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
In a surprising announcement few anticipated, the celebrated Steamboat DELTA QUEEN is now FOR SALE.
In a recent social media post, the Delta Queen Steamboat Company declared:
“The National Historic Landmark DELTA QUEEN steamboat is looking for a new owner and caretaker. After saving the legendary steamboat from the scrappers torch in 2015, the revived Delta Queen Steamboat Company (DQSC) has spent the last ten years trying to secure both the necessary federal legislation that allows the DELTA QUEEN to operate by lobbying the U.S. Congress as well as the funding for the full refurbishment needed to carry overnight passengers again. The future looked bright in December 2018 when the President of the United States signed the legislation into law; however, despite Herculean efforts, the funding for the project never materialized.”
The declaration made clear that the DQSC’s goal remains the preservation of the DELTA QUEEN by opening the vessel for public purchase, thereby continuing the conservation and restoration efforts that the current owners have funded and maintained for over a decade.
Whether the QUEEN reestablishes its life as a cruising overnight boat or becomes a floating hotel like it was for a time in Chattanooga, or like its twin, the DELTA KING in Sacramento, California, is optional. The final goal is to preserve the National Historical Landmark for posterity by whatever means are most effective and acceptable to the present owners, who retain the right to select the buyer(s) they feel are the best match for the DELTA QUEEN’s future.
Both the DELTA QUEEN and KING, built in 1927, originally ran overnight trips ferrying travelers between Sacramento and San Francisco until the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge and improved highways put them into jeopardy. During the Second World War, both boats served as “Yard Ferry Boats” for the U.S. Navy. Following the war, Captain Tom Greene, of Cincinnati’s Greene Line Steamers, sought a larger steamboat for the Mississippi River System, on which he had done so well with the smaller GORDON C. GREENE. After buying the QUEEN and towing it around to New Orleans via the Panama Canal, she became a beloved, iconic fixture as an overnight passenger carrying steamer. The Greene family sold the DELTA QUEEN in December 1969.
Its insistence on searching for righteous buyers, this announcement reminds me of the iconic campaign to SAVE THE DELTA QUEEN YEAR, which took place in 1970. That year, with William “Bill” Muster and “Cap’n” Betty Blake in charge of the company, and Captain Ernest E. Wagner in command of the vessel, I became the First Mate of the DELTA QUEEN during the highly charged, energetic effort to petition the US Congress for an exception from the SOLAS, or “Safety at Sea Law,” which declared that “no vessels carrying more that 50 overnight passengers on trips originating from US ports, can be constructed of combustible materials.”
After a long and hard fight that year, the DELTA QUEEN obtained an exemption only after Louisville, Kentucky Senator Marlow Cook added the QUEEN’s exemption to a Bill authorizing the back payment of wages due to a federal employee, which Congress had no choice but to pass.
In 2018, with the DELTA QUEEN docked in a slough near Houma, Louisiana, President Trump signed an exemption for the steamboat from the SOLAS. Even with repair estimates for the DELTA QUEEN, which included replacing the World War I-era boilers, additional generators, plumbing, heating, and air conditioning, and estimated costs of $15 million or more, expectations remained positive. But then, the COVID-19 Pandemic struck, stifling all efforts to generate the necessary revenue to rebuild and return the QUEEN to overnight passenger service.
In 2021, Category 4 Hurricane Ida made landfall in Houma, causing significant damage to the roof, railings, and numerous doors and windows of the DELTA QUEEN. According to a source close to the Queen, some insurance covered the most critical repairs, such as the brand-new roof. Lingering water damage on the interior of the Sun Deck and some Texas Deck cabins remains visible, however.
The same source, when asked the listing price for the DELTA QUEEN, had no reply other than that the DQSC is considering the best plans, which will not include the dismantling of the iconic relic. The importance of preserving the last vestige of the venerated era of overnight steamboating on America’s rivers remains a priority, even above profit. Whatever happens, the sellers refuse to allow their beloved steamboat the same needless fate as the recently assassinated AMERICAN QUEEN after it sold and buyers rushed it off to the wrecker’s yard.
“May I emphasize that a GoFundMe isn’t going to save the DELTA QUEEN. It will take an organized plan and resources,” was my source’s departing advice. Although the righteous intentions of friends of the steamboat are respected, this sale prioritizes finding those persons capable of purchasing and preserving the legendary steamboat for posterity.
Already, a hue and cry is heard among steamboat fans to bring the DELTA QUEEN back to Cincinnati, or close by. Surely, there are those, like the party of retired Cincinnati executives I know, who build small wooden boats as a hobby, who could become interested in spearheading a move to bring the DELTA QUEEN home to the Queen City. Saving the DELTA QUEEN will, at first, require leadership.
Speaking of which, this article in the NKY TRIBUNE may be the first print announcement made by a representative of the news media within the Northern Kentucky area informing the public that the DELTA QUEEN is available for purchase. Hopefully, regional radio, television, and print media will take notice and contact the DQSC for more information, thereby helping to publicize the availability of this historic steamboat with such an extensive Cincinnati history.
Interested parties should contact the Delta Queen Steamboat Company at website@dqsteamboat.com.
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.
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