Capt. David Smith Appointed Editor Of IRR

The Waterways Journal is pleased to announce Capt. David Smith as the new editor for the Inland River Record (IRR). Readers may recognize Smith as the author of the Old Boat Column, which appears in each issue of the WJ.

The IRR, published annually by The Waterways Journal, is an encyclopedia of towboats that operate along the inland river system. The IRR is the continuation of the legacy of Capt. Frederick Way Jr., who started the publication in 1945. Way was a river captain known for his extensive knowledge of America’s waterways and rivercraft. He received his pilot’s license when he was just 22 years old, becoming the youngest river captain on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. His first steamboat was the Betsy Ann.

Way was also a trusted river historian who dedicated his life to the river and the vessels that traversed its waters. He published his first book, The Log of the Betsy Ann, in 1933, and he was responsible for starting the Steamboat Photo Company, the largest collection of steamboat photographs at the time. The formation of the Sons and Daughters of Pioneer Rivermen by Way and fellow river colleagues served as the backbone for what is now the Ohio River Museum in Marietta, Ohio. He was inducted into the National Rivers Hall of Fame in 1993 after his passing.

In 1968, Way sold the IRR to The Waterways Journal and continued to contribute as editor until stepping down in 1977. For nearly 60 years, The Waterways Journal has been dedicated to keeping Way’s vision alive by providing mariners with a comprehensive and detailed guide to inland vessels with the continued publication of the IRR.

Dan Owen served as editor after Way, and it was his passion for inland vessels that made the IRR the compendium it is today. He was an avid photographer whose collection of towboat photos is now held in the tens of thousands at the Mercantile Library in St. Louis, Mo. According to Smith, Owen pulled together a group of industry enthusiasts whom he called his “spies” to help him keep track of towboat news for the IRR. Smith and other dedicated mariners helped Owen stay up to date with towboat details such as renames, acquisitions and new builds.

“Anytime a new boat came out, or a boat was renamed, we’d tell Dan,” Smith said.

Among the spies was Capt. Jeff L. Yates. Yates and Owen became friends after swapping photos for Owen’s Towboat Photo Museum while Owen was a mate at Union Barge Line, years before either joined the WJ team. According to Yates, he owns more than 13,000 color towboat slides from the early 1960s to 2000s before making the switch to digital photography. Yates was named IRR editor in 2018 following Owen’s passing.

Yates first subscribed to the WJ in 1958 at the age of 13 and spent time on towboats until he was old enough to deck full time for the former Houland Barge Line in 1964. He studied journalism in college, and his first bylined piece for the WJ appeared in an October 1966 issue. He later joined the WJ as manager of the New Orleans office in 1976. He helped establish the Paducah office in 1979 and, in 1990, went freelance to earn his Coast Guard’s Masters License. He contributed stories and photos to the WJ until his retirement in 2021, but he has continued to be an integral part of IRR production. He is the proud owner of a complete collection of IRR volumes dating back to the inaugural edition in 1945.

“It’s been such an honor to have been associated with the WJ in some fashion for more than 50 years, and I can think of no better person to take the IRR helm than Capt. David Smith,” Yates said. “Smooth sailin’, skipper!”

Smith, the newest IRR editor, describes himself as a lifelong riverman. A Kentucky native, Smith has worked on the river his entire life. His father worked as a mechanic for a local harbor service, and it wasn’t long before Smith started in the industry as well. Smith recounted that he ran harbor boats before he got his driver’s license. Smith attended college for journalism, but after a year he realized that the river was where he truly belonged. He received his pilot’s license in 1977 at the age of 22.

“The boats fascinated me as a kid,” Smith said. “The whole lifestyle fascinated me later. Back then, I was just a kid, but these boats would come into this landing at the harbor service, and I got to know the captains on them. One of the captains, Tommy Herdman, let me take trips with him when I was off for summer vacation or Christmas. Through that, I gained a greater knowledge of what went on out there. Today, that would be very difficult to do.”

Though Smith’s experience on the river started at a young age, writing for The Waterways Journal was his first official job. In 1971, WJ Upper Ohio News columnist Robert E. Kennedy experienced a tragic car accident. Kennedy was a mentor to Smith, who was still in high school when the accident occurred. When Kennedy was hospitalized, Smith and his best friend, Jim Armstrong, took on the role of writing the Upper Ohio News column. When Kennedy passed in 1981, Smith was asked to write for the column again, which he did for the next 20 years. For more than 50 years, Smith has contributed to The Waterways Journal with an array of articles and towboat stories, and he succeeded Keith Norington in writing the Old Boat Column in 2022.

“David was also mentored by Dan Owen and is such a great storyteller,” Yates said. “His interest and love for the river exudes in his colorful, weekly ‘Old Boat’ columns as he so eloquently describes noteworthy boats and the many river veterans associated with them, many of whom he has known since he was a teenager hanging around the old Merdie Boggs landing at Catlettsburg.”

Smith’s maritime career outside of writing for the WJ has spanned five companies and countless vessels. He worked as a deckhand, deckhand engineer and pilot for Clarence Boggs for 15 years, and he worked as a pilot and captain for Ashland Oil, now known as Marathon Ashland Petroleum, for 20 before retiring as port captain. His career then took him to Madison Coal and Supply, now known as Amherst Madison, before joining his brother’s company, Gate City River Transportation. In 2010, Smith and his colleague Dave Dewey formed River Marine, which Smith operated until his retirement in 2022. Captains who know him still blow their whistle for him when they pass his home on the banks of the Ohio River.

“There is no better choice than Capt. David Smith,” Yates said. “I’ve been proud to consider him a friend since first meeting him more than 40 years ago when he was a young pilot aboard the ‘new’ Valvoline during the christening ceremonies at Cincinnati in 1985.”

According to Smith, he possesses around 400 copies of The Waterways Journal and a near complete collection of past issues of the Inland River Record. His oldest copy of the WJ is an issue from 1907, reporting on President Theodore Roosevelt’s trip on the Mississippi River.

“I have a complete collection except for the 1947 and 1958 issues,” Smith said in regard to the IRR. “I’ve had people give them to me over the years.”

Smith is excited to continue to provide his extensive industry knowledge with the WJ and hopes to delve deeper into the IRR as editor. Above all, Smith iterated the IRR’s importance and his wish that it stay published.

“I’ve been privileged to know all the previous editors,” Smith said. “It’s important to me that it continues.”

In 2018, The Waterways Journal made the IRR available online to subscribers. The online database is updated regularly and allows users to search for unique vessels, companies and specifications. Subscribers can suggest edits as well. Hardback volumes are published annually each fall.