BEYOND THE HORIZON

APRIL 2025

BEYOND THE HORIZON

April 2025

INLAND WATERWAYS

            If you can’t kill them, use them. Kentucky’s Two Rivers Company has processed over 30 million pounds of Asian Carp to make dumplings, egg rolls, nutritional supplements, pet food, and other products. The tough skin of these profoundly impactful pests is used as “leather”. This entrepreneurial company is allowed through an EB-5 federal program that permits foreign investors to qualify for permanent residence in the U.S. if such action creates jobs. (Red River Magazine)

            The Union of Concerned Scientists claims that wetlands in the Upper Midwest prevent $22 billion in flooding damage annually. Using 2022 data, the organization asserts that 1 acre of such swampland saves about  $745 in flood damage. The Supreme Court’s decision in Sackett v EPA that federally protected wetlands must be connected to navigable bodies of water seems to allow the drainage of significant amounts of wetlands. The U.S. has about 50% of its original wetlands. (Red River Magazine)

            Guttenberg, IA, one of the Driftless Zone’s most beautiful sites, is quarreling with the Army Corps of Engineers, who desire a mooring cell upriver from Lock and Dam 10 so barges can be held awaiting the raising and lowering of the Lock. The citizens of the city argue that this spoils one of the most significant views of bluffs in the entire state, and such a mooring cell will be an eyesore. 

            A mooring cell is a stopgap procedure because Lock #10 is, like all the locks between St. Paul, MN, and St. Louis, MO, too short, too shallow, too narrow, and too old to allow effortless moving of tows. The Upper Mississippi River’s locks can only handle a 15-barge tow that still requires the tow to be split and one half enters the lock at one time, then water must be adjusted appropriately to pass the other half of the tow, taking about 3-4 hours, and this halts fishing craft and pleasure boats for hours. 

            People along the Upper Mississippi have complained for decades about the Lock and Dam problems, but the Federal Government seems to be concerned about other issues.

            The Rapidan Dam, 87 feet high and 475 feet long, on the Blue Earth River near Mankato, failed in June 2024, creating a massive flood nationally televised. The greater problem is the amount of sediment that was sent downriver. 

            A 2021 report stated that 11.6 million cubic yards of sediment were behind the dam and posed an important danger should the dam fail. Gravel, sand, and rocks tend to bounce downstream, while silt is mixed with the downbound water flow. Now, the Army Corps is faced with the daunting task of removing silt and sand at the Upper End of Lake Pepin to keep a 9’ channel for barges. They estimate that they will need to dredge more than three times more silt than normal. Needless to say, this costs time, and energy, and keeps the Corps from other needed work.

            West Virginia University, the Texas Soil and Water Research Laboratory, and Iowa State University teamed up to study the Dead Zone at the mouth of the Mississippi, and they concluded it would cost over $7 billion to meet reduction goals set by law to be down 45% within the next ten years. The EPA is under the gun from the current administration, and such an expenditure is unlikely. 

Most of the area is dead because of oxygen loss due to excessive nitrogen from farm chemicals running down the Mississippi. Efforts to limit Farm Ag chemicals have met with a legislative brick wall built by Farm Bureau, Ag Chemical companies, and other farm groups thanks to massive monetary donations to sundry politicians. Iowa is the top polluter along the river, and its four US Representatives, two Senators, and the Governor are beholding to the agricultural entities.

Dead Zone

COLLISIONS AND ALLISIONS

            PATRICK J and the Liberia-flagged tanker CLARA B collided in the Mississippi, causing the tug to sink quickly. Five people were successfully rescued to flown to a hospital.

            It takes a fantastically brilliant person to captain a tow around sharp bends at Lansing, where barges have knocked the bridge off supports and require a new bridge and through narrow locks. Despite incredible human efforts, mv KITTY smashed into the Algiers Lock, causing $2 million in damages. NTSB discovered a weird combination of events, not the KITTY’S skippers fault created one of the craziest situations one can experience on the river. 

