GALVESTON — The Colonel, a paddlewheel boat that normally plies the waters of Offatts Bayou, recently completed a 13-day trip along he intercoastal waterway to New Orleans and up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers.
The boat, powered by two Caterpillar diesel engines, made the 1,720-mile trip to be part of Cincinnati’s 2003 Tall Stacks Music, Arts & Heritage Festival that runs from today through Friday.
Part-time Capt. Joy Manthey, who is also a nun, said the journey from Galveston to Cincinnati was the longest traveled by any of the Tall Stacks boats. The 46-year-old native of New Orleans, keeps prayer books and a rosary within arm’s reach while she’s at the helm.
Manthey said she was lucky in being able to combine two loves: One of serving God full-time as a riverboat chaplain, and one of piloting big boats whenever she gets the chance. Her great-great-grandfather, John Streckfus, built and operated the first excursion boat on the Mississippi in 1884, she said. Her great-uncle, Verne Streckfus, hired a trumpeter named Louis Armstrong to play on Streckfus boats, she said.
The festival, which has drawn some steamboats with stacks that rise 30 feet or more and can be lowered to pass under bridges, celebrates a time about 150 years ago when such boats ruled America’s rivers. Cincinnati, a stop on the Ohio River, was the country’s sixth largest city and the publishing, brewing, hog-butchering and soap-making capital of the Midwest.
There are nine crewmembers and one cook on board, said Joy Cowan, director of operations for the Colonel, who also made the trip north. She said it was the only boat from Texas in the festival.
Capt. Joe Murello is the full-time captain in Galveston. Cook Jim Sheets will be serving Texas-style barbecue and other southern favorites.
The Colonel was built in 1985 in Pascagoula, Miss. During its first eight years in Galveston, it was berthed at Pier 22 and it has been at Moody Gardens for the past 10 years, boarding about 800 passengers a day in the summer months, Cowan said.
The Texas Room and The Galveston Room are available for private parties during its regularly scheduled cruises that go out to Teichman Island. Each climate-controlled room has a 144 square foot dance floor and bar facilities in addition to the bar on the Promenade Deck. Dining capacity for The Texas Room is 240 and 200 for The Galveston Room. A stereo music and sound system is installed throughout with speaker jacks located in both rooms.
The Colonel will leave Cincinnati Oct. 20, and has an estimated time of arrival back in Galveston on Oct. 29.
