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The River: A more modern tale this time, about the Great Riverboat Race of 2019 (American Queen wins)


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 a part of a long and continuing story.

By Capt. Don Sanders
Special to NKyTribune

When the noteworthy information was first ballyhooed that the fairly-new overnight passenger boat, the AMERICAN DUCHESS, was visiting the local harbor for the first time and a race with the hometown paddlewheeler, the BELLE of CINCINNATI, was likely, I thought, “Here we go again.” 

We discovered the three riverboat contestants shackled to the cobblestone levee where the DELTA QUEEN moored after the old Cincinnati waterfront, dating to the early-19th Century, became the victim of an urban renewal makeover in the late 1960s.  (Chuck Eilerman Photo)

It seems anytime two passenger boats meet, someone comes up with the not-too-original idea that they need to lock horns and run for the fabled “Set of Golden Antlers,” the traditional prize the Victor mounts on-high so all who gaze upon them know the boat is the “fastest on the river,” or at least on the stretch of water of their origin.

But after high water on the Upper Mississippi River diverted the route of the fabled sternwheel steamboat AMERICAN QUEEN, a sister-boat to the AMERICAN DUCHESS, to the Ohio River and announcements touted the QUEEN was entering the fray, interest in the event, mine included, tripled. 

On Thursday, 11 July 2019, at 09:19 AM, a river buddy inquired if I planned to attend the race, but I replied, “Unless I’m invited, which I’m sure I won’t be, I’m staying away.” Within minutes, however, I texted my friend again, “I just got invited to go as a guest of Captain Terri Bernstein…looks like I will be heading down the Public Landing on Monday!”

I won’t attempt to rehash what others previously described; instead, I will give my perspective on the event as I experienced it.
     

A newly-minted captain, young Alex Schuchter paused from a mission he was pursuing to say “hello,” and apologized that he was unable to stop and talk.

On the day of the race, Monday, July 15th, a closer examination of Cap’n Terri’s invitation revealed that I was entitled to bring a guest, and it conveniently happened that my brother Robert E. “Bob” Sanders, was available from the usual busy-lawyer stuff that rarely gave him a day off in over the 30-years he’s been “practicing before the bar.” And after my absence from the Cincinnati waterfront scene since before everything I knew totally changed with waterfront redevelopment, and that I would likely spend half the afternoon searching for a parking place close to the landing, hitching a ride in Bob’s nearly-semi-sized pickup truck would be a treat. 

We discovered the three riverboat contestants shackled to the cobblestone levee where the DELTA QUEEN moored after the old Cincinnati waterfront, dating to the early-19th Century, became the victim of an urban renewal makeover in the late 1960s.

The “new” public landing is but a shadow of the original where some 8,000 steamboats came and went annually in the years before the Civil War.

Touted as the “first Cincinnati ‘steamboat’ race in 16 years;” meaning today’s race was the first time large riverboats locked horns since the final “Tall Stacks” river celebration of 2006. Bob and I walked close to the AMERICAN DUCHESS and took pictures, but in the drizzling rain, we canceled any thoughts of walking the considerable distance to the AMERICAN QUEEN and back.

“Banjo Bob” Poe quit plunking the banjer long-enough to play and sing John Hartford’s “DELTA QUEEN Waltz” for brother Bob and me. 

Instead, we opted to stand in the long line stretching to the top of the landing with others waiting to board the BELLE of CINCINNATI.
 
By the time Bob and I stepped foot on the BELLE’s Landing Stage, I was already thrilled to see Barb Hameister of the group of gals affectionately known as the “River Rats.” Dave and Natasha Landwehr and their sons were in line behind us. Dave has a marina in Hebron, Kentucky, just downstream from the Anderson Ferry, and we give each other plenty of LIKES on Facebook for our river posts. Captain Alan Bernstein, the patriarch of the BB Riverboats fleet, shook hands as he hustled off to a meeting elsewhere on the cobblestone grade. 

Our host, Captain Terri, hard at work boarding the excited flock, directed us to Nancy Graff Willhoite, Director of Sales, who welcomed us aboard the boat. A newly-minted captain, young Alex Schuchter paused from a mission he was pursuing to say “hello,” and apologized that he was unable to stop and talk. Once aboard past the top of the stage, “Banjo Bob” Poe quit plunking the banjer long-enough to play and sing John Hartford’s “DELTA QUEEN Waltz” for brother Bob and me. 

