Hundreds of curious onlookers lined the shores of the Muskingum and Ohio rivers early Wednesday to witness the departure of the Showboat Becky Thatcher.
The Becky, which has called Marietta home since 1975, is expected to arrive late today in Pittsburgh, where it will rest, at least temporarily, according to its owner.
Marietta City Council began eviction proceedings against the 83-year-old, 220-foot sternwheeler earlier this year, citing concerns about the lack of payment for use of city land and the continued decline of the boat, which has sat empty for the past four years.
Boat owner Jeffrey Levin, of Nashville, Tenn., was seen aboard the Becky as it was prepped for transport, but he could not be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon.
Marietta City Law Director Roland Riggs III said the city's suit against Levin, which seeks nearly $70,000 in back rent, is still pending.
City Council's lands, buildings and parks committee discussed the suit in executive session Wednesday night. Committee Chairman Jon Grimm, R-3rd Ward, said no decision was made.
At first it didn't appear as if the boat would be leaving. It took a crew of about 12 people more than an hour to get the Historic Harmar Bridge to swing open, allowing towboats access to push the boat into the Ohio River. There was also concern the Becky could be stuck in mud, but the boat appeared to drift from shore with minimal effort.
As for the bridge, Brooks Harper, with the Historic Harmar Bridge Company, the nonprofit organization that owns the bridge, said he anticipated some trouble.
"It had been sitting there for five years without moving," said Brooks Harper. "What's the old saying? A body in motion tends to stay in motion and one that sits tends to stand still? Well, it wanted to stand still."
The bridge was opened using a large crank. Two men stood at each of the four arms to rotate the crank, which then turned gears to swing the bridge open.
After nearly an hour of wrenching and prying at the old steel span, the bridge finally broke free, but in the opposite direction. That would have been fine, but the span caught some trees on shore and couldn't swing past them.
"We started that direction, but we really wanted to go the other direction," Harper said. "I knew that tree was there, I just forgot about it. Plus, if you go that way, you end up with the walkway on the wrong side and it narrows the path for the boats to get through. So we ended up giving it another shot back the way we first intended."
With crowds cheering, the span cleared and turned a full 180-degrees to allow access to the Becky.
Around 10:30 a.m., two tugboats, the Amber Brittany and Sarah E. Neale, pulled nose-first into the side of the Becky, tied on and began to pull her out into the middle of the Muskingum River.
The Sarah Neale then pushed the Becky backward through the open swing bridge and into the Ohio River.
At the confluence of the two rivers, the Sarah Neale cut free from the Becky and allowed her to briefly drift free. The Sarah E. Neale, which picked up two barges, then came alongside the Becky and latched its barges to the boat. After the lines were secured and another barge coming downstream had passed, the boat began its 175-mile trek toward Pittsburgh. The trip was expected to take about 30 hours. The boats cleared the Williamstown Bridge at approximately 12:10 p.m.
Mindi Ford, 41, of Williamstown, said she worked aboard the Becky for four years.
"I'm really sad to see it go," Ford said. "We're a river town, and this is a really historic riverboat."
Levin said earlier this month he had no definite plans for the boat in Pittsburgh, only that the area would offer better opportunities for the boat.
Levin said he is still hoping to sell the boat, which he has listed at $239,000. He bought the boat in 2004 for $64,000 from Ohio Showboat Drama Inc., but has said he spent nearly $300,000 on renovations.
In a previous interview, Levin said he always planned to keep the boat in Marietta.
"I know the Becky will be worth a lot more in Pittsburgh than in Marietta," he said. "Although I wanted to keep it in Marietta, the future is brighter in Pittsburgh. It wasn't bought to move or I would have moved it years ago."
