Re: Simple advice/Write it down/MQ, 1976.

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[ Future of the Delta Queen Steamboat Co Boats ]

Date: January 17, 2003 at 17:32:38
From: R. Dale Flick, [nr12-216-196-179-140.fuse.net]
Subject: Re: Simple advice/Write it down/MQ, 1976.

Hi, Ted:
So, you too were aboard the MQ back in the summer of 1976 for the initial shake down trip! I'm looking at the framed invitation on my den wall here for the christening of the MISSISSIPPI QUEEN..."a grand new steamboat for America." Hard to believe it'll be 27 years ago this coming summer. A number of us were summoned by Betty Blake and the DQSB CO., as invitees (AKA 'guinea pigs') to break the boat in. Nothing worked: the plumbing went on the fritz, gold cabin numbers on the plstic room key tags rubbed off, cigarette smoke fogged up the fancy mirrors in that fancy midships bar with the little white pin point lights, potable water was accidentally lost over the side, and waiters in the dining room were hit with a flu bug. Some of us guys used the swimming pool on the top deck to take a bath in one night. Remember how hot that summer was? I was whining and pouting from an injured foot I'd suffered at sea a week before. With no water there was no coffee. They kept the boat's bars open 24 hours a day--no consolation for a 'Java hound' like me. I met the guy from back East who was one of the designers of the boat's boilers. He looked at the MQ before boarding with a "what-am-I-doing here?" expression. His face tensed even more when an ambulace with flashing lights drove up to haul a crew member to the hospital for emergency treatment with the audible expression, "That d--- boat is a crew killer." Betty Blake was running around in a black dress and frazzled hair (we should have known something then) with a, "what-am-I-gonna'-to-do-now?" look. The crew member returned to duty within two hours and the boiler designer was well into the swing of 'Steamboatin' before we sailed. It was on the return trip that we noticed that strange 'thump' in the engines and should have known then it portended something we didn't know what. It's an old tradition in shaking down a new boat or ship (sea trials), and to be expected. It was fun! You're right: write it down in a log and keep those letters, cards and scraps of paper for the future. Hope to meet you one of these moons along with other steamboat.org posters. Are you listening Phyllis Dale? Ever think of a steamboats.org trip on the DQ one of these days? Hmmmmm.
Cheers,
R. Dale Flick

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Follow Ups:

Re: Simple advice/Write it down/MQ, 1976. Phyllis Dale 18-Jan-2003 02:23:54 (7)

Re: POSSIBLE steamboat.org cruise. R. Dale Flick 18-Jan-2003 09:57:31 (4)

Re: POSSIBLE steamboat.org cruise. Jane G. 18-Jan-2003 10:10:33 (3)

Re: POSSIBLE steamboat.org cruise. R. Dale Flick 18-Jan-2003 10:52:53 (0)

Re: POSSIBLE steamboat.org cruise. Jane again 18-Jan-2003 10:15:45 (1)

Re: POSSIBLE steamboat.org cruise--I agree with Jane. R. Dale Flick 18-Jan-2003 16:15:54 (0)

Steamboats.org Cruise Franz Neumeier 18-Jan-2003 05:11:57 (1)

Re: Steamboats.org Cruise Phyllis Dale 19-Jan-2003 11:24:24 (0)

Re: Simple advice/Write it down/MQ, 1976. Ted Guillaum 17-Jan-2003 18:34:42 (8)

Re: MQ, 1976 Memories. R. Dale Flick 17-Jan-2003 19:20:22 (7)

Re: MQ, 1976 Memories. Ted Guillaum 18-Jan-2003 09:01:40 (6)

Re: Additional MQ, 1976 'Memories.' R. Dale Flick 18-Jan-2003 15:40:56 (5)

Re: Additional MQ, 1976 'Memories.' P.R. (Pete) Sisak 18-Jan-2003 19:16:18 (2)

Re: MQ Paddlewheel Bearings Ted Guillaum 19-Jan-2003 13:33:49 (1)

Re: Those 'hot' MQ bearings. R. Dale flick 19-Jan-2003 15:05:19 (0)

Re: Additional MQ, 1976 'Memories.' Ted Guillaum 18-Jan-2003 19:09:29 (1)

Re: Additional MQ, 1976 'Memories.' Phyllis Dale 19-Jan-2003 11:36:03 (0)

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