Overcome with the sentimental tune; I asked Banjo Bob, “What are you trying to do – make me cry?”

“Steamboat Mary” Carlton, one of my best steamboat pals and recently retired as the Riverlorian aboard the AMERICAN EMPRESS.

“Steamboat Mary” Carlton, one of my best steamboat pals and recently retired as the Riverlorian aboard the AMERICAN EMPRESS on the rivers of the Pacific Northwest, appeared out of the crowd to hug me and say, “Hi.” Mary and I met on the DELTA QUEEN at Decatur, Alabama, on the Tennessee River the day I bought the SUN*FISH early in 2007. 

Inside the crowded Boiler Deck of the former EMERALD LADY, a casino boat in its previous life that I “captained” on the Gulf Coast at Biloxi, were Taylor Abbott and his lovely bride Alexandra who drove from their newly-renovated church not far below Pittsburgh. A few minutes later, former Covington City Commissioner Chuck Eilerman and his friend Faith Ann Moyer stepped into the room. They are supporters and promoters of our Covington hometown bordering the western shore of my beloved Licking River. Hugs, handshakes, and photos quickly followed.

Within a few minutes, Bob and I were outside and up-top on the Texas Deck Roof in a gentle drizzle as a voice called from beneath a tarp behind the pilothouse, “Y’all lookin’ for a drink?” It was the young barkeep keeping himself as dry as possible beneath the white plastic drape.


Missie Landers Schweickart, BB Riverboats lady pirate, princess, fairy godmother, deckhand, and all-around lady-of-all-trades, caught my eye and gave the nod to come upstairs. Soon we were inside the wheelhouse.

Bob bought us both a drink; a cold beer for him and a warm Pepsi and a cup of ice for me. “Ten dollars,” the bartender informed, and my brother gave the young man a ten-spot for the register and three bucks for the tip jar. 

We stayed on the roof long enough for Bob to finish his beer while I folded my paper cup, stuffed it in the closest trash can, slid the unfinished plastic Pepsi bottle into my left-front pant pocket, and walked toward the steps to the pilothouse to see if a friendly face was recognizable in the “knowledge box” above us. Looking down from behind the pilothouse rear sash was a lovely face outlined in a fiery mane of brilliant red hair.

Missie Landers Schweickart, BB Riverboats lady pirate, princess, fairy godmother, deckhand, and all-around lady-of-all-trades, caught my eye and gave the nod to come upstairs. Soon we were inside the wheelhouse where a TV crew sat on the Lazy Bench waiting for the action to begin.

Missie introduced us to Captain Brad who replaced Cap’n Sam Sengsouvanh, a talented young pilot I’d met when I spent three days aboard the BELLE, last November, as the Riverboat Historian. With departure time at 3 p.m. quickly approaching, Bob and I went below to give the wheelhouse crew room to work. 

The AMERICAN DUCHESS, moored below us, followed her sister boat while Captain Kerry Snowden, the skilled Senior Pilot of the BELLE of CINCINNATI, effortlessly slipped away from the Public Landing,

No sooner had the two of us found a niche by the portside railing on the Texas Deck, downstream, the deep, throaty whistle sounded on the AMERICAN QUEEN as she let loose her lines and backed away from the shore: 

“WHOOOOOOOOOO! Whooo! Whooo! Whooo…” 

Watch Out,” she was saying, “I’m underway and backing my engines, astern!”

The AMERICAN DUCHESS, moored below us, followed her sister boat while Captain Kerry Snowden, the skilled Senior Pilot of the BELLE of CINCINNATI, effortlessly slipped away from the Public Landing, turned upstream, and headed toward the starting line, the “Purple People Bridge,” originally built in 1872 as the first railroad bridge over the Ohio River at Cincinnati. After being rebuilt in 1897, and serving 106 years as a railroad, vehicle, and pedestrian thoroughfare over the river, the steel structure was rehabilitated, painted purple, and began service as a pedestrian-only overpass above the Ohio. 

