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The last 8 weeks of "Tow Talkin'" will appear here. For information on columns beyond 8 weeks old, please contact Kathy Flippo.
July 28, 2008 Caught Marquette’s M/v David L. Fields locking up #13 Tuesday last week. That boat was originally the D. Ray Miller and then the Greg Minton. Knew her by both names. Captain is Ron McCartney; pilot is Danny Haynes; cook is Diane Dalton, who just got married; lead deckhand is Jacob Ramsey; and another deckhand is Curtis Williams. The huge Str. American Queen went up on Wednesday. She sure does fill up the river! Got up at 5:30 a.m. on Friday to go to the bathroom. Looked out the bathroom window and there was a tow going upstream with a giant house at the head of the tow painted in Corps of Engineers colors. I’m not a morning person, but I got dressed and jumped in the Suburban because I’m a nosy old rat and had to see what this was all about. Turns out a Marquette boat (the Laurie S. Johnston, I think, had one on the hip; so couldn’t see her signboard) had the Corps new Quarters Boat Taggatz in tow for Fountain City, Wisconsin. The M/v Kathy Ellen, an Alter Barge Line boat, came down on Friday also and did major rat killin’ across from our house. She had six barges and topped around and then nosed into the outside of Beaver Island. Quite a bit later she knocked out of tow and went around to the other end and faced up to the barges that were the head of the tow. Then ARTCO’s harbor tug Saratoga started bringing her barges and put them on the new head of the tow. Finally after several hours she continued downstream with 12 barges. Friday sure was a busy day on the river! Besides the Laurie S. Johnston with the Taggatz and the Kathy Ellen, the M/v’s Tom Behringer, Andrea Leigh, Loree Eckstein, Tom Talbert, Amy Frances, New Dawn, Phyllis and the L. J. Sullivan went by. The Str. Twilight went down too. Then on Saturday there was only one tow, Marquette’s M/v Lindsey Ann Erickson. It seems to be feast or famine. Until next week, so long from the old river rat. July 21, 2008 Caught the Ingram Barge Co. boat M/v Peter Fanchi locking down at #13 Thursday. They sure had a conglomeration for a tow! Besides covered grain barges they had four ugly loads of rusty scrap metal. They were coming down from St. Paul and headed to St. Louis. Joshua Ryan was 2nd Mate and he’s been on the Fanchi since February of 2006. He lives down in Mississippi. Chad Hurst was a deckhand and Tyler Stuve was a greenhorn deckhand. Annie King was cooking. Kevin Baker was pilot. Captain was Kenneth Johnson, and we talked to each other via the squawk box on the head of the 2nd cut as they came in. He asked if I knew Ted Dean. Well sure! He was one of our captains for MATCO, lives in Calhoun County, Illinois, between the rivers and has an orchard to keep him busy. Then Captain Johnson asked if I knew Jerry Tinkey. Of course! He was our MATCO company president before he went to Ingram and we still keep in touch. Friday night another Ingram boat, the M/v Roy E. Claverie went up, and I tried to talk to them as they locked at #13. Lead man was James Gibson from Union City, Tennessee. They were taking their coal up to Genoa, Wisconsin. Saturday morning we had some major rat killin’ across the way alongside Beaver Island. The Ingram boat M/v Tom Talbert was nosed in when I got up at 6:30. Quite awhile later the Ingram boat M/v Samuel B. Richmond came up and stopped alongside the Talbert’s tow. It took them forever to get squared around but as I figured, they switched tows. The Talbert took the Richmond’s tow north, and the Richmond took the Talbert’s tow south. The stranger of the week was the M/v Valvoline, a Marathon Oil Co. boat going north. She’s a real pretty boat with red stacks and the sign boards written in red. Went up to the lock to talk to them but it didn’t happen. The ARTCO tow M/v New Dawn was locking down, but the mate refused to talk to me. Then down came the Twilight—our local excursion boat. Then the ARTCO local coal tow M/v Andrea Leigh was ready to lock up, and I decided supper was needed so went home to feast and missed the Valvoline. Until next week, so long from the old river rat. July 14, 2008 Some strange stuff moving up the river this week. Not in barges but on MT covered