No clue lol but here I am currently

Fishing is great . Ky. is an all around great state for sportsmen.

Interesting voyage. Looks likes you are haling mixed cargo. Big tug. How many crew members? Did I see a speck of dirt on that deck or was it your camera lens ?

Some of those islands in the Mississippi river are used to tie up to as they are building the loads.

One thing I don't miss from the river is the may fly hatch.

I think it is great that you get to do what you love to do. That is the way it is supposed to be.

Living on the river the willow fly hatch was looked forward to every spring. That was fill the boat with fish time. Bream and catfish.

1850s was the high point for steamboat traffic on the Mississippi River. Then came the war and then came the railroads which were the demise of the steamboats.
History says that at one time there were 178 steamboats counted on the levee there at St. Louis during this period. Mostly on the Missouri side but some on the Illinois side. Off loading freight, on loading freight, waiting for a departure date, having their ship looked after by chandlers or artisans or .... whatever.
The levee ran approximately 6 miles up and down river from a point close to where the Arch is now. The Arch area was the center of it all. I'd pay good money to go back in time and walk that levee. So much history there. Hawkens gun store would have been in operation then too. Frenchman, Indians, immigrant Germans, river people, westward pioneers, 49ers, military people...........It would have been a colorful place.

Yet steam boats held out for longer than most realize on smaller rivers in hinterland areas where the rail did not reach.

The last paddle wheeler to retire in Alabama was a CoE snag boat in the 1940s. It ran the Alabama and lower Tombigbee.

Youre the modern day Mike Fink Wolfdog.

That would be tupelo honey.

I've seen it like a heavy snow storm with depth acumulation in inches!

For WolfDog. Steam Boat Willie.

Yup, don't smile when running on plane lol.

Saw them heavy enough had to shut down traffic to wash em off the bridge with fire hoses. Slick slimy stinking mess.

I was on the high cliff at Old Fort Kaskaskia north of Chetser, Ill. overlooking the Mississippi River. I saw a tug down there pushing 12 barges up river and as I remember and the tug was putting out quite a roostertail. So I figured the throttles were pretty well open. Looked like he was just making 2 or 3 mph and maybe a 4 to 6 mph current. It was the spring of the year so the water was high and fast so he was just creeping up the river.

I can see how you would have good control (steerage) over the tug and barges going UP river. You get in a tight spot, just slack off the throttle some and bring her to a stop right there in the river. Kind of tread water. Then figure out what you're gonna do.
What I can't see is how you maintain good control when you're taking that mess DOWN river. You have to go faster than the river to maintain good (steerage) control. Say 4 mph current and add say 4 mph forward speed to have good steerage, that means you're cooking along down river at 8 to 10 mph. How in the world to you get that rig slowed down or stopped if there is something in the water ahead. Throw it in reverse or run it into the bank is all I can see you could do. That would be a heck of a strain on those cables.
You get up around St. Louis and those barges are anchored everywhere. Along the banks and even anchored out in the river. I'd like to see a drone U Tube of of a tug and barges negotiating that area going down river. Be like driving through a mall parking lot on a Saturday morning I guess.
Or get on the radio and tell everyone to "Get the **** out of the way, I' coming through".

Sometimes the river takes control.

https://www.rioleo.org/mv-cahaba.php

I've seen barges broke loose from the port up river coming down spinning like a top taking out docks on both banks. A few made it all the way down to the dam.

Up on our stretch of the warrior high water meant nothing moved up or down. The river was too narrow and twisty in good conditions much less when up and running.

But we caught it because we were above Tuscaloosa and there was only so much water they could let through the dam to keep it off Tuscaloosa. There were 6 locks and dams between us and Mobile.

Picked up some empties on a tow swap and headed back down river . In the galley with our engineer cooking up a litl something

Picked up some empties on a tow swap and headed back down river . In the galley with our engineer cooking up a litl something






Yeah haven't seen any of them yet. They where going crazy down in Texas when I was finishing up deckhand school though

Colorful would've been Natchez Under the Hill. If it lived up to just half of what has come down to us today it was a rough place by rough place standards.

But let's hope our young riverboat friend doesn't find his boat tied up in those sorts of places, lol.

All those boats tied up rail to rail was a recipe for disaster. In 1904 one ship caught fire and wiped out 100's of boats, some of the remains can still be seen during periods of very low water.