The riverboat captain is a storyteller. Captain Don Sanders shares the stories of his long association with the river — from discovery to a way of love and life. This a part of a long and continuing story.
By Capt. Don Sanders
Special to NKyTribune
Towboat traffic has increased on Aurora Bend as Old Man Winter’s grip on the Middle Ohio River lessens. Yesterday, two tows passed easily, heading down while I retrieved my recycling containers from the curb. Like Grandma Edith used to say, “Don’t count yer chicks ’till they hatch.” Sound advice. Applies to weather, too.
Tom Schiffer, writer and blackpowder-rifle expert, but best known around the river as “Captain Walnut,” celebrated his 91st birthday this past week. Walnut’s the proprietor of several steam-powered launches. His largest, the MISS BLUE, and my sternwheeler, CLYDE, appeared together, on display at the One-Hundredth Anniversary Celebration for the BELLE OF LOUISVILLE during the autumn of 2014 on the Louisville waterfront.
Though our boats were the smallest on exhibit, they garnered more than their fair share of attention. Captain Walnut also participated in the two Licking River Rambles, held at Frederick’s Landing, at the site of old Three Mile Riffle near Wilder, Kentucky. As soon as the river’s ice-free, look for Captain Walnut anywhere within a 50-mile radius of Big Bone Landing, somewhere below Rabbit Hash, his favorite stomping grounds.
Winter days loafing around the house are ideal for contacting old friends. Everett Dameron and I spent nearly an hour phone-chatting about old houses and the river — two interests we share. Ev, some may remember, was my partner aboard the Rafter CLYDE during the Spring of 2012, when we brought the paddlewheeler down the Upper Mississippi from Alma, Wisconsin, and up the Ohio to Aurora Bend. Since our 1,300-mile sojourn, a lotta water’s gone down the river to the sea. Despite everything, neither of us has much to complain about. If possible, I’m sure we would like to try another trip.
Ev mentioned his neighbor and friend, Captain Alan Bernstein of BB Riverboats. Cap’n Al also recently celebrated another trip aboard the Starship Planet Earth around the Sun. Although Al’s a few decades younger than both Walnut and me, I think of Al as older than he is, since we worked together on the DELTA QUEEN 56 years ago this coming summer.
My best story, which I repeated to Everett about Alan as a young busboy aboard the DELTA QUEEN, concerned a time the steamboat was entering a lock chamber — possibly at Markland Dam. The QUEEN’s usual procedure at any of the 1,200-foot lock chambers was to catch a “backing Line.” The DELTA QUEEN, because of its relatively short length, would back against a heavy four-inch nylon line to hold the steamboat’s stern against the lock wall as the boat rose and fell within the concrete space. Manning the backing line took a bit of muscle: to wrestle around, throw it safely from the deck to snag the floating lock pin, and then dog the line properly onto the horned kevel back on deck before the QUEEN backed hard against the thick line, reducing it to half its diameter.
With all this in mind, as I waited for the DELTA QUEEN’s final approach to the floating pin within a recess of the Markland Dam lock chamber, suddenly, a formally-dressed member of Maitre D’ Robert Davis’s Orleans Room staff bounded on deck in front of me. There stood Alan Bernstein, a young, newly hired dining room busboy clad in a tuxedo, complete with a starched white shirt, cumberbun, bow tie, and jacket. Without hesitation, he inquired:
“Hey, Cap, Whatta ya say if I operate the backing line while we lock through?”
However it happened, I allowed him to man the backing line; I just cannot recall the conversation. But upon my consent, off came the cumberbund, bowtie, and jacket. Up went the sleeves of the stiff, starched shirt. Reaching into the coil of bulky four-inch nylon line, Al grabbed several heavy bights and stood poised at the edge of the Main Deck as the DELTA QUEEN shuddered while the mammoth paddlewheel brought the bow as close to the floating pin as possible.
Once stopped, the deck crew had but one opportunity to ring the pin before the head of the boat reacted and started racing sideways for the distant lockwall 110-feet abreast. At exactly the right moment, the soiled, stiff white nylon line shot across the gap between the QUEEN and the floating pin.
“ZAP! BLAM!”
The line smacked the steel as it snared the pin like a cowpoke lassoing a steer. With several quick turns around the steel horns of the kevel ondeck, Alan dogged off the line as the full weight of the steamboat stretched the 4-inch diameter line down to two.
Thus began a ritual performed many times whenever Al was free from his dining room duties and able to operate the backing line in a lock chamber. All these years later, I like to recall when Captain Alan Bernstein “decked for me on the DELTA QUEEN.”
As soon as the weather breaks and Spring’s in the air, another year’s worth of river adventures await on the horizon. On the Cumberland River at Nashville, the Steamer NASHVILLE, formerly the JULIA BELLE SWAIN, and the CAPITOL, nee the SPIRIT OF PEORIA, eagerly await the starting gun to begin excursion rides in Music City. Greater Cincy’s BB Riverboats is advertising two Valentine’s Day cruises. My annual pass for the Steamer BELLE OF LOUISVILLE, now paid in full, as I anticipate taking a cruise or more. Meanwhile, away down yonder in New Orleans, the Steamboat NATCHEZ should be bustling, soon, with Mardi Gras trips on the Mighty Miss-Is-Sipp.
Of course, at Aurora Bend, I plan to visit Captain Ron Abdon and get behind the wheel of his sidewheeler, the L’IL ATTA BOY. If we happen to pass, show me the traditional two-handed “river wave.” Or if you’re on a boat, blow a “long and a short.” I’ll know what you mean.
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, sharing 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
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 Northern Kentucky Tribune, is 264-pages of riveting storytelling, 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.
Click here to order your Captain Don Sanders’ ‘The River’ now.