Verdigris River

[capt1989]

Looks small when you are trying to navigate it while pushing 747feet by 108feet with 8 feet draft between the banks!

The picture of the small boat is of the Coast Guard buoy tender Muskegum. These fine fellows adjust the buoys that mark the channel so we know where the deep water is.

 

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[packerbacker]

Nice pics. Not a whole lotta room for error it doesn't appear

 

[capt1989]

Nick,

I travel on the lower and upper Mississippi rivers, the Illinois and Ohio rivers, and the White and Verdigris rivers regularly. If by "Big Muddy" you meant the Mississippi, rest assured my friend, barge traffic is anything but slow there. Lots and lots of traffic. I am also amazed how the channel can change drastically from one trip to the next depending on the stage of the river. Some of my old maps look nothing like the modern ones. Boats that sank on the Mississippi river in the early 1800's are being unearthed in fields miles from the navigational channel of today.

PB,

Good observation. None, notta, zip, zilch... On some of the others there is room for days. The White river and the Verdigris are very narrow and twisty and one must pay attention all the time and constantly steer to keep from messing up. I am always relieved to get off of those two.

john

 

[seger98]

Those are really neat pictures, thanks for posting them.


Chris

 

[stoney56]

Nice pics. Used to occasionally see some barge traffic on the Arkansas around Muskogee. Hope you keep your AAA membership up in case you ever need a tow. LOL

 

[bbqbull]

Awesome photos, would love to see all your photos of boats.
Ive been a boatnerd since I was a little kid.
I try and make Engineers Day at the Soo Locks in Michigan armed with my pocket scanner, know your ships book and a camera.
I would love to get south of St. Louis Missouri and see the barges running the river.

 

[Ray S S]

Hello, capt1989, Great looking pics of the barges. Boy, in the second pic with that bridge dead ahead, I can see that your steering has to be
pretty accurate.Not much room on either side. Very interesting views. I live near the St. Clair
River at the foot of Lake Huron and often see barges pass through here. They look kinda bulky and hard to guide Also there is a terific current here which most likely makes it difficult. There have been a few times(very few, considering) when
they they ran into the breakwall on one side or the other. When that happens it opens up a big can of worms.

Thanks for sharing the pics,

Ray

 

[rmptr]

Great pics Capt,

We like pics!

I looked and looked at them, but didn't see anything small!


rmptr

 

[fossis]

That does look narrow, you guys do a great job of moving the goods America needs.
I worked on lock & Dam's 13 & 14 on the AR river, when they built the Mcclellan-Kerr navigational system.

fossis................

 

[capt1989]

I am thrilled that you guys like the pictures. I will post more from time to time, don't want to burn out on them. Thanks for the responses!!

Nick,
I knew that. No, I did. Really. It just failed to register at the time. Seems to happen more the older I get. And no, I hve never been on the Missouri river and really don't want to. I have heard horror stories about how quick it can rise and get crazy. I do pass the mouth where it enters into the upper Miss. river but that is as close as I wanna get.

Ray,
I have seen things like that from time to time and it is not a lot of fun. Most of the fellows in this profession try really hard to navigate as safely as possible. When something like that happens what you don't see is the man behind the sticks(how we steer the boat) trying everything humanly possible to keep it from occuring. Been there, done that. Ain't no fun!

Rmptr,
Size is a relative thing.

Fossis,
Be in that area tomorrow. May stop in Van Buren for repairs on the RADAR. I used to bring up to 15 loads out and I am glad I don't have to do that any more. No mules on those Oklahoma locks are a pain. Different company, much easier job. Happy Birthday. (again)

 

[Kiwijohn]

Ahoy Capt.. Those pictures are just awesome. Don't see anything like that in this part of the world. Thanks for posting them.

 

[Lowbatts]

Give us a few cabin shots. Always enjoy seeing those holes in the water that people pour money into!

Your doing the big work that lets us enjoy the little things, thanks!

 

[DigginThePast]

Cool pics. Thanks for sharing and keep em coming.