barges. Huge white wind turbine blades. Now that is a sight to behold! The stranger of the week going upstream was the M/v Stephen Foster. She was built in 1948 by St. Louis Shipbuilding and Steel Company. I remember seeing her up here way back when when I was a kid, but haven’t seen her in years. She belongs to Okie Moore Diving & River Contracting of St. Charles, Missouri, now. She had the Captain Val in tow with her. Bet they were going to Dubuque to fish those sunken barges and that half-sunken one off the US 20 bridge. The Stephen Foster is just 105 feet by 28 feet and is powered by one Fairbanks Morse diesel giving 1800 hp. The Captain Val is also owned by Okie Moore and was built in 1965 by Universal Towing Co. of East Carondelet, Illinois. Then she was rebuilt in 1971 by the Grafton Boat Company in Grafton, Illinois, and rebuilt again in 1976 by Okie Moore. She’s 52 feet by 20 feet with a pair of GM diesels giving 650 hp. She sank in 1975 and spent lots of time under water, but Okie Moore raised her and she is working again. Watched the M/v Jennie K come up with four barges and go up into Beaver Slough with them. About 9 p.m. I decided to take a ride over to Clinton and see if she was at the 3rd Street Dock. Bingo! She was. The truck from the Bellevue boat store was there loaded to the gills with boxes of groceries, paper goods, cleaning stuff and even a new American flag. I was able to visit with the Captain (a 30-year veteran) while the crew unloaded everything. Captain Mike Davis from Greenville, Mississippi, was tripping on the Jennie K this run. He usually is on the Susan K. My first question was “What does the K stand for? Bunge has three towboats, the Jennie K, the Susan K and the Thomas K.” Well, K stands for Klien. Captain Mike started introducing me to the crew: Wanda Compton is the cook. Bear Kellum of Tennessee; Marty Jordan of Indianola, Mississippi; Luke Carter of Crosset, Arkansas; and Daving Mahoney of Crossville, Tennessee, are the deck crew. Dave Masterson is chief engineer. Dave Masterson???? Gee that name was familiar. Well sure! He was our oiler on the M/v Emma Bordner, now Audrey Fouts, from 1977 to 1988. Dave lives in St. Louis. The Jennie K was built in 1982 by Dravo Corp. at Neville Island, Penn. Originally she was the Spartan Transportation Corp. boat Mercury. Name change in 1989 when Bunge Towing, Inc. bought her. She’s 140 feet by 42 feet and powered by twin General Electric diesels giving 6000 hp. Sure a pretty boat! So long until next week from the old river rat. July 7, 2008 Saw the M/v Susan Elizabeth take her three chem. barges north last Monday evening so I went to find her. Figured she’d be going to the fertilizer dock at Fulton, Illinois, and I was right. Was invited to go out to the boat so put on a life jacket and away I went. Up the dike then out the long steel walkway, down a flight of steps to the cement cell that the pipeline equipment is anchored to. The barges were there, but they weren’t touching the pier by a long shot. It was a good three-foot step to get over to the closest barge. Crossed over the barges to the boat where the tankerman escorted me through the kitchen and up to the pilothouse. There I met Capt. Doyle O. Johnson, Sr., from Goodway, Arkansas. He’s been working on the tows since 1993. His pilot was sleeping, but his name is Don Johnson, no relation to Doyle. The Susan Elizabeth carries five crew. Dennis Paulk is their tankerman, and he lives in Florida. I asked who the cook was and Doyle said it was whoever got the urge. No one looked very hungry, so I guess they are all good cooks. Sure do have a nice kitchen. The Fulton dock originally was the Smith Dock. The E. E. Smith towboat was named after the owner. She’s now the Arthur E. Snider. I was able to ride her on high water from Keokuk to St. Louis. Nice boat. Not sure what the Fulton Dock pumped out into their big tank farm back then, but now it is liquid fertilizer… urea to be polite. Thursday, the 3rd, was Ingram day. The M/vs Ed Renshaw, Robin B. Ingram, Samuel B. Richmond and the Roy E. Claverie went by. Went up to Lock 13 to interview the Ed Renshaw as they locked up with their 15 coal barges. They picked them up down at the Orba Johnson Dock between Galland and Keokuk, Iowa, and were on their way to the power