RIVER MEN

Russell family’s men folk plan trip from Buckaloons to The Big Easy

By CHUCK HAYES chayes@timesobserver.com
David Whitten put down his favorite Harlan Hubbard book and decided, “It’s time.”

The Russell carpenter had been reading Hubbard’s account of his 1940s journey down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to the Louisiana bayous on a shantyboat he built.

“I drew a picture and went out and got a load of wood,” said Whitten.

The sketch he drew was of a 30-foot long, 14-foot wide flat-bottomed riverboat.

What Whitten pictured almost two years ago is now covered by an orange tarp in his yard along Old Rt. 62 near Russell, awaiting its maiden voyage.

The wait is almost over.

It has been more than a century since the last flat-bottomed riverboats, sometimes referred to as shantyboats or packers, navigated the Allegheny River between Warren and Pittsburgh.

Whitten and his young crew will change that, beginning this Saturday.

“It’s just something I’ve always wanted to do,” said Whitten. “My son, Kyle, is getting older (16) and I wanted to do it before he got too old.”

The centerpiece of the riverboat is a 10- by 20-foot cabin, which includes six bunks, a bathroom with shower and a small kitchen and eating area.

The boat is made primarily from rough-cut hemlock and stripped with oak. Every joint was screwed and glued with epoxy.

The six bunks are for Whitten, his son Kyle, nephews Jed Fox and Dylan Fleming, family friend Robert Barrett and Whitten’s father, Larry, who plans to travel as far as Pittsburgh.

Assuming a test on the Conewango Creek later this week goes according to plan, this Saturday morning a trailer will haul the riverboat to the Buckaloons boat launch and the 1,980-mile trip to New Orleans will begin.

While Hubbard’s shantyboat trip took eight years, Whitten hopes to complete the trip in 30 days.

“We have to average sixty-seven miles a day,” said Whitten. “We’ll row about four hours in the mornings and in the afternoon we’ll use the motor for about five hours.”

In addition to the four 16-foot long oars, the riverboat is equipped with a 90-horsepower motor.

Whitten said he doesn’t want to use the motor any more than necessary, only enough to keep on the 67-mile per day pace “and in emergencies to get out of way of a barge or something.”

The crew will tie up before dark.

“There’s too much large barge traffic at night,” said Whitten. “They’d run us over and not even know it.”

One of the most difficult legs of the journey may come in the first few days.

With the flat-bottom’s design, the 6,000-pound boat will displace less than a foot of water, Whitten estimates, but there still could be some problems along the upper Allegheny.

“There are some shallows from Warren to Tidioute and near Tionesta and Oil City,” he said, “but we have plenty of rope and some come-alongs if we need them. I’m hoping the river is on the high side. Once we get past Oil City, we’ll be all right.”

The boat is equipped with a marine radio so Whitten can call ahead to lockmasters along the Allegheny in the Pittsburgh area and arrange passage.

The kitchen will be stocked with food, but Whitten said the supplies will have to be replenished at towns along the rivers.

Whitten and the crew have been working on the riverboat virtually every evening and weekend since last spring.

“I’ve pretty much lived in there,” Whitten said, pointing to his backyard workshop.

While she will not be aboard,Whitten’s wife, Dawn, is anxious for the trip to begin.

“I’ve been looking at that orange tarp for over a year now,” she said. “I’m anxious to see it go down the river. I’m happy for him. It’s a dream. You can’t stop dreams.”

Whitten has one rule for the boys.

“They have to write their experiences in a diary every day,” said Whitten.

While the 30-day voyage is well scripted, Whitten said the logistics of just how to bring the riverboat back home to Russell is “the big question.”

“Maybe we can get a tow company to bring it back at least as far as the last lock in East Brady,” said Whitten. “If all else fails, I could sell it down there and rent a car, but I’d like to bring it back. I might want to do it again some day.”