            The tow entered the lock as usual, but the lockmaster requested that she move forward a bit to allow a small boat to enter also. With the engine engaged forward at less than 1 knot, the wheelman noticed that the tow was moving backward! Several tows moving around in the area had generated an ebb tide, and water was dropping the lock by 3 to 4 feet, pulling the entered tow backward at over 2 knots to the point of almost completely out of the lock.

            The captain realized what was happening and understood that a forward current would immediately follow, pushing the tow back into the dock uncontrollably, so he put the engines in reverse. The Laws of Physics indeed appeared, and even with the engines at full reverse, the current pushed KITTY forward at about 2 knots, slamming into the gates.

            NTSB had video of the incident and the testimony of all involved people plus some passers-by. The Board found that the Captain of the KITTY had done everything possible to avoid the incident. There seemed to be no speed violations by other boats nor incompetency by the Lockmaster. In other words, it was a weird situation.

            The new Lock at mile 22.4 on the Tennessee River is arising in a mammoth undertaking to create a 1,200-ft long, 600-ft wide structure being built by a crew of over 300 people working 24 hours a day to complete the project by 2027.

            Builders encountered multiple unforeseen problems during construction because the bedrock is limestone that dissolves when exposed to water, creating sinkholes. Called karst, this material required a “dental cement” to fill voids. On top of this potentially catastrophic danger, the dam sits within the New Madrid Seismic Zone, which is known for significant movement during earthquakes. In local lore, the last major New Madrid earthquake is remembered as the day the Mississippi flowed northward.

            It is now official. President Trump has decreed that no governmental agency can use the term “Gulf of Mexico” in any way, shape, form, or map. According to him, it is the Gulf of America. Google Maps and other internet sites have already altered their maps. 

POLITICS

            The new Trump administration has made a large impact on the Coast Guard and the Maritime Administration. Admiral Ann C. Phillips, head of the Maritime Administration, resigned from her position just before the Inauguration. A close relationship with President Biden on shipboard safety, building at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, and modernizing the Ready Reserve Fleet put her in the crosshairs. Admiral Linda Fagen, Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, was summarily fired by President Trump, citing her inability to stop the illegal drug flow. Of course, Mr. Trump’s legendary dislike of women in leadership roles played no part in the departures.

            I am selling the Brooklyn Bridge. People of interest should email me. 

My home state of Iowa is the only state that has an Interstate Highway (I-80) crossing the Mississippi that has no associated riverport. Area personnel formed the Ports of Eastern Iowa (PEIA) to create such an adjacent port. The Army Corps of Engineers at the Rock Island Engineer District approved permission to construct such a port. Exactly how, if any, assistance comes from the Geniuses of the Golden Dome of Wisdom in Des Moines remains to be seen. The legislature has already funneled out bills for the year.

AGE OF SAIL

Wendy Mitman Clarke wrote about the current sailing technology in SAIL magazine positing that DRIFT ENERGY earned the UK’s prestigious UK’s 2025 Start-Ups Sustainability Ward when they created the 4-masted solid-sail catamaran that is also solar powered.

This boat is a veritable textbook on self-power by running saltwater through a RO desalinator and running the fresh water onto a stack of metals that separate the ions, venting the oxygen and storing the hydrogen for power generation when not depending on the sails that power the boat at 1.5 times wind speed.

The key to this invention is winding the appropriate strength and direction of winds. Unlike land-bound wind turbines, DRIFT ENERGY moves to the wind aided with superior navigation based on artificial intelligence computers. 

As the Norwegians say,”” Uf Dah”!

Loving literature, I minored in English. How tough is it when you are required to read good books? I found MOBY DICK lengthy and boring until Professor Bob Schenck started to point out a plethora of incredible facets, facts, the seafaring metaphor for Christianity  (Ahab, Rachel’s lost children, Ishmael, etc.), and the imagery of the book. I believe I have read it three times.

