Thursday, July 23, 2009

Point Counterpoint II Meets Canadian Progress

7:50 AM

Just as the Canadian Progress was ready to proceed up the river after having anchored here since yesterday afternoon, Point Counterpoint II came motoring down the river. I quickly research and found it was a 195 foot self-propelled barge that travels around the world presenting concerts by the American Wind Symphony Orchestra. The vessel is equipped with a hydraulic bandshell and an art gallery with pieces from around the world from locations the vessel has visited. Apparently she is making her last world tour.

The captain of the Canadian Progress was waiting for Point Counterpoint to pass before leaving the anchorage area. His comments were very entertaining. He said, "That is one ugly little thing. A sailor had too much time on his hands with spare parts." That was followed by someone from Point Counterpoint II explaining that they were a self-propelled vessel.

It sounded to me that Point Counterpoint II wasn't getting any respect from the 730 foot lake freighter.

Apparently, even in the world of lake freighters there is a pecking order of respect!

5 comments:

Bill K. said...

The Canadian Progress didn't get very far. She is tied up on the up bound side of the locks just up from West Pier Apartments. I also see one of the Salties loading at the steel mill across the river. Self propelled barges are a rare site to see. There aren't but a handful in the world.

Soo Boat Watcher said...

Thanks Bill. I saw pictures of Point Counterpoint II on Facebook and people really noticed its unusual looks.

Bill K. said...

I think you can also see pictures of the Point Countpoint on the BoatNerd site. They had some pics of when it is opened and ready for the concert. It is really neat. We sure had a lot of boat traffic today. I tried to keep up posting the ones that I heard on the scanner or saw today. Did you ever ask Randy about using his pic as a desk top background?

Bill K. said...

I will be out of town for a few days so I will not be posting Friday or Saturday. I will be back Saturday night so I should be up and running on Sunday. Have a good weekend.

Dino D. Giardina said...

I was fortunate enough to see the Point Counterpoint II one day whilst
visiting the riverfront in Cape Girardeau, Mo. with my mother. I try to stop by the riverfront when I'm in Cape, and this was a fairly unique surprise to see docked riverside. They were to perform that evening, but alas, we could not attend due to a crowded schedule. The vessel itself was at first somewhat space-aged in appearance. It takes a few to really take in what it is. Once again, quite an experience.