Two more photos

Let's see if these help get you through the weather that's forecast for today.

The M/V Energy picking up a tow on a foggy morning at Virginia Point Park, Kenova, W.Va.

At a riverboat christening, tradition demands that an American flag and at least one Bible be presented to the captain for use on the boat. When Marathon Petroleum christened three boats (from left, the Patoka, Mt. Vernon and Kenova) on Oct. 8, 2019, each boat received three Bibles. Here they are displayed on a table before the formal part of the ceremony began. The ceremony took place in Catlettsburg, Ky.

M/V Enid Dibert

When you want to shoot something but don't know if there's something on the river to shoot, look around for a Crounse boat. Many times they're good for a photo or two, as happened yesterday morning when the M/V Enid Dibert came through the Huntington area in that glorious October morning light.

Pardon me if I got a little artsy with these images. I wanted to try a few things.

M/V Miss Ivy Brynne

The Miss Ivy Brynne (don't ask me how to pronounce that name) passed Huntington today, so I figured I would get some pics.

I couldn't let that October morning light go to waste.

According to what I found on the Coast Guard site, this is the former M/V City of Redwood.

Next up: The M/V Enid Dibert was right behind.

M/V Alan P. Hall

I've been sitting on this since late summer and wondering what to do with it. Tonight I figured I would play with it a little.

I'm not totally satisfied with this, so I might try again someday. We'll put it on my "maybe to-do list".

Red barge in morning

There was some awful pretty light out on the Ohio River this morning.

Now if only the Delta Queen was out there in that fog and heading into the sun ...

You have your fantasies. I have mine.

Two boats at Mile 317, 10/22/19

In the past when we've seen boats with retractable pilothouses on my part of the Ohio River, the pilothouses have been in the raised position, With the M/V Patoka in our area now, I guess we'll get used to seeing them like this.

And on this particular morning I got to see the M/V Duke fairly close for the first time.

It was a gray morning, but a good one.

M/V Roger W Keeney

Yesterday I was sitting in my office in beautiful downtown Huntington WV (America's Best Community) when a photographer at the paper emailed me with a photo she had taken of a towboat that was Harris Riverfront Park. She had the photo but no information.

As the park entrance is only three blocks from the paper, I walked down there and saw the M/V Roger W Keeney there. As I gazed at it and got some pictures with my phone, a guy on the boat struck up a conversation with me. I introduced myself and we talked. A few minutes later another guy came out of the pilothouse and joined the conversation.

I was told the Keeney was at the park awaiting a part it needed before it could go back, pick up its tow and resume its trip. Soon Capt. Randy Chapman, manager of linehaul operations, showed up to tell the crew they would have to wait a little longer for the part to be delivered. Chapman and I sat and talked for maybe 20 minutes about the industry, the companies he's worked for, the boats he's worked on and such. We exchanged some funny river-related stories before my lunch hour ended.

As it turns out, I was glad I texted my younger son to tell him the Keeney was at the park. He had gone with me Pittsburgh in spring 2017 to attend the christening of the M/V Tommy H, a boat similar if not identical to the Keeney.

Adam arrived and got a photo of the Keeney with his phone while I was back at work. He texted to tell me another tug-and-tow combination was coming up the Ohio and I had time to walk down there to see it. Too bad I had to stay at my desk and finish my work day.

I got home and my phone would not let me download the photos I took. And it would not connect to the internet. This is a problem I've had for a few weeks. Lucky for me Adam had emailed me a photo he took of the Keeney.

So tomorrow I'll probably get a new phone I'll be a responsible citizen and recycle the old one, although it would interesting to see how far I could throw it from a bridge. But I won't do that.

Charles Jones passes

Charles Jones, who as head of Amherst Madison was one of the most recognizable names in the marine industry in the Ohio Valley, died yesterday at the age of 101.

It's difficult to describe how well known and liked Jones was.

I did a feature on him in 2017 for The State Journal of Charleston, W.Va. Alas, I cannot find that article anywhere so that I may link to it. Jones was a Navy veteran who served in Japan immediately after World War II. He grew up in the family's coal and transportation businesses. Of late Amherst Madison has been involved in transportation and construction.

Back in 2012, I wrote an article for The State Journal when a towboat pilot simulator was named in honor of Jones' late son, O. Nelson Jones. I likewise cannot find that article to link to, but I did have a blog entry about it.

More to come as other articles are written that I can link to.