plant at Lansing, Iowa, with them. Crew included Wes Shipley from Steele, Missouri, deckhand; Brock Weaver from Gaston, Tennessee, another deckhand; and Mate Richard Kerrigan from Herrin, Illinois. The pilot on duty was Ralph somebody who was tripping this trip. Captain was Jerry Schilling. Now I’ve watched the Renshaw go up and down for years, but Thursday my eyes about fell out of my head! They have a towboat on the pilothouse! It looks like a birdhouse to me, but isn’t. Up on a pole at the back of the pilothouse roof, painted in Ingram colors. Sure is neat looking but what a surprise! Did a river program for the Corps of Engineers campground Fisherman’s Corner Saturday night. It is located just above the earthen dam at the end of Lock 14. I hit the jackpot because I had show and tell going down through the lock. The M/v Mitch Jones took down three chem. loads in a set-over single locking followed immediately by the M/v Sierra Dawn with 12 grain loads. I had 42 people at the program. Until next week, so long from the old river rat. June 23, 2008 It hasn’t rained for a couple of days and the river is falling. Lock 13 started locking again on the 18th, but the boats still can’t go down through #14. It looks like an ARTCO parking lot around here! Had a phone call from the Mississippi River Museum in Dubuque on Wednesday morning. They wanted to do a telephone interview with me about my growing up on the river and all my river experiences. Got all done and then he told me the tape didn’t record it. So, I changed clothes and went up to Dubuque to do it in person. That was a mistake because they video taped it. After that I decided to cross over the lower Dubuque bridge and go to Galena, Illinois, to the Twilight’s office to see if they needed books. There is still one loaded barge half sunk and hung up on one of those bridge piers from when the M/v Raymond Grant Eckstein broke up tow going down through the railroad bridge just above the highway bridge. Was going to the grocery story in Clinton Friday afternoon when I noticed that ARTCO’s M/v Cooperative Vanguard wasn’t at the fleet on Beaver Island like it has been for days during the high water. So I went down to South Clinton and sure enough, I guessed right. They were at the 3rd Street dock taking on supplies. ARTCO has a new policy now that their crews can’t be interviewed for any reason. But the crew and I had a good visit along the lines of “Do you know???” It amazed me how many people I knew that they knew. Sunday afternoon ARTCO’s M/v Ardyce Randall locked down #13 with 12 loads out of St. Paul. Michael Deibes was on as first mate. He’s been working on the rivers for 19 years now and lives in Kevil, Kentucky. So long until next week from the old river rat. June 16, 2008 What a week. Nothing to do but watch it rain cats and dogs and watch the river come up fast. It’s higher now than it was in April and May. Had a ton of boats last Tuesday, the 10th, though. Gene Herde up, Issaquena up, Twilight up, Ed Renshaw down, Queen City down, Kathy Ellen down, Deana Ann down, Raymond Grant Eckstein down and the Deana Ann down. Wednesday, the 11th, a couple strangers went up. One was the M/v Mitch Jones, a Blessy Marine Services, Inc. boat out of Harahan, Louisiana. She’s 148 feet by 42 feet with a pair of GM diesels giving 4,600 horsepower. She was built in 1998 by Jeffboat over in Jeffersonville, Indiana. Originally she was the Santa Elena, which I had seen before. The other tow was the M/v Susan Elizabeth, which brought up three chem. barges and is still sitting in the fleet across from the house. What a boat! She is so dark! Painted something like a dark gray/tan with navy blue wide stripe trim. She blends into the trees so much you have to look twice to see her. She was built in 1990 by Taylor Marine Service in Bayou la Batre, Alabama. She’s 81 feet by 30 feet with a pair of Cat diesels giving her 2,400 horsepower. Kirby owns her, but she is operated by Capital Inland Marine, Inc. out of Houston, Texas. Certainly NOT painted like all the other Kirby boats. Because of high water, the river closed on Friday the 13th. Besides the M/v Susan Elizabeth over in the fleet waiting out the high water, ARTCO has three tows up above us a bit. The M/v’s Coral Dawn and New Dawn are at Pillsbury Beach, and