Page 46: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 15, 1984)

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The 500-passenger Landing Queen.

Sternwheeler Landing Queen

Delivered By Walker Marine Yard

The 500-passenger Landing

Queen, a 290-ton displacement sternwheel riverboat, was chris- tened recently at the Landing at

Seven Coves, a country club/resort hotel on Lake Conroe, Texas. More than 200 guests attended the cer- emony, which was hosted by Wil- burn S. (Bill) Bruce, owner of the vessel and the resort. The craft was christened by his wife, Mrs.

Barbara Bruce.

The Landing Queen measures 120 feet from bow to sternwheel, has a 38-foot beam, and is 38 feet from her keel to the top of the pilothouse. The boat is said to be one of the largest to navigate any inland lake in the U.S.

The all-steel vessel was con- structed by James K. Walker Ma- rine, Inc. of Moss Point, Miss. It was built in modular sections that were then tack-welded together.

After approval by the American

Bureau of Shipping it was disas- sembled and shipped overland by truck to the Landing's site on

Lake Conroe, where it was reas- sembled and permanently welded by Walker craftsmen. Finish car- pentry and outfitting were done locally.

The Landing Queen is distin- guished from other Paddlewheel- ers in Texas because she has an authentic riverboat structure, rather than a superstructure built on a barge. Her curvilinear design is dictated by the fore-and-aft sheer and the side-to-side camber of the decks, which is the mark of all true riverboats. The vessel was de- signed by naval architect William

G. Preston, owner and president of Marine Power, Inc., Gulf Breeze,

Fla.

The Grand Salon on the Main

Deck is enclosed, with year-round

Carrier air conditioning. It seats 124 for dinner, features a stage for playS and musical entertainment, and has an antique-style bar. Five brass and cut glass chandeliers, 26 sconces, Encarnex marble, custom- cut leaded and beveled doors and windows, antique-style floral car- pets, and 80,000 linear feet of solid oak moldings and rift-cut raised oak paneling are blended in a rich setting of colors and textures.

The Boiler (second) Deck is cov- ered by the third deck but the sides are open to the lake breezes.

This deck is for moonlight cocktail dance cruises. It is appointed with

Honduran mahogany decking, carved glass panels, antique-style bar, authentic embossed tin ceil- ings, a bandstand for live music, and imported marble restrooms.

The Hurricane Deck and the

Texas Deck form the split-level third deck. The Texas Deck is the uppermost deck upon which the pilothouse is installed. The Hurri- cane Deck wraps around the Texas

Deck and is the favorite for obser- vation, as it is the highest public deck and is open. Another an- tique-style bar is located on this deck.

Beneath the elegant Victorian facade, the Landing Queen is as modern as she is beautiful. The vessel is powered by two 18-foot- diameter paddlewheels that are independently controlled and fully reversible for maximum maneu- verability. The paddlewheels are driven by two variable-speed hy- draulic motors that are powered by two 200-bhp GM Detroit Diesel engines. Each engine drives a 40- kw electric generator, providing 120- or 220-volt power.

The pilothouse, quaint in out- ward detail, including an authen- tic 72-inch mahogany riverboat helm, is thoroughly modern in- side. Four television monitors en- able the captain to visually super- vise the boat from every angle, not only for berthing and getting un- der way, but for normal cruising as well. Electronic instrumenta- tion keep him constantly advised of wind direction and velocity, bar- ometric pressure, depth of water, and a host of functions related to the operation of the engines and the subsystems that make the

Landing Queen one of the safest passenger boats ever built.

Brunch and dinner will be served on daily cruises on the 20-mile- long lake. A dockside service building, built out over the water alongside the vessel's berth, will include a complete gourmet kitchen to supply the boat.

J.L. Konopasek Announces

New Organization

James L. Konopasek is pleased to announce the organization of

J.L. Konopasek & Associates, a new Jacksonville, Fla.-based, com- pany offering naval architecture and marine engineering services.

Mr. Konopasek brings his ex- perience from positions in both the

Canadian and U.S. marine indus- tries. While with German & Milne

Inc. of Montreal, Mr. Konopasek's design project involvement in- cluded polar icebreakers, the com- mercial fisheries, and vessels for

Arctic energy resource develop- ment. In the Atlantic and Gulf re- gions he has taken part in the de- signs of offshore supply vessels, tug-barge configurations and gen- eral service vessels to the offshore oil industry. Mr. Konopasek's most recent position with Offshore

Power Systems has involved him as a key participant to both naval ship and commercial engineering projects.

The company is also offering na- val architecture computer process- ing services through the support of a minicomputer system, and seeks to provide an all-round, positive

James L. Konopasek cost-effective service to the marine industry.

For information on Konopasek & Associates,

Circle 93 on Reader Service Card

Texas Instruments

Awarded $7.2-Million

Navy Contract

Texas Instruments Incorpo- rated, Dallas, Texas, is being awarded a $7,245,100 increment of funds to a fixed-price contract for 20 AN/ASQ-8KV) magnetic de- tecting sets and spare parts. The

Naval Air Systems Command,

Washington, D.C., is the contract- ing activity. 13 ANTENNA

SYSTEMS • CABIN OUTLETS • NO ROTOR REQUIRED • VCR INPUTS • MARINE ENGINEERED

CMC Communications, Inc. 5479 JETPORT INDUSTRIAL BLVD

TAMPA, FLORIDA 33614

PHONE 813-885-3996

Designers and Fabricators

Marine and Construction Equipment • Anchor-handling and • Towing Pins

Towing Winches* • Cargo Winches* • Hydraulic Tuggers • Cranes* • Anchor Windlasses • Stern Rollers • Pneumatic Monitoring • Capstans

Systems • Cable Stops "Built under license from A/S Hydraulik Brattvaag

The Sea Demands The Best

P O Box 569 Covington. Louisiana 70434

Telephone (504) 892-8216

We'll build your barge your way

Our design and construction flexibility, experi- enced craftsmanship, and advanced facilities produce competitively priced, quality barges built for each customer's shipping operation.

Contact us, and we'll build one your way

Brownsville.

Pennsylvania 15417

Phone: (412) 785-6100

HBC Bar 46 Circle 229 on Reader Service Card Circle 215 on Reader Service Card Circle 230 on Reader Service Card