Heading south ... way, way south

Dick's Towboat Gallery has photos of the Indiana and the Ohio boarded up and ready for their trip to South America.

Soon I hope to post one or more old photos of the Indiana as the Robert P. Tibolt once I find and scan them.

mv. Detroit on the upper Ohio

For the first few months of its life, the mv. Detroit of Marathon Petroleum operated on the Ohio River below Catlettsburg, Ky. That was mighty frustrating for me because I live several miles above the Catlettsburg refinery, so my ability to see the Detroit on the river were few. And when it was in Catlettsburg for a few days, it would tie up at a place where it was almost impossible to get a good view from shore.

But for the past couple of weeks, the Detroit has been making trips northbound. That's given Adam and me a few opportunities to get some shots. Here is one.

And here's another. It wasn't until I read an article in the Waterways Journal online that I noticed how wide the Detroit is compared with its height.

I hope to get a much better shot of its width by being at the Robert C. Byrd Locks and Dam when it goes through, but that takes a combination of luck and planning.

In the past couple of weeks, the Detroit has become one of my favorite boats to photograph. It's a good-looking boat. I have way more good photos of it than can be posted here.

Marathon's next boat is under construction. We look forward to seeing it on the river in a few months.