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
What I miss most about the river that’s not found much these days is solitude. The peace before the presence of cell phones, internet, or other electronic gadgets, which disrupt the very seclusion sought on the river as far from civilization as possible.
As I’m a follower of several YouTube video shantyboat and narrowboat blogs, I’ve got room to talk about “getting away from it all.” By my own admission, I’m an acknowledged boat blog browser who’s spying on the seclusion of some shantyboater afloat on the Lower Bullfrog River.
Although those shantyboat bloggers may be bobbing on waters inhabited by gators, carp, and cottonmouths, with the nearest emergency room 40 miles from nowhere, their electronic gear still rides a wavelength reaching my TV set overlooking Aurora Bend on the Middle Ohio River. Who’s kidding who?
If I had a shantyboat like those of my life’s unfulfilled dreams, would I be sharing my solitude with a million viewers? Or would my shanty be devoid of electrical gadgets like a GPS map instead of paper charts, light bulbs rather than kerosene lanterns, HVAC without freezing and sweltering in season, or a microwave oven replacing a wood cookstove?
Hey, wait a minute. You’re not taking away my microwave, are you?
Experience proves that I can survive on the river with coal oil lamps while sweating in bed all night. Still, I must admit, secretly, I do admire those shantyboat video bloggers (vloggers) who can improvise their own sources of controlled electrons to power their modern gadgets that make life easier, and likely better, out in the middle of nowhere — somewhere on the Lower Bullfrog River.
Although I lack the skills to build and maintain those 21st-century amenities on a boat, I still know how to tend a kerosene lamp and brew a pot of strong coffee over glowing embers.
But again, I’m kidding myself. My boating days are confined to the computer in front of me, what vlogs I watch, and the occasional message from a viewer who sees my stuff I write on here or the pictures I post on my well-watched social media page. At half-past my ninth decade on the planet, I need to count my blessings, enjoy the best of my limits, and take advantage of the niche I’ve whittled for myself, keeping me connected to a world I can no longer participate in. I’m not complaining. I’m thankful.
Despite all I’ve said, I am always looking for the “right” boat, even though my 100-year-old house and vintage pickup need work. Somehow, I have a weird acceptance that any money spent on a boat is money well-spent, regardless of the truth. If I can’t have my own boat, though, I can still satisfy my “jones” by visiting Captain Ron Abdon’s houseboat. Although I am a “pass holder” with the Steamer BELLE OF LOUISVILLE, it’s terribly difficult to drive to Louisville and back by myself.
Of course, everyone concerned about the future of steamboating is worried about the DELTA QUEEN down in Houma, Louisiana. Too often I hear from well-meaning boat buffs saying that it’s “being allowed to rot away in a Louisiana backwater,” or some other pessimistic manner of describing the plight of the country’s once most-famous steamboat. Her owners and caretakers are in no way “allowing” the QUEEN to remain in her present condition.
First, they need new investors with the financial means to purchase and make the necessary improvements to either return the venerable old gal to overnight service or find another positive use for her in the future.
Lots of people talk, but money walks.
Last week I alluded to the development on the Middle Ohio River not far from my digs. Rumor has it that an addition to the fluvial ‘funery’ is the acquisition of my old boat, the Rafter CLYDE, once the most authentic and largest model “steamboat” on the river. I sold her over six years ago. She paddled south, and out of sight and mind, but like a bad penny, she returned a couple of years ago.
Recently, the tired-looking CLYDE took to the auction block with hopes of paddling downstream again. Still, instead, it was bought locally with the intention of including the once-illustrious miniature paddlewheeler in the neighborhood waterfront menagerie as an onshore coffee shop. Yes, that’s correct: coffee shop. And from what’s been told by one source closest to the development plans, it may be named “CLYDE’S COFFEE.”
Although “CLYDE’S COFFEE” is an unusual destination for an old old river tramp with thousands of miles under her girdle, this idea may become quite the fashion on the Middle Ohio River with folks coming from miles around for a hot cuppa steamboat joe, and a chance to sit on the upper deck and watch the river roll by.
All that’s needed now is an old-timey Showboat to drop in with its calliope wailing, banjos playing, and a chorus of high-stepping lasses rattling tamborines on the bow.
By golly, I do believe that I’m in the right place at the right time in my life on the river.
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.
Click here to read all of Capt. Don Sanders’ stories of The River.
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.