The riverboat captain is a storyteller, and Captain Don Sanders will be sharing the stories of his long association with the river — from discovery to a way of love and life. This story first appeared in October, 2018.
By Capt. Don Sanders
Special to NKyTribune
What a week this has been on the river! Heavy rains have, again, swollen the Upper Mississippi River and turned it into a mill race between St. Louis and Cairo, where the Ohio and the Upper join and form the mighty Lower Mississippi River.
Towboat pilot, Captain Kyle Pfenning, who bills himself as “ just a southwestern Oklahoma farm-boy living the Mark Twain life working on the Mississippi River,” posted a Facebook video of that stretch of the river showing navigational buoys diving beneath the surface in the swift current.
“It’s a rapids, man… virtually a rapids!” Cap’n Kyle exclaimed over the roar of the swirling water.
With a week of record-breaking temperatures in the Middle Ohio Valley where work slowed to a crawl aboard the Rafter CLYDE as I spiffed up the boat for prospective buyers. A couple of times, it wasn’t until after 4 p.m., once the sun was low enough in the western sky to drop the temps a few degrees on the Rabbit Hash General Store thermometer mounted in the forward cabin of the CLYDE, that chores resumed. Still, there’s the main deck alongside the outer guards that need prepping and painting, but with some effort in the oncoming cooler days, they will be ready for the next prospects.
Fortunately, there were no deaths, injuries, or pollution events resulting from the incident. As I never second-guess such hapless occurrences, I will wait for the findings of the United States Coast Guard and other investigative officials before adding my nickles-worth to the fray of public opinion.
As unfortunate as the accident was, the real blessing remains how free of such destructive incidents the commercial sector of the river abides in spite of the thousands of towboats moving tens-of-thousands of barges through these same waters each year. Many of the barges loaded with deadly and noxious chemicals could prove destructive, not only to the immediate object of impact but to the surrounding communities as well.
An example of a narrow escape from tragedy happened around 0519 hours on 19 March of 1972, when a liquid chlorine barge broke loose from its tow and lodged against McAlpine Lock & Dam on the Ohio River and could not be pulled free. The Mayor of surrounding Louisville, Kentucky, ordered the evacuation of 4,800 residents of the Portland area closest to the danger. After the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers debated various schemes to free the deadly chlorine barge from the dam, including the use of explosives, cooler heads prevailed and called upon no other than Captain John Beatty to help resolve the quandary.
With his two minesweeper ships, Captain John straddled the sunken chlorine barge and with great cable straps, held it securely while divers attached hoses and pumped 640 tons of liquid chlorine into an empty tank barge; saving the city. Captain Beatty and his courageous crew will, forever, be remembered in the annals of river history for their daring deeds.
On the very evening after the Ludlow Bromley YC collision, I was chatting with Captain Josh Larkin, a pilot on the LUCKY LADY ferryboat. Josh was off-duty and at home on Facebook, which has seemingly taken the place of the older and much slower “Sternline Telegraph” that, for generations, carried river gossip from one end of the fluvial community to the other.
As we chatted, another message appeared in the box in the left-hand corner of the screen from “Shantyboat Mike” Fletcher saying an empty barge at the Aurora Marine Terminal looked like it had broken loose from its moorings, and as it was past closing time at the dock, did I have an emergency number to call?
After I called a local river associate and was unable to connect with him, I messaged Josh:
“Someone just messaged me and said a barge at the Aurora Terminal has the head free and out into the river. I tried to call someone who didn’t answer and know no one else to call.”
Josh replied: “I’ll call my old boss at the towing company and let him know.”
“Okay,” I answered. “Your boss should know who to call.”
Josh: “ I called my buddies at C&B Towing, and they said the M/V ENDEAVOR was around that area; headed to Patriot. So if it is broken free, they will call C&B, and they will catch it.”
About that time, I wanted to watch what was happening just down the hill from my house; so I dressed and went down to the park alongside the river where Shantyboat Mike and our pal, Captain Ron Abdon, were waiting at a picnic table where I joined the two and watched as the ENDEAVOR came alongside the errant barge and secured it from running away on its unscheduled adventures. The river had enough excitement for one day, and I was satisfied that all of us working together with our brethren afloat, prevented a possible runaway barge.
A little later, Captain Josh and his lovely river lady, ferryboat deckhand Kay Kuehn, joined the three old rivermen at the table on the riverside where we gabbed until Ron and Mike had to catch the ferry to Rabbit Hash. Josh, Kayla, and I adjourned to the Rafter CLYDE, where we enjoyed the old-time steamboat ambiance until we adjourned and went our separate ways – until next time.
Captain Don Sanders is a river man. He has been a riverboat captain with the Delta Queen Steamboat Company and with Rising Star Casino. He learned to fly an airplane before he learned to drive a “machine” and became a captain in the USAF. He is an adventurer, a historian, and a storyteller. Now, he is a columnist for the NKyTribune and will share his stories of growing up in Covington and his stories of the river. Hang on for the ride — the river never looked so good.
Purchase Captain Don Sanders’ The River book here
Capt. Don Sanders The River: River Rat to steamboatman, riding ‘magic river spell’ to 65-year adventure is now available for $29.95 plus handling and applicable taxes. This beautiful, hardback, published by the NKyTribune, is 264-pages of riveting storytellings, replete with hundreds of pictures from Capt. Don’s collection — and reflects his meticulous journaling, unmatched storytelling, and his appreciation for detail. This historically significant book is perfect for the collections of every devotee of the river.
You may purchase your book by mail from the Northern Kentucky Tribune — or you may find the book for sale at all Roebling Books locations and at the Behringer Crawford Museum and the St. Elizabeth Healthcare gift shops.
Order your Captain Don Sanders’ ‘The River’ book here.
Interesting looks at different events all unfolding in the relentless, inexorable push of a river’s current. The same with an ocean’s storm surge or tsunami. Those who are “river wise” truly understand the power and peril of moving water. Sadly, many in Florida and Appalachia have experienced this off-the-chart destructive, deadly power in recent days. Thanks, Capt. Don and NKYTribune for another weekly look at the river!
Ludlow-Bromley Yacht Club a.k.a. locally as the Ludlow-Bromley Knife & Gun Club, based on some of the goings on there from time to time.
I’m still bummed about the destruction of the LBYC. It was a place that was fun to go with family and friends via our 70 foot houseboat, RiverBreeze. It was a nice cruise downriver from where we docked at the Four Seasons Marina. I also liked “Steak Night.” So many of the riverside or on river eating and party places we used to have in the Cincinnati area for one reason or another, have gone away. Once again, it’s great to hear Capt. Sanders’ account of how those who work the river, went to work to deal with all of the events going on, on the river in those days
Wow,yet again Capt Don has woven the facts of river life together into an amazing tale of harrowing moments,rivermen coming together to help & God blessing in no deaths.
It is easy to forget the power in the river & how quickly things can change. Thank you NKyTribune for rerunning this powerful reminder by Capt Don that there can be a dark side to the river.