Maurice Chapin graduated from MIT in Naval Architecture and commenced to design boats for Adler Manufacturing in Rhode Island. In the 1930’s he designed a 42” sailing sloop built for speed. Using the Stevens Institute’s towing tank, he was ecstatic over the results. He named his craft MOBY DICK.

“Built like a brick shit house”, proclaimed current owner, Mike Yorston, MOBY DICK is African mahogany overall, but the deck is oak –steamed to create the curved bow.  It endured hurricanes, storms, and hard sailing before ending up on the hard for 25 years, but well protected and cared for. She is undergoing restoration, which is almost completed. 

THE GRAY FLEET

            The HARRY S TRUMAN (CVN-75) came under attack by the Houthis. The terrorists have fired upon any ship that is pro-Israeli and has a record of hammering defenseless cargo ships trying to go through the Suez Canal. Their weapons of choice are cruise and ballistic missiles from their friends and associates in Iran. President Trump authorized preemptive strikes against the Houthis in Yemen. 

            The INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NAVAL HISTORY had been associated with the U.S. Naval Institute, but now it is under the umbrella of the National Maritime Historical Society. While this journal is very academic, demanding Chicago-style manuscripts, it offers outstanding book reviews and occasionally an article worthy of the guy on the dock’s leisure.

The USS IOWA (SSN-797) will be commissioned on 5 April 2025 at her home in New London, CT about 2 years later than expected due to supply chain problems, political issues, and a few technical problems such as poor welding on other submarines (not a good thing to experience at about 400’ below sea level). This writer has his tickets in hand, reservations made, and a new sports coat (all my university coats seem to shrink in the closet).

            Often, news reporters talk about maritime zones or territorial waters without really explaining what they are. TERRITORIAL SEAS consist of 12 miles from a nation’s coastline whereby they can execute sovereignty but must allow foreign traffic on innocent passage. This means no spying, military ships, or firing weapons into the area or launching or recovering boats or aircraft. 

            CONTINGUIOUS ZONE is an additional 12 miles from where a state can enforce customs, enforce laws, and control immigration.

            EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE is a 200-mile stretch where a nation has rights to resources such as fishing and oil but must allow foreign passage.

            HIGH SEAS is all the water outside the above areas.

            In the mid-1990s, the JOHN F. KENNEDY (CV-67), the Navy designated her as Operational Reserve, cut her maintenance by 50%, simply used her as if she were fully operational, and deployed her twice in the next six years. Upon inspection, the carrier had two catapults and three elevators out of service. In typical fashion, the Stars of the Pentagon of Wisdom fired the skipper and two department heads who couldn’t make the equipment function because they simply did not have the money to do it. These brilliant gold braids tied up the JFK and waited until it was time to retire her. Rule #1 in the Navy is that if something goes wrong, it has to be someone’s fault. Rule #2 is that if you can’t fix it, ignore it. 

            In the final analysis, the Navy has several problems, including a lack of funding for maintenance, repairs, and service. She also has limited shipbuilders to work on her ships. Realistically, there are only three or four facilities that can handle big ships like carriers. Add the complication of politicians who want more ships built (especially in states that have lots of Defense Department employees) but do not want to spend money on repairs, and you have serious issues. The traditional method of coping is to fire a few people, complain often and loudly, and carry on. 

            As one reads newsletters and information from the Navy Department, the U.S. Naval Institute PROCEEDINGS, and daily briefs, one is astounded by the amount of difficulty it is to maintain command and control of our sea lanes. The daily battles among political figures who want to bring home the bacon, the demands from the President, the perspective of naval figures of high rank, and the normal intrigues within every office, the miracle is that anything works. Anyone who reaches Flag Rank has fought many, many internecine office wars and survived. My sympathy to those who lost, were stabbed in the back, or were simply overlooked. 

The World’s Worst Sailor

S.D. “Doc” Regan