Live From The Lantern Queen Riverboat: What's Next?

Becky Fitzgerald, owner of , is submitting occasional blogs during , telling the tale of her husband, Carroll, who is manning the ship, which was from its normal mooring at Hutchins Park to the .

Lantern Queen – 3:30 p.m. on August 28, 2011: So, it’s now “the day after.” I’ll bet the rest of my story mirrors some of yours.

After the last blog post, Carroll decided to get some sleep. We agreed that if something interesting happened he would immediately call me. Well, absolutely nothing scary happened aboard the Lantern Queen. I figured he’d call in a couple of hours.

But at our Foxridge home, the locked front doors blew open, we began to get water down a vent pipe, and it sounded like the whole house was going to take off and fly! Our elderly springer spaniel was scared to death. And then … the power went out. At that point, all blogging was off. Although I have a spiffy smartphone that does everything, we live in an area with terrible cell reception (all carriers), so our batteries tend to go a little faster than folks who live in areas with good reception. So, my cell phone was reserved for only emergency communication. Since our bedroom is on the end of the house farthest from the giant pine trees that surround our home it seemed a good idea to go to bed, and get some rest. I went to bed with my cell phone, my Kindle, and a flashlight. I probably got a total of 2.5 hours sleep.

Meanwhile Carroll was sleeping an hour or two at a time, so he could check the boat and its lines. One secondary line separated, but there appeared to be at least 4.5 feet of water under the Lantern Queen because she never grounded. Carroll said that he could always feel movement, so that was good.

At first light I went out and checked our house, gratified that we’d sustained no damage. After a call to make sure my parents were safe and sound in Joppatowne, I headed for Vancheries to meet the rest of the Havre de Grace branch of the family. Holy mackerel! We were swamped with folks looking for a good breakfast. So, while trying to eat my own breakfast, I jumped in to bus tables, make coffee, etc. Some of the Lantern Queen crew came into eat and they ended up bussing tables too! It just got busier and busier, and then just before noon the power went out in downtown Havre de Grace. Chefs Gabe and Kara managed to get the last few orders out, so that no one left unfed, and then we shut down.

Carroll’s working to get a generator in place at Vancheries, and I just finished running the other errands to get things under control. Since I’ve been back at the house working on this blog, we’ve lost power no less than three times.

So, the rest of the story is: Carroll spent a very restful night on the Lantern Queen, while the rest of us were much less comfortable!

The next challenge will be returning the Lantern Queen to Hutchins Park. The timing will depend on wind and water conditions.

I hope you all weathered the storm well. Now let’s all rest up for Mother Nature’s next surprise!

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Lantern Queen – 7 p.m. August 27, 2011: When Carroll answered his phone, I expected him to report that he was getting uncomfortable. Nope! While the NOAA Smart Buoy is recording increasing wind speeds and gusts, it’s not affecting the Lantern Queen much. Carroll said that because of the boat’s location, sheltered by the breakwater at the entrance to the Havre de Grace Yacht Basin, and the island, there’s very little wave action within the Yacht Basin. He said he’s getting some movement from the wind and of course the rising and falling water.

Currently the Lantern Queen’s lower deck rail isn’t even as high as the pier yet, so there’s a long way to go before we run out of piling as the water rises.

Since this post is so short, I’ll add a little history we recently uncovered. Last week Mr. & Mrs. Higley, former owners of the Lantern Queen Riverboat were aboard one of our public cruises. The first owner of the Lantern Queen was a farmer’s coop in Yankton, SD. After a financial downturn, they sold the boat to Mr. & Mrs. Higley who had it moved from Yankton, SD to Fort Lauderdale, FL, a trip that took 31 days! Mr. Higley said that the captain had the paddles in reverse as the boat came down the mighty Missouri River, trying to slow the boat from the 15 kt. current. Can you imagine that trip down the Missouri and then the Mississippi all the way to New Orleans and then around the Gulf of Mexico Intercoastal Waterway? Wow! What an adventure. If only the old girl could talk. 

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Lantern Queen – 5:30 p.m. on August 27, 2011: Carroll says the wind and rain are starting to behave more like a hurricane, with gusty and variable conditions. The NOAA Smart Buoy reports 20kt sustained winds and 30kt gusts at 5:30 pm. Carroll reports the rocking is gentle—in fact he had moved to the wheelhouse to relax in the deeply cushioned and reclining captains chair. From that high perch he was doing some people watching. A steady parade of cars circle the yacht basin parking lot; folks checking out the storm conditions. Boat owners who are riding out the storm have begun moving their cars and trucks to the top of the hill at , in preparation for high water (High tide is between 9-10 p.m.).