the Cooperative Vanguard is in the Beaver Island fleet out from Francescon’s house. The harbor tugs, Saratoga and Trojan are busy every day checking on everything making sure everything is OK. The water went over the piers under the RR bridge at Clinton today and is almost over the sheer boom. The fertilizer dock up at Fulton is totally inundated and as of yesterday, Sunday, the lock gates up at #13 were about a foot to go before they would be under. Until next week, so long from the old river rat. June 9, 2008 Rain, rain, go away! I’m sick and tired of high water. It went down and now it’s coming back up. Had a stranger go up river on Thursday last week. The little Mv. Fred R. McKenzie. This tug-size boat was built in 1980 by the owner, McKenzie Engineering Co. out of Fort Madison, Iowa. at Oquawka, Illinois. She is just 50 feet by 20 feet, with a pair of Cummins diesels giving her 730 hp. I think ACBL’s towboat Mv. Jeffboat needs a trip to the shipyard. She went up at 2 o’clock Sunday morning and sounded awful. She has Alco diesels but they don’t go BANG, BANG, BANG on every count of three. The Ingram boat, Mv. O. H. Ingram is getting painted. In the meantime she is running incognito. Won’t be long and they’ll have her all spic and span again with a name board and stack logo. Haven’t been up to Lock 13 to do any interviews for this column because I have been spending my time shelling out money to keep my Suburban going. Four new tires, new idler arms, new pitmans and an alignment and now I’m broke. There were a lot of tows going by last week: Cooperative Venture, Raymond Grant Eckstein, Laurie S. Johnston, Joseph Patrick Eckstein, Davenport, Bruce L. Hahn, R.W. Naye, Phyllis, Andrew Cannava, Show-Me-State, Nebraska City, Samuel B. Richmond, David L. Fields, Andrea Leigh, Twilight (passenger), Sierra Dawn, O. H. Ingram, Fred R. McKenzie, Robin B. Ingram, Senator Stennis, American Beauty, Ed Renshaw, Midland, Angela K, Jeffboat, and the Roy E. Claverie. Until next week, so long from the old river rat. June 2, 2008 Nothing exciting happening out front this past week. It is amazing though, that with the price of gas and diesel so high, how many big Chris-Craft type fancy boats are out going full speed ahead. And lots of pontoons, houseboats, bass boats, and jet skis. Just a few good old flat boats like mine. Did see a work barge filled with a crane, bulldozer, etc come down the river. At first I thought it was just floating along by itself. Then I spotted the little Nebraska City pushing it. She is owned by Newt Marine Service up at Dubuque and is all of 45 feet by 14 feet, with a pair of Cat diesels giving 500 hp. She was built in 1948 at the Engineer Boatyard at Gasconade, Missouri. Gasconade was just north of us, and we went to church there. The boatyard is still in operation right there on the Gasconade River mouth and the Missouri River. The government has decided it would be a good idea to get ride of the 20-cent extra tax on every gallon of diesel fuel a towboat buys and instead put a charge on every barge that locks through. That would be a disaster to farmers, power plants and every one else!!! They plan on a $50.00 charge per barge to start with and then every year raise it ten bucks until it reached $80.00. At $50.00 to take a 15-barge tow from the St. Louis harbor to the St. Paul harbor it would cost the towing company $19,500.00!!! And you know that that cost would have to be absorbed by the shippers. This is NOT a good idea. Caught the ARTCO 15-barge tow, the Mv. Coral Dawn locking up #13 Sunday afternoon headed for St. Paul. Gary Powell was on the head of the tow and has been working on the rivers for three and a half years. Capt. James Black was bringing her in, and Beth Harris was cooking. The Coral Dawn was built in 1967 at St. Louis Ship and is 164 feet by 40 feet, with a pair of GM‘s giving her 5,400 hp. ARTCO has four “Dawn” boats: Coral, New, Prairie and Sierra. The river is still falling, but we had torrential rains Saturday. The Maquoketa River is way, way out of her banks—more so than she was all year. All that has to come down so I imagine we‘ll get another rise. Rain, rain go away, I‘ve got tomatoes to plant! Until next week, so long from the old river rat. |
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