--- In Paddleducks@y..., "John and Jewell Roberts" <modeldust@h...>
wrote:
> Hi, Paul,
> I don't remember where I read it, but some years ago, I read
> that some of the Mississippi River paddlers, including >
> stern-wheelers, had forward rudders to help in navigating the bends
> in the river. However, don't quote me as an authority on this.
> Best wishes for a great Christmas!
> John
Woohoo, John! You just threw an excellent kite up in the air!!
Now you really have me curious and I'm hoping our American Riverboat
experts can help us out over this. I have never seen a sternwheeler
with a bow rudder but I'd dearly LOVE TO!!
I'm currently reading about the exploits of the early sternwheelers in
their attempts to navigate the upper reaches of the Stikene River
during the Gold Rush. It looks incredibly dangerous and the way they
managed to navigate up and down these fast flowing, rapid fraught
rivers is nothing short of amazing!! The casualty list was pretty
high though!
Many of the Canadian River Sternwheelers therefore had incredibly
shallow drafts, some as little as 6" for travelling over the sand
bars. Something tells me a bow rudder on these ships would have been
very vulnerable to damage. However, it could be an entirely different
story with the "Mississippi River paddlers, including stern-wheelers"
that you are refering to.
So if anyone can throw some light on the American Bow rudder question,
we'd love to hear from you.
John..thank you for your Holiday Wishes and the very same to you.
PJ
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