In the morning, before our tour, we listen to our Cruise Lecturer Tom Struve, former Towboat Captain for over 30 years. He received his Captain license when he was 21 years old in Prescott, Wisconsin. He worked on all the rivers in the Midwest – Mississippi, Illinois, Ohio, and Tennessee. Here are some of the facts Tom presented.

The Towboat is fastened to the barges with specialized cables and rigging. They transport soybeans, corn, wheat, salt, coal, oil, fertilizers and refined oil products on the river system going all over the world. If there weren’t any barges carrying goods, it would require 6.3 million rail cars and 24.2 million trucks to carry the same amount of goods. These barges are the largest moving devices on the planet. For example, a container ship is 1321 feet long and 201 feet wide, an USS aircraft carrier is 1100 feet long and 256 feet wide. Compare this with a barge that can be 1400 feet long and 500 feet wide. The Towboat engine can be as much as 10,500 Horsepower and push 1500 tons. The Towboat runs at 1 gallon per Horsepower a day, so about a tanker truck load a day. These barges are towed up the river and the Towboat drops them off and picks up another load. The Towboats run 24/7 up and down the river stopping only to load and unload. The crew have 30 days on and 30 days off working 18 hour shifts. There are about 10 people on the boat, a captain, pilot, 2 first mates, and 4 deckhands plus the cook. American rivers must be 9 feet deep to accommodate the draft of the Towboat and barges when loaded. The US Army Corp of Engineers monitors and does dredging to keep all American rivers system at this depth.

While Tom was presenting, a Towboat pushing 7 barges wide and 7 barges long (49!!) came along side of us going up the river empty. This is not a picture of that one but a picture of another one going by us earlier in the day.

This afternoon we are doing a tour called Vicksburg Antebellum, translate – Vicksburg before the war. As we docked into Vicksburg, you can see the roads leading up to the Main Street. The city sits on a bluff with buildings built along the way up to the top. A nice view of the Viking Mississippi River ship next to us.