EXPERIENCE MEANS A LOT ON EVER-CHANGING RIVER

PADUCAH, Ky. -- Samuel Clemons loved steamboating on the Mississippi River. He landed a job as a pilot on board a steamboat and called it one of the greatest experiences of his life. In fact, he adopted one of its signals as his pen name when he became the writer Mark Twain.

Mark twain was a depth reading on a line that navigators used to drag along the river bottom so as to avoid running aground.

That was more than 100 years ago.

Steamboat navigators these days have a wealth of constantly updated information to assist them in traversing the notoriously difficult Mississippi.

Mississippi Queen Capt. Adrian Hargrove, who has been navigating the Mississippi River since 1943, said there have been a lot of changes over the years.

There are buoys placed in potentially dangerous areas and checked regularly by the U.S. Coast Guard. The Guard also sounds the channel and reports changes immediately. The buoys themselves are designed to give pilots important information.

Buoys flash either once or twice every four seconds according to their position in the river. The buoys also act as mile markers, Hargrove said.

And while these advantages aid in navigating the river, Hargrove said the complexities of the Mississippi require a pilot to have a lot of old-fashioned experience.

"You have to know where the 34 pipelines are located. The buoys help by identifying whether the pipelines are water or power lines or natural gas, which is important because if we get into trouble we don't want to drop anchor on a gas line," he said. "You have to know the contour of the river because you still have to read the reefs."

As the water rises, as it is prone to do in the Mississippi, the buoys may become submerged and floating debris will invariably become a hazard. That is when experience with the shape and tendencies of the waterway become most important.

Hargrove has been the captain of the Mississippi Queen for two years and has worked for the Delta Queen Steamboat Co. for the past 11 years.

The Delta Queen Steamboat Co. owns the last three steamboats navigating the Mississippi -- the Delta Queen, the Mississippi Queen and the American Queen.