American Countess gets an assist?

[TinCan782]

As viewed on the Virtual Railfan camera at Fort Madison, it appears the Countess is getting an assist from a tug.

vitrualrailfan dot com

Edited August 8, 2022 by TinCan782

[rljan]

Yes. We were on the last cruise on the Countess. The starboard side V-drive (engine) went out.   The V-drive was lifted out by a crane and place on a truck and taken to a company in Texas for repair.  This info was from the Captain.  Obviously it hasn't been replaced yet.  

[TinCan782]

V-drive or Z-drive?

I ask because the Duchess (was on her last year) uses three Schottel Z-Drives.

Anyway, thanks for the info.

Edited August 8, 2022 by TinCan782
typo

[rljan]

3 minutes ago, TinCan782 said:

V-drive or Z-drive?

I ask because the Duchess (was on her last year) uses three Schottel Z-Drives.

Anyway, thanks for the info.

The Captain called it a V-drive.  He said there is a V-drive on each side (similar to an azipod on an ocean cruise ship) and the paddle wheel does most of the propulsion. 

[CruisinCadie]

They were still using the tow boat on the Aug. 16 sailing.  During the pilot house tour, someone asked how much it was costing AQV and the pilot said $12,000/day.  They sure haven't been making any money on these cruises!

[TinCan782]

9 hours ago, CruisinCadie said:

They were still using the tow boat on the Aug. 16 sailing.  During the pilot house tour, someone asked how much it was costing AQV and the pilot said $12,000/day.  They sure haven't been making any money on these cruises!

Not to mention the cost of the actual repairs! Thanks.

[blubberwon]

On 8/28/2022 at 6:35 PM, TinCan782 said:

Not to mention the cost of the actual repairs! Thanks.

thanks for the information, we were on the Duchess when it broke down in Hannibal, MO at the end of July, and they also used a tug to push it, and boarded the Countess right after with the tug pushing it. Sure if you are correct that it's costing them $12k/day, just think how much they will lose and how disappointed their passengers would be if they had to cancel their cruises. They stepped up and did what they had to do. The tug pushing the boats did not effect the atmosphere cruising down the river. Way to go AQV!

[rljan]

On 8/8/2022 at 6:51 AM, rljan said:

The Captain called it a V-drive.  He said there is a V-drive on each side (similar to an azipod on an ocean cruise ship) and the paddle wheel does most of the propulsion. 

I stand corrected.  It was a Z drive that failed.

[DaveinCharlotte]

Just got off the Countess.  Riverlorian gave a nice history and description of how the ship came to be (converted casino boat).  She confirmed paddlewheel provides about 40% of total propulsion, with three Z-drives providing 20% each.  During Q&A I asked about the pushed-by-a-tug situation described above, and she said yes that was true, except that 2 of the 3 Z-drives had to be replaced.  And she confirmed that it cost roughly $12,000/day for the tow-boat.