Through the Internet, I'd been following the mv. Mountain State on its trip up the Ohio River for a couple of days. When I got up this morning, I saw where it had been through the Greenup Locks and Dam and should be in Huntington soon. I caught up with it at Harris Riverfront Park, where an AEP van was parked on the boat ramp. Two men were there for a crew exchange and to deliver some materials to the boat.
The photo shows a small boat from the Mountain State bringing three crew members to shore. Three got off, and two got on.
This photo gives me good pictures of three of AEP's four new 6,000-horsepower boats. All I need now is a good one of the Buckeye State and I can move on.
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The AEP Mariner was at the park last year for the Maritime Days celebration, and it was the most popular of the boats there. I watch boats from the shore, so I don't know what all's going on inside the boats. And it had been a while since I was on one.
People were impressed when they heard that the AEP Mariner -- and, I assume, the Chuck Zebula, the Mountain State and the Buckeye State -- have vibration absorption systems. And the size of the kitchen on the AEP Mariner was impressive.
Something else that interested this shore dweller was a display in the pilothouse that identified approaching vessels. Ah, technology.
Sometimes great experiments in technology fail, such as Ohio River Company's use of Number 6 diesel fuel and controlled-pitch propellers in the Omar and Omega in the 1980s.
If "fail" is too strong a word, let me know. As I said, I'm a land dweller who's not on the river to get all the inside info and all the interesting gossip.