Pier shadows

Ever notice how shadows move over the course of a day? Take the Sixth Street Bridge here at Huntington, West Virginia. The bridge runs north-south, so the piers face the south. Here in the Northern Hemisphere, the sun tracks across the southern half of the sky, so the shadows of the bridge against the pier move in a counterclockwise direction throughout the day.

I like this angle myself.

Because we're in the western half of the Eastern time zone and because we're still on Daylight Savings Time, the shadows aren't vertical until after noon ... even around 1 p.m. or so.

Auto photography beside the Ohio River

I went down to the river around noon and what did I see but a couple of guys with cars bearing dealer tags getting photos.

There are worse places for getting car photos than beside the Ohio River.

Foggy morning at Big Sandy harbor

Warm river plus cool air plus a wannabe photographer equals pictures.

A boat at the Marathon Petroleum (or to be technical, MPLX) dock.

The M/V Jincy.

The M/V Energy at Virginia Point Park in Kenova, W.Va.

Finally, from the wall at old Big Sandy Lock and Dam 1, which I think was taken out of service in 1961, when the Greenup Locks and Dam raised its pool.

It had hoped to get a harbor boat coming out of or going into the Big Sandy, but it was not to be.

A good story and a photo

If you would like to read a good story about a land-based river business in Wellsville, Ohio, try this one out. It tells the story of Pier 48, which handles steel and bulk commodities in a barge-to-truck dock. The details of Pier 48's soybean business surprised me. It's the kind of story I like to write.

And if you're in need of a towboat picture ...

The Patoka will spend most of its time on the Ohio and the Mt Vernon on the Mississippi, so it's hard telling when the two will be side-by-side at the same dock again.

1 down, 57 to go

Sometimes I let my photos marinate in my head for a few days before I decide which to sell and which to post on my free sites (here and my Ohio981 Faccebook page). I shot around 260 photos during the triple christening at Marathon Petroleum the other day, and I've narrowed that list down to about 58. Some of them are still repetitive, but I had to see how some images looked at slightly different angles or different exposures.

Here is one. It's smokestack of the M/V Mt. Vernon as seen from the M/V Kenova, with a Kenova stack blocking part of the view.

As I said, it will take me some time, probably on Sunday, to winnow this list down more. I'll probably put up some later next week in a series of several posts here, and I'll link those on the Facebook page. If you want to see higher-resolution versions of some of those photos, check out my Flickr page (Ohio981) later in the week.

Not in Kenova but on Kenova (Updated)

Marathon Petroleum christened three towboats today — the Mt Vernon, the Kenova and the Patoka.

All three were purchased from Florida Marine Transporters. I have a lot of notes to go through and a lot of photos to process for the Waterways Journal. I can tell you Marathon put on a pretty good party.

Tomorrow morning, I'll edit this post to include links to coverage from a local newspaper and a couple of TV stations that were there.

# # #

Here are a couple of stories from the local media on the christening.

First, one from The Herald-Dispatch of Huntington.

Second, one from WOWK-TV of Charleston-Huntington.

I'll be writing my own story over the weekend to submit to the Waterways Journal.

Belle of Cincinnati

There's an unwritten rule among river photographers that states when the Belle of Cincinnati is in your area, you must endeavor to get at least one photo of it. So I did.

However, to comply with the spirit of the law, here's another one.

Seriously, as I watched the boat sail past me, I remembered I had been on it twice before. And both times I was paid to be there. It's the best way.

As I write this, I think I may have paid to be on like a one-hour or 90-minute cruise here in Huntington about ten years ago. It was a very good day.

M/V Kyova

Today I caught it coming out of the Big Sandy toward the Ohio. These were taken from the West Virginia shore.

I believe it made the left turn to go up the Ohio once it reached the mouth, but I'm not sure.

I didn't get his name

I shoot a lot of pictures: river scenes, family, nature, attempts at artsy stuff ... you know. I don't go through them all, and I post a number of them all over the place. Some I put here, some I put on my Ohio981 page on Facebook, some I put on my Flickr account, and some I just forget about.

Today while going through some pictures from this summer I found this one. I was up at the Robert C. Byrd Gallipolis Locks and Dam on July 4 when this fellow struck up a conversation with me.

I seem to remember he said he was from Portsmouth, which is about 75 miles down the river by highway. We talked about a lot of things there and here.

I didn't get his name, but he seemed to be having a good time fishing at a popular spot.