“What’s our pilot doing?” a voice in the crowd asked. “It’s got to be that Captain Alan Bernstein,” someone answered. “He’s up to something!” 

Without stopping at the Purple People Bridge and waiting for what’d I’d anticipated as the roar of a small cannon firing, the BELLE kept her headway. With less vertical “air draft” as her competitors, she slipped to the right of the approaching channel span of the Daniel Carter Bridge, a yellow arched bridge everyone calls the “Big Mac,” and took a shorter route than had she stayed inside the piers of the main channel span.

The AMERICAN DUCHESS, some distance downriver from the turn-around, slipped about and headed toward the finish line well in advance of her rivals.

“Clever move,” I thought. 

As Steamboat Mary fondly reminds anyone listening within earshot, “The first rule of a steamboat race is… there ain’t no rules.” 

As a veteran practitioner of the “First Rule of Steamboat Racing,” Captain Al Bernstein takes infinite pleasure in exercising the full measure of that primal canon governing the conduct of a riverboat captain in a heated, rival competition with another vessel over a course upon a river best described as a “boat race.” 

When some rube wondered why the United States Coast Guard boats were following the racers, someone figured they were there to “keep the steamboat race civil.” With no eye-gouging, head-butting, pistols, Bowie Knives, or ramming into each other’s paddlewheel, steamboat racing just isn’t the way it was in its heyday.

Credit the lawyers and the insurance underwriters for taking some of the fun out of racing. 

Captain Teri asked that I accompany her and Chief Billy to the AMERICAN DUCHESS for the presentation of the trophies after we landed.

Looking at the brown water swirling between the BELLE and the DUCHESS, I noticed mean chunks of driftwood coursing by in the swift current. Though the water level was not particularly high, the water was running at a clip through the Cincinnati harbor. As an experienced boatman, I watched with satisfaction as the three large riverboats, filled with several hundreds of souls, gracefully maneuvered for every inch of water without endangering the other. I knew that all the pilots and captains put the safety of their vessels, passengers, and crews above all else, including winning.

The whole affair was a carefully orchestrated extravaganza set to create excitement and to promote the romance of the river to an audience devoid of such zest for the past 16 years. But, otherwise, it was still a race to see which boat crossed the finish line in front of the others. Or as Captain Ernest E. Wagner used to say, “It’s Katie bar the door!” 

Below the turning place at St. Rose Church with its tall pinnacle with clock faces on all four sides (including the ones facing the river, a vestige of the days when a busy shipyard lay on the riverside of the tower and workmen relied on that clock to remind them of the time), the AMERICAN DUCHESS, some distance downriver from the turn-around, slipped about and headed toward the finish line well in advance of her rivals.

For some reason, the DUCHESS seems much slower than I anticipated after hearing of her prowess as a fast boat in a race. Maybe she just needed the head start, for once the AMERICAN QUEEN and the BELLE of CINCINNATI were facing downstream toward the finish line at the Purple People Bridge, they soon caught the first turning boat and passed her.

Captain Alan Bernstein, as much a showman as he is an outstanding business and riverman, accepted the second-place trophy for the BELLE of CINCINNATI, although he swore the BELLE was the actual winner of the Great Riverboat Race.  

As the BELLE and the QUEEN drew abreast each other with only open water ahead toward the end of the course, both boats locked into what, had it been a Kentucky thoroughbred horse race on the first Saturday in May, would be called the “Run for the Roses” as they focused on being declared the winner of the “Great Cincinnati Riverboat Race of July 2019.” 

Aboard the AMERICAN QUEEN, a long line of people wearing identical white tee-shirts danced a Conga Line from a lower deck to the top-level fueled by what appeared to be alcoholic beverages of the Planter’s Punch variety. Atop the roof on the BELLE’s Texas, a cheering section shouted challenges across the way to the dancers on the rival riverboat. The muffled voice of Captain Al on our hard-charging vessel’s PA system was heard saying something about “Colonel Sanders Fried Chicken.” While straining to listen to the Captain’s words more clearly, Bob knew what I was trying to decipher and assured me, saying, “Al’s not talking about you.”  