I asked Carroll about high water and he said that there’s at least four feet to go before the water is even with the pier. Let’s hope the storm surge is less than that!

The Lantern Queen has a couple of characteristics that make it unique. Obviously the paddlewheels (referred to by Capt. Steve as the big red turny things) is the first. But the two things that come into play in weather like this are its flat bottom and the large amount of freeboard. First, freeboard is the distance from the waterline to the upper deck. So, the enclosed dining room on the lower deck is part of the Lantern Queen’s freeboard. Having lots of freeboard means that the Lantern Queen behaves much like a sailboat, getting pushed around a lot by the wind. Unlike sailboats, which have keels to help balance it as the wind pushes the sails, the Lantern Queen’s flat bottom just lets the wind push it along. On the other hand, that flat bottom makes for a really, really smooth ride. So, the wind wants to push the boat around, but Carroll’s not getting too much action because of the way the lines are rigged and the flat bottom. Now, some of that will change as the winds get heavier.

As we ended our conversation, Carroll was figuring on napping for a while in that big captain’s chair.

And yes, the man CAN sleep through a hurricane!

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Lantern Queen – 4 p.m., August 27, 2011: Not a whole lot has changed since I talked to Carroll last. The entire crew of the Lantern Queen will be happy to hear that Carroll is starting to think he’s solved a couple of persistant leaks!

When we replaced an air-conditioning unit earlier in the summer, a leak appeared near where the old compressor sat. It’s defied all repairs. This morning, Carroll found some magic substance that seems to have fixed the leaks.

Carroll reports that the is safely moored at the end of Pier 5, and that there seems to be a number of folks riding out the storm on their pleasure boats, moored nearby. Some even had grills going until the rain got too heavy.

Probably the biggest change is the wind speed and direction. The wind is beginning to move from NE to ENE as the storm gets closer (This will make more sense if you look at a radar image of the storm). The wind speed is picking up, now at 16 kts. with gusts up to 25kts. Now, in reality, the Lantern Queen has been out cruising in this kind of weather—not because we want to, but because of a pop-up squall. So, we’re not anywhere near the kind of weather we’ve prepared for yet.

As we were talking, I was reporting the latest data from the NOAA Smart Buoy, and Carroll said, “Yup, we just got one of those gusts. It rocked pretty good.” He went on to say that the lines and fenders seemed to be perfectly placed, holding the boat off the pier, making it a smoother ride.

(The worst rocking the Lantern Queen ever does is when it’s moored. The physics of the boat rocking against the lines tying it to the pier makes what would otherwise be a gentle wave, feeling like violent rocking.)

I mentioned the NOAA Smart Buoy above. If you’re not familiar with it, now’s a good time. It was put into place as part of the John Smith Water Trail, and serves thre purposes. It provides tourist information, historic information about Capt. John Smith, and most importantly, a wide range of real time data from it’s location midway between the and the Perry Point Mill.  You can access the Susquehanna Buoy and it’s most recent information at www.buoybay.org. You can also phone the buoy at 877-buoy-bay, or download a free smart phone app from the website. Our crew counts on the buoy for wind speed and direction (The water current speed isn’t much help, because the buoy is located so close to the Susquehanna Flats that there’s never any real current near the buoy).

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Lantern Queen – 2:30 p.m. on August 27, 2011: Carroll Fitzgerald is riding out the storm aboard the Lantern Queen. The riverboat is currently moored at the end of Pier 2 in the Havre de Grace Yacht Basin. With an Aero-bed, a galley full of both healthy food and yummy snacks, a computer and a stack of DVDs, Carroll’s not exactly roughing it!

Because of the difference in shore power supply, we spent yesterday and last night running on generators. So, Carroll raided the garage last night and came up with enough parts to rig a 30amp/120v shore power connector (Our crew calls him McGyver). So, with the 30 amp. service we can run everything EXCEPT the air conditioner. So, when the boat gets too miserably hot, he switches on the gen set and the A/C and cools it down again.

I just asked Carroll what he’d been up to so far today. He made a run to Home Depot and spent most of the morning and early afternoon sealing up any known leaky spots, and securing anything that we missed yesterday (Not much was missed! I know!). He’s adjusted some lines, and brought his handheld marine radio downstairs. Although he has his computer, there’s absolutely NO internet available at the Yacht Basin. (Wouldn’t that be a great amenity to add?) So, our only communication is via cell phone. 

So, now the rain is falling steadily with 12 kt winds gusting to 16 kts. Carroll reports that he’s comfortably watching his  “Saving Private Ryan” DVD on his computer, nibbling on snacks, and waiting…