CAPTAINS THEORIZE ABOUT BOAT DISASTER

STE. GENEVIEVE, Mo. -- The search for a missing towboat captain has ended at least temporarily as Mississippi River waters rage above flood level.

John W. Distefano of Perryville, Mo., had made his way to the railing of the Patty Ann before it sank late Tuesday, U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Chris O'Neil said Thursday, but it's unknown where the current carried him.

The Guard's attention has turned to salvaging the 65-foot-long vessel, he said. A salvage operation won't begin until conditions on the Mississippi River improve.

Although the Coast Guard states that the accident which caused the boat to sink is under investigation, other captains of riverboats say they are certain Distefano's mistake was "downstreaming."

"What that man was doing was one of the most dangerous things you can do on the river," said Lynn Wingerter, 35, who was captain of the Patty Ann for eight years before taking a job nearer the river's mouth.

Downstreaming is a maneuver used by towboats to select a barge for repositioning. The boat starts by going up river from a fleet of barges. As the boat captain turns his boat around so the stern points toward the barges, he turns off his engines and floats downstream to the barges.

Just before the stern touches the barges, the captain throws his engines in reverse as a brake.

The greatest danger to the boat as it floats down comes from the current, said Leo Steger, general manager of Missouri Barge Line Inc. If the boat does not meet the barges squarely, a strong current can force the side of the boat into the barges and cause it to go under, Steger said.

Wingerter said that Distefano had been working with an "anchor fleet," which are barges out from the banks in the middle of the river. It is likely that they weren't straight with the current, making the Patty Ann's job more difficult.

The ends of the barges were sloped instead of flat, Wingerter said, which would make it easier for a strong current to push a boat down so that it would become flooded.

Sometimes a boat captain can throw his engines into reverse and pull away from a fleet of barges when the current makes the boat crooked. But if the barge fleet is large, this won't help, Steger said.

Downstreaming is a common technique, Wingerter said. Many boat pilots who move barges around in "fleeters" -- small, maneuverable boats like the Patty Ann -- will downstream 10 or 15 times a day. But even with experience, downstreaming is awkward.

"It feels like pushing a grocery cart while walking backwards," he said.

Although Wingerter said he did not know Distefano, he was quite familiar with the Patty Ann. He still has photographs of her at home.

The boat, built in 1986, was custom-made for quarry work as part of the Tower Rock stone fleet.

"It had things like a special light on the port side, since most of the work was done on the Missouri side," Wingerter said. "She was a fine boat."