The battling boats, running nearly neck-and-neck, drew closer to the purple painted bridge when Captain Terri and Chief Bill Crouse appeared from within the crowd and watched the final moments standing close to Bob and me as the jubilation aboard both riverboats rose to a pyretic pitch.

Moments later, the QUEEN’s deep, melodic whistle blew a jubilant salute as she seemingly looked like she nosed under the finish line before the BELLE. Immediately, the voice of Captain Al, coming over the PA speakers, boldly denied that the rival boat was the winner for a variety of reasons he announced as quickly as they came to mind. Even the late-night news, after 11 p.m., spoke of uncertainty concerning which boat, the BELLE or the AQ, was the real winner of the race.

Former Covington City Commissioner Chuck Eilerman and his friend Faith Ann Moyer, supporters and promoters of our hometown across the Ohio.

Surely, these boats must race again, in light of such doubt. Indeed, the sheer genius of Captain Alan at work. Old man Barnum had nothing on him. 

As soon as the BELLE was beneath the bridge, Captain Teri asked that I accompany her and Chief Billy to the AMERICAN DUCHESS for the presentation of the trophies after we landed. Bob gave a sign that he agreed, so we followed Terri and Bill to the Main Deck in the crew-only area and waited for the landing. Within moments, however, a wall of rain swept up the river from the west and blocked the sight of the Kentucky shore as Bob, Bill, and I moved forward on the deck to find shelter from the storm. Looking toward the bow, Captain Terri appeared in the thick of the bluster working alongside her crew manhandling the long, bulky landing stage into position. 

Once the BELLE secured itself to the cobblestone landing, the anxious passengers scrambled ashore in the driving rain. Hurrying with their heads bent down, they hustled up the embankment toward the parking garages and rarely did one turn around for one last look at the three riverboats resting against the shore after providing them such an entertaining afternoon. 

With the rush of revelers off the BELLE, Bob, Bill, and I followed Captain Terri into the rain, which, though slackened somewhat, remained a torrential downpour. Surprisingly, the rain felt warm and not at all unpleasant. We three were joined by Tom Guidugle and Dennis Keene, impartial race judges who rode the BELLE, as each boat had its own set of traveling jurists. Standing on the bow of the DUCHESS fumbling for proof of identification to swap for a boarding pass, we were drenched.
 

Bob, Captain Al, and I renewed old acquaintances after the festivities concluded.

The young security guard dressed in “salt and peppers,” as the traditional black and white uniforms for officers on a river passenger boat are sometimes called, was business-like but friendly. When asked where he was from, he revealed, “Carmel, California.” When I replied, “Oh, Steamer Lane,” meaning the famous surfing area near his hometown, he delightedly added, “Oh, so you know the area?” “Yes,” I answered, “My brother and I surfed there.”   

Once inside the AMERICAN DUCHESS, a friendly Chief Steward offered us dry towels. A quick glimpse around the cavernous space revealed an ambiance much in the manner of a later-styled casino boat — modern, clean, and functional. On the forward end of the room, looking out the front doors on the starboard side, was a big fellow wearing the four-stripes of the vessel’s master. Quietly, I walked over and introduced myself to Captain Randy Kirschbaum from Bettendorf, Iowa, where I was a mate and captain on the DIAMOND LADY, my first gamblin’ boat in 1993. Cap’n Randy told me, “I know who you are,” and revealed being a captain on the Argosy Casino in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, just a few miles upstream from Rising Sun and my boat, the GRAND VICTORIA II. 

A rather formal young lady soon took charge of the affair. Those of us, including Bob and me, were directed into the auditorium while she escorted the captains and the judges onto an elevator and whisked them away to places unknown to this scribe. Directly, everyone assembled in the theater under the direction of a talented Master of Ceremonies who introduced Mr. John Wagner, the “Supreme Muckety-Muck” of the American Queen Steamboat Company, the owner of the BELLE’s competitors in the Great Race. 

Finally, with mirth and fanfare, the winning trophies were handed to the representatives of the corresponding vessels. Captain Alan Bernstein, as much a showman as he is an outstanding business and riverman, accepted the second-place trophy for the BELLE of CINCINNATI, although he swore the BELLE was the actual winner. 
 

