Under Main Skysail in the Mediterranean
steamboat arrivals and departures. Some of the Queen 's predecessors included the beautiful Robert E. Lee, City of Saint Louis and Great Republic. These steamers appeared on the water not unlike some vast Victorian wedding cake, belching smoke and cinder, and hooting whistles of thunderous note. Steamboat Gothic came into its own with these floating palaces. Magnificent staterooms, common rooms and dining areas were expected and provided. Naturally , if one travelled on a local or less than a star boat, accomodations were less grand. But the bar was always in good order and generally the food was excellent, considering there was no ice or freezer. No matter how one looks at it, though, first-class or economy, one thing remains: steamboats were the only way to travel at this time in hi story. As we proceeded toward Cincinnati, we passed Madison, Indiana, noted for its annual speed boat regatta, and Carro lton at the mouth of the Kentucky River. A full " lock and dam" river, the Kentucky is a major tributary of the Ohio. Cincinnati , our destination, was reached by steaming under the Roehling Bridge. Erected in 1866 between Cincinnati and Covington, Kentucky, it was the prototype for Mr. Roebling's better-known Brooklyn Bridge. Cincinnati , the "Queen City," was given that title by no less than Henry Wadsworth Longfellow , half a century after the city was founded in 1788. Here the Delta Queen tied up, in the same area as thousands of steamboats before her.
To remind one of the unity of this water-girded globe, the NMHS cruise following the Delta Queen outing in the summer of 1990 was aboard the four-masted bark Sea Cloud in the Mediterranean. We went from Catania in Sicily to Athens, with stops along the way at Corfu and Kythera and other fabled islands. Corfu (in Greek Kerkyra) is, of course, classic Corcyra-the island whose revolt precipitated the Peloponnesian War of the later 400s BC. When you see it and think of the galleys creeping from headland to headland, utter) y dependent upon the shore for food and water, you can understand the island 's importance and why Pericles drew his line in the sand--or in the water-there. Another high point of this trip was a visit to the excavation of a seaport of 1500 BC on Santorini, where we stood transfixed by the orderliness of this town, its beautiful murals and all the evidence of a prosperous, open society. I do the lectures on these tours, but always they develop into seminars, with people more learned than I on various subjects joining in. Result: new perceptions of history all around and a li vely sense that it all matters. Captains Ed Cassidy and Red Shannon, formerly of the USCG Eagle, are members of NMHS and add to the di scussion of ship types and square rig sailing. A multi-national crew keeps everything humming and demonstrate great elan and precision in sail drill, even to that lofty main skysail! PS
Mr. Williams , a resident of Lexington, Kentucky, is a professional artist specializing in ship portraits rendered in watercolor and pencil.
Norn: This summer Sea Cloud sail s the length of the Italian peninsula, from the Riviera to Sicily and back. And it is her 60th birthday!
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MARINE PAINTINGS • PRINTS SEA HISTORY 57, SPRING 1991
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