Get Your Popcorn
Happy to share that the film Shantyboat – Rediscovering a River Way of Life is now available to stream on the Kentucky Educational Television (KET) website. (Apparently the parameters for what is considered “educational” are pretty broad in my home state.) The film chronicles my river adventure with Art Baltes and tells the history of shantyboaters, underdogs who created river communities on America’s waterways. It also shares the story of Harlan and Anna Hubbard, who lived the shantyboat life, and then inspired by Thoreau, created a life of simplicity close to nature on the banks of the Ohio River in Kentucky. So yeah…pretty educational! Congrats to my talented wife Dianne for created such an enjoyable film which was voted “Festival Favorite” at the 2023 Louisville International Festival of Film. Enjoy!
Peace Out,
Jerry
Search on the link below for “Shantyboat”
Shantyboat – The Movie!
Happy to share that the movie version of Art and I’s river adventure will be appearing in two film festivals this Fall. On October 7th, it will be shown at the Louisville International Festival of Film and on October 22nd it will appear at the Utopia Film Festival in Greenbelt, Maryland. We are very excited about both of these opportunities to share the forgotten story of shantyboaters in this country and also the story of Harlan and Anna Hubbard, two Kentucky shantyboaters, who inspired by Thoreau, led a life of simplicity close to nature in a place called Payne Hollow. The film, directed by my talented wife Dianne Steimel, does a wonderful job of telling their story while following our 120 mile journey journey on two of Kentucky’s rivers. We would love for you to join us at either of the festivals and I have posted the links below. Our thanks to everyone who made this whole experience possible.
Louisville’s International Festival of Film
https://www.utopiafilmfestival.org
Peace Out
Jerry & Art
Screening of the film Shantyboat – Rediscovering a River Way of Life
Shantyboat – Rediscovering a River Way of Life screened at the Speed Art Museum Cinema in Louisville, Kentucky on June 15th to a packed house. Dianne Steimel’s film chronicles Art and Jerry’s two week journey on the shantyboat, H. A. Hubbard, on the Kentucky and Ohio rivers in September, 2022 as it also shares some a bit of history of shantyboat life in America. The film also tells the story of Anna and Harlan Hubbard, two Kentucky shantyboaters, who established a model for sustainable living at Payne Hollow, Kentucky.
The film is currently in submission to a number of film festivals and not able to be streamed on YouTube. Once it is available on YouTube I will post it here…so watch this space.
Congrats to Dianne who made such a fun and informative movie that importantly helps to revive some lost American history.
Peace Out,
Jerry & Art
A Journey Completed
Happy to share that Art and I completed our journey on the H.A. Hubbard and arrived at Towhead Island, our final destination in Louisville, on September 20th. While the river portion of the journey lasted two weeks and over 120 miles, this journey really began when I called Art in September, 2018 and said: “I’ve been sipping some bourbon and I came up with an idea.” Art was probably sipping some bourbon himself and of course responded: “I’m in!” In June, 2019, we began work on the boat at the abandoned Lanning Auto Garage in the Portland neighborhood of Louisville. And what a journey this has been. There was the pandemic that slowed us down in 2020 and then Art had a battle with cancer in 2021. (He kicked it’s ass!) Through it all, with a lot of help from our friends and family, the boat came together. In some ways, the river journey turned out to be the easy part. We met so many wonderful people along the way and got a helping hand from many of them. Our goal was to share one more adventure as friends and to raise a little consciousness about the history of shantyboaters on America’s rivers along the way. We also wanted to share the story of Harlan and Anna Hubbard, two Kentucky shantyboaters who espoused a life of living simply. We feel we accomplished all of our goals….and remained friends. 🙂
Rather than blathering on about our experiences I am going to let some of the pictures we took along the way tell the story. My wife Dianne is making a documentary about the experience which will be titled “Shantyboat – Rediscovering a River Way of Life.” I will be sure to share it here when it is completed.
Ending with an Irish toast:
There are good ships and there are wood ships
There are ships that sail the sea
But the best ships are friendships
And may they always be.
Peace Out,
Jerry & Art
H. A. Hubbard is Underway
The H. A. Hubbard launched in Frankfort, Kentucky on September 8th and it’s 110 mile journey to Louisville has begun. While I will occasionally post here, if you wish to follow our journey more closely you can follow us on Facebook….Look for “Shantyboat- Rediscovering a River Way of Life.”
Here is an article from the Frankfort newspaper that frankly explains the purpose of our trip better than I can.
Peace Out
Jerry & Art
The Journey Begins
After three years of construction…and three years of me blathering about shantyboat history, the Hubbards, and the joy of living simply…the shantyboat journey is about to begin. Art and I will be launching the H.A. Hubbard on Thursday, September 8th in Frankfort, Kentucky onto the Kentucky River….God willing and the creek don’t rise. (Seriously…if the river rises then the locks don’t operate and we can’t launch.) The weather forecast is currently favorable and we have green lights across the board for launch.
Our journey will take us down the Kentucky River through four locks and after traveling 65 miles we will enter the Ohio River. On the Ohio we will take a left and head for our hometown of Louisville, 45 miles downstream. We expect to arrive in Louisville two weeks after we begin and there we will dock at Towhead Island, the historic location of a bustling shantyboat community in the mid-20th Century.