The BELLE kept her headway. With less vertical “air draft” as her competitors, she slipped to the right of the approaching channel span of the Daniel Carter Bridge. (Drone Photo by Steve Eckstein.)

Bob, Captain Al, and I renewed old acquaintances after the festivities concluded. On the way to trade my boarding pass for my driver’s license, I bumped into Chief Engineer Gary Frommelt, VP of Marine Ops for the AQ Company, standing in the lobby. Gary and I first met on the Steamer PRESIDENT at the first Tall Stacks celebration in 1988. We traded business cards, talked about the fate of the LOUISE, his wooden-hulled sternwheeler, and I reminded him that my paddlewheeler CLYDE was looking for a new owner.   

Once ashore, Bob and I walked the granite stones toward where his truck was waiting. As I always do, I turned for “one last look,” and yelled “goodbye” to Cap’n Alex as he was letting the spring line loose on the BELLE of Cincinnati while the sternwheeler was preparing to paddle across the river to her new docking facility in Newport. 

A couple of days after the Great Riverboat Race, I emailed Captain Bert Suarez, the veteran pilot of the AMERICAN QUEEN during the race, and asked him if he had any comments about the conduct of the running.

These were his exact words:

“On the AQ, it was straightforward as it could have been. Start right at bridge to Dayton Light & Daymark. Tight turn and full speed down. No Shenanigans! Undefeated as a pilot. Never piloted on a losing vessel and I piloted a lot of them … and, you should say in the article, ‘Bring Back Tall Stacks!’” 

There, Captain Bert, you said it yourself, “Bring Back Tall Stacks!”

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.


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19 Comments

  1. Jeff wilkes says:

    Captain Dons articles are outstanding!!! I enjoy them very much!!

  2. Cap’s a natural..Damned good riverman learned his “gabbing ability” well. He needs to write the book!!

  3. Shawn says:

    I wish I could have been there! It sounds like it was a lot of fun! Another great river story Captain Don!

  4. Jessica C Yusuf says:

    What a special experience! Hopefully it won’t be another 16 years before the next one. Thanks for sharing it with us!

  5. Joy Scudder says:

    Captain Sanders brings the River to life with his storytelling. Time to bring back the tall stacks!

  6. David K Smith says:

    Great article! Just like being there for me.

  7. Pete OConnell says:

    As fine a tale a river man can tell a tale of a riverboat race!
    As always Captain Don, you had me at “ A more modern river tale”.
    Thanks Captain Don.

  8. Ginnie Rhynders says:

    You’ve done it again, Sir! I could feel the spray, hear that whistle and sense the excitement. Thank you so much.

  9. PjSanders says:

    Another fine packet of true riverboat adventures from a a straight up river man who was born for it,and to tell it, .Its in his blood like the Mississippi River flows.

  10. Mary Wilson says:

    I look forward to each and every article that Captain Don Sanders writes. The Captain should consider writing a book about all his adventures . He has a great way with words. I know I would buy it! Thanks for helping us feel like we have traveled the waterways along with you.

  11. Ronald Sutton says:

    Great ‘Race’ and Social Description as usual with Capt. Don. A shame that No Real Steambooks were present. It is my contention that New Orleans’ Natchez could have run away with it.

  12. Cap'n Don says:

    Thanks, everyone, for the appreciative comments. Much obliged…

  13. Mike Washenko says:

    Another great story Capt.

  14. John Leed says:

    Another fabulous story by Captain Don!

  15. Cornelia Reade-Hale says:

    As always Capt Don brings the boats.people and details to life. I could feel the excitement and the motion of the boat and wind and rain.. He speaks fondly of river friends and associates but the fondness is returned doubly to a man born to be on the river and share the knowledge and love with following generations. I echo “please write a book”. And to “the powers that be” please bring back Tall Stacks.and “short stacks” too.

  16. Cornelia Reade-Hale says:

    As always Capt Don brings the boats.people and details to life..He speaks fondly of river friends/associates but the fondness is returned doubly. He’s born to the river, to share the knowledge/love with generations..

  17. Diana Battle says:

    I look forward to every one of his articles. Learning about boats on the Ohio River and his personal experiences with Clyde is a joy. I would come to your web page and read anything he wrote.

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