaking of time, I was reading articles in a couple of magazines I dug out to bring over for the Ramblings event, and a sadness and bitterness came over me as I read the descriptions of the authors' DQ trips, knowing that that experience should still be around...
15/08/2010 5:36 pm
I missed the video the first time
I forgot to click on the included video the first time I read the article. Its a nice 3:24 clip of scenes on the NATCHEZ:
Ben Smith and the Dukes of Dixieland performing Riverboat Shuffle prior to departure
Capt. Troy Delaney in pilothouse on departure, Capt. Robbie Mitchell observing; next shot includes Capt. Don Houghton with Troy
Debbie Fagnano at the calliope
2nd generation in the Engine Room: Scott Vieages and Juan Mendivil Jr., with Chief Juan (Sr. Scotty is also Chief and was part of the Bergeron crew which built the NATCHEZ)
Dukes playing The Saints - that's Riverwalk in the background as the NATCHEZ is heading home on the dinner cruise. Its neat to be standing on the Riverwalk or Woldenberg Park as the band wraps up the evening since the boat is quite close to shore.
One thing which trips people up constantly - when the trip starts, it goes downriver, not up. We are landed downriver which is against the current of the eddy which runs from Gov. Nic up the east bank to Canal St. or so...
Overall, a nice article and accompanying video to brighten the day!