My wife Dianne is documenting the journey and the resulting film, Shantyboat – Rediscovering a River Way of Life, should be released in the Spring of 2023. If you would like to receive daily updates on our voyage we have a created a Facebook page for you to follow…just search for the movie title above on Facebook. I hope you join us.
While I do not expect a another book (see Chasing Zorba – A Journey of Self- Discovery in a VW Bus) as a result of this venture (having already discovered more about myself than I ever wanted to know), I will be keeping a journal and Dianne has given me the perfect notebook for capturing my thoughts:
Surely this whole experience will encourage me to cut back on the bourbon.
Peace Out
Jerry
Overnight On the Shantyboat
I am back from two weeks in Kentucky and the shantyboat, H. A. Hubbard, is 99% complete. A few things need to be tweaked based on what we learned from our overnight on Guist Creek Lake, but all are pretty minor. The boat handled well and the motor was reliable. Art has designated me Ship’s Cook and I take this responsibility very seriously. (Dianne, on the other hand thinks Art has put his life in great peril.) We got some fishing in (Art caught a striped bass on his first cast while I brought in a catfish after demonstrating my patience for hours.) And while it was “catch and release” on this trip, as cook I hope to rely on the river to provide some of our provisions during our 100 mile journey in September. A few pictures can describe our experience better than any words so please check out the photos below.
Peace Out and have a wonderful and safe summer everyone.
Jerry & Art
Sgt. Robert Lee Crook
When I am not wandering the country in my VW bus named Zorba….or building the shantyboat with Art….I am sometimes doing aircraft archaeology with my brother John. We have been pursuing this activity for the past twenty years and it is usually just a good excuse to wander in the desert as brothers and reconnect in our lives. This past week it became much more meaningful for us.
In May of 2018, John and I had visited the crash site of a PBY-Catalina flying boat during my cross country journey in Zorba as I returned from California. This crash occurred on August 1, 1945, only 13 days before the end of World War II. Seven airmen were on a flight from Georgia to California when they developed engine trouble and while attempting to reach an airfield in Albuquerque, crashed in a lava field 25 miles south of Grants, New Mexico. I had posted about our visit to the crash site on this blog and video of it was also included in the documentary my wife Dianne made titled Bringing Zorba Home. (Available on YouTube.com.)
Over three years after our visit to the site, I received a message on my blog from Florence Wetzel, a niece of one of the airmen, Sgt. Robert Crook. In researching her uncle’s death she had come across my post. I shared with her all the information I had about her uncle’s death and in return she and her sister Dorothy shared some of the rich details of his too short life. Their Uncle Robbie grew up in Brooklyn, played the saxophone professionally, and he loved flying and the crew he flew with. Robbie’s parents, Irving and Florence Crook, opened their house to servicemen in the area and provided both open and nurturing arms as well as home cooking for any who came to their house…which became known in the neighborhood as “Crook’s Inn”. Robbie was eager to do his part in World War II and was the radio operator on the PBY- Catalina.
Knowing that my brother John and I were planning a return to New Mexico to visit two other sites, I made the offer to Florence and Dorothy to take them to the site if they wished. Florence was unable but Dorothy and her husband Dan eagerly accepted and we agreed to meet in Grants, New Mexico. From there we would drive south then lead them across the lava field to the location of the crash where Robbie and his crewmates came to their final resting place. Also accompanying us was my brother’s eleven year old grandson, Sammy.
The hike is a challenging one given the condition of the lava field…nothing but loose rock that shifts under your feet with every step. Dorothy and Dan were more than game and after an hour of slow but steady progress we reached our objective. (Sammy gets a lot of credit for being so patient with the four plodders who accompanied him on this hike.) Dorothy and Dan brought with them a memorial cross for Robbie, a plaque bearing his name, and a plaque that bore the names of all the airmen who perished at the site. In one particularly moving moment we found a portion of the airplane’s radio that Robbie had been operating and Dorothy chose that location for the plaque bearing his name. While my brother and I will continue to share time together in the desert looking for forgotten aircraft crash sites, I am certain there will never be a hike as meaningful to us as this one.
Having visited this site shortly after Memorial Day, it was a powerful reminder of the sacrifices so many have made who came before us. We hope in some small way we honor them by keeping their memory alive. My special thanks to Florence and Dorothy for sharing their uncle’s story with us.
Peace,
Jerry
Get Your Popcorn Ready!
As most of you know by now, my talented wife Dianne makes documentaries and is working on one about Art & I’s shantyboat adventure. The documentary will cover some of the history of shantyboats, particularly in the Louisville area, the story of Harlan and Anna Hubbard, two well known Kentucky shantyboaters who lived a life of simplicity inspired by Thoreau…..as well as the story of our two week journey on the Kentucky and Ohio Rivers in September. Posted below is a short promo for the film (as yet untitled). Enjoy.
Peace,
Jerry & Art
Now That’s A Shanty!
I just returned from two weeks in Kentucky where Art and I, along with much assistance from brothers-in-law Allen and Mark, made substantial progress on the shanty structure. The roof was sealed with a coating of epoxy, repurposed pallet wood was used as clapboard giving the structure a very shanty-like appearance, and most critical of all….we built a crapper onto the back deck of the boat. During my absence Art has continued to make progress on building out the interior living space.
Art and I also did a little recon of the Kentucky River where we plan to launch in early September, and the Ohio River near Louisville where we hope to arrive two weeks later.
Peace Out,
Jerry and Art
PEACE OUT RIVER TRIP 