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By Larry Pearson Unquestionably the most unique overnight vessel working on the U.S.

Inland waterways is the River Explorer.

Not a paddlewheeler, nor a sleek cruise vessel, River Explorer is composed of two, three deck 300-ft. barges coupled end to end, being pushed by the Miss Nari, a 130-ft. tug boat. The River Explorer con- ducts four to 10 day excursions on the inland waterways to give guests an "up close and personal" experience on the river it is traveling.

The lead barge called the DeSoto and contains the public spaces on the vessel such as the dining room, galley, two-deck entertainment venue, a large pursers lobby, reading/card room and a bar.

The Sky Deck of the DeSoto barge has a running track, two hot tubs and lounge furniture.

The aft barge (LaSalle) contains 98 identical cabins (either one Queen bed or two twins) with bath/shower facilities.

The cabins have 200 sq. ft. of space, a lit- tle larger than a standard cabin on Carni- val Cruise Lines. All rooms also have river views and the second deck rooms have individual balconies. The Sky Deck of the LaSalle is a continuation of the top deck of the DeSoto with lounge chairs, but also has the pilothouse built on top of an exercise room and a bar.

The Miss Nari was built in 1952 and spent much of her time on the Mississippi

River system pushing barges. The vessel was literally burnt out in 1976 when she caught fire when the two gasoline barges she was pushing rammed into a bridge support and exploded.

For years the tug was considered a hulk until purchased by Edward "Eddie" Con- rad, owner of Compass Marine of New

Orleans. Conrad rebuilt the tug, adding tons of steel to support the weight of the new engines and drive system. It was named the Miss Nari, after Conrad's late wife Narcissa.

The River Explorer was built in 1998 by LEEVAC Shipyards of Jennings, La. on a design by Conrad, also founder and

CEO of Riverbarge Excursion Lines, Inc. of New Orleans. LEEVAC also did the marine engineering for the vessel. New

Orleans, La. Interior designer was Bauer

Interiors, also of New Orleans.

This reporter vividly remembers the

River Explorer being built at LEEVAC.

From the beginning, it was obvious this was a labor of love for Conrad whose per- sonal stamp of approval is on every aspect of the vessel. Even today, almost eight years after the first cruise, Conrad is on many of the cruises, joining them without notice at any port of call he chooses. On the second deck there is a stateroom reserved at all times for Conrad since the staff never knows when he may drop by.

The propulsion system is uniquely adapted for its sole purpose of pushing of two passenger barges. The Miss Nari relies on two 1,500 hp EMD 12-cylinder 645 diesel engines coupled to Niigati Z-

Drives with Kort nozzles to propel the barges at roughly 6-7 mph usually work- ing against a 5-7 mph current going up river. "The Z-drives makes it a lot easier to navigate a 730-ft. long vessel, especial- ly with its great sail area," explained

Kenny Williams, one of two Captains on the River Explorer.

During the spring months the Mississip- pi River runs high and the current is quite strong and that has a pronounced impact on fuel consumption. "We will burn about 15,000 gallons of fuel on a trip from New 22 • MarineNews • March, 2005

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A view of the Miss Nari taken from the third deck of the aft barge. (Photo: Larry Pearson)

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