Wes Modes
Gallipolis Daily Tribune: Shantyboaters seek river people secrets
Gallipolis Daily Tribuneby Dean Wright GALLIPOLIS — A trio of…
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Age caught a large Blue Catfish which we turned into dinner
Age caught a large Blue Catfish which we turned into…
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Shantyboat supermarket run in stolen golf cart [VIDEO]
Shantyboat supermarket run in stolen golf cart. #OhioRiver #Portsmouth #AwesomeMarina…
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People ask us all the time
People ask all the time #Pooping #BucketShitter #CompostingToilet #Shantyboat #ArtGallery
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Scenes from a Sunday morning walk around Portsmouth
Scenes from a Sunday morning walk around Portsmouth 🌈 #SundayMorning…
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In 1944, artist Harlan Hubbard built a shantyboat on the banks of the Ohio River near Cincinnati
In 1944, artist Harlan Hubbard built a shantyboat on the…
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When the captain’s away, the mice will play [VIDEO]
Here is what happens on the shantyboat when the captain is…
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Dari Creme in Portsmouth OH
Dari Creme in Portsmouth OH #dq #icecream #shakes #softserve #ohio
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The Portsmouth Marina and the Kentucky hills. Where’s Dotty?
The Portsmouth Marina and the Kentucky hills. Where’s Dotty? #shantyboat…
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The Case. [VIDEO]
The Case. #shantyboat #mystery #foundobjects #bodyparts
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Who wouldn’t want a luxury home beside the river?
Who wouldn’t want a luxury home beside the river? Historically,…
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Derelict ferry or barge or paddle wheeler or something
Derelict ferry or barge or paddle wheeler or something near…
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Showy sunset in Ironton OH.
Showy sunset in Ironton OH. #shantyboat #sunset #ohioriver #ironton
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People ask us if we swim in the Ohio River
People ask us if we swim in the Ohio River…
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Nancy tracked us down in Ironton, Ohio
Judy, Karen, and Nancy Buell who you may remember from…
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Arrived in Ironton, OH a town people upriver suggested we stop
Arrived in Ironton, OH a town people upriver suggested we…
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Clutch MOV: A Secret History of American River People
Clutch MOVby Sarah Arnold Though once abundant along the shores…
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Sunset light in Huntington on the Ohio River.
Sunset light in Huntington on the Ohio River. #ohioriver #huntington…
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Bill Martin is the dockmaster at Gallipolis
Bill Martin is the dockmaster at the excellent Gallipolis Boat…
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Spent the day with Bobbette Braxton of the John Gee Black History Center
Spent the day with Bobbette Braxton who told us about…
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Important business in Gallipolis
Important business in Gallipolis. #BeBest #MilwaukeesBest #DockLyfe
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Look who joined us here in Gallipolis
Look who joined us here in Gallipolis! Here on his…
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Remo’s Dogs
Everyone we met in Gallipolis told us Remo’s had the…
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Gallipolis, One of those mysterious towns that’s full of generous welcoming people
Gallipolis, One of those mysterious towns that’s full of generous…
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American Electric Power on the shores of the Ohio River and a Mystery
American Electric Power on the shores of the Ohio River.…
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Age fishing as we lazily drift down the Little Kanawha River
Age fishing as we lazily drift down the Little Kanawha…
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The Incident
The Incident. All agreed, mistakes were made. Lessons were learned.…
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Reminder that this is very much an industrial river.
Reminder that this is very much an industrial river. #Shantyboat…
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Evening walk in Ravenswood WV
Evening walk in Ravenswood WV #ohioriver #eveningwalk #powerpole
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Swimming in a rain shower at the confluence of Sandy Creek and the Ohio [VIDEO]
Swimming in a rain shower at the confluence of Sandy…
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Shantyboat at the mouth of Sandy Crick
Shantyboat at the mouth of Sandy Crick #swimmers #ohioriver #shantyboat…
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Trouble with tows on the Ohio River
Tows on the Ohio River. People ask us all the…
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A beautiful day to be on a shantyboat on the Ohio River. Despite everyone upstream promising us apocalyptic weather.
A beautiful day to be on a shantyboat on the…
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Marietta Times: Shantyboat historian spends time in Marietta
"It is so cool to be in that space, gathering…
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Mayflies caught in a spiderweb under the eves of the shantyboat
Mayflies caught in a spiderweb under the eves of the…
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Shantyboat at the mouth of the Little Kanawha River.
Shantyboat at the mouth of the Little Kanawha River. #shantyboat…
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Why Marietta endures inevitable floods
Several people told us that Marietta has never seriously considered…
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Marietta’s Steamboat Landing
Marietta maintains a sternwheeler landing on the Ohio riverfront where…
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Pop-up exhibition of the Secret History project at Marietta’s First Friday [VIDEO]
Open house and pop-up exhibition of the Secret History project…
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“Go with the flow” a button made by my new 10 year old friend Iris
“Go with the flow” a button made by my new…
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Hundreds of people came to visit us in Marietta
Hundreds of people came to visit us in Marietta during…
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Full house(boat) in Marietta Harbor. Kids, grown ups, and grown ups excited as kids
Full house(boat) at First Friday in Marietta Harbor. Kids, grown…
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OYO killing it at Just A Jar Design Press on First Friday in Marietta OH.
OYO killing it at Just A Jar Design Press on…
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The Valley Gem makes way up the Muskingum River at the Marietta waterfront [VIDEO]
The Valley Gem makes way up the Muskingum River at…
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The textures of Marietta’s Harmar Village are killing me. Beautiful, old and unprecious.
The textures of Marietta’s Harmar Village are killing me. Beautiful,…
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A landed shantyboat at Marietta’s Ohio River Museum
A landed shantyboat at Marietta’s Ohio River Museum, it’s older…
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An interesting docking at Marietta tested our mettle
The public dock at Marietta is challenging. Two of the…
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A shantyboat trip down the Ohio [VIDEO]
A video created by Post-Gazette staff photographer Andrew Rush.
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Shantyboat anchored in our secret little hidey hole [VIDEO]
Shantyboat anchored in our secret little hidey hole. #shantyboat #fishingspot…
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Age doing a drive-by
Age doing drive-by fishing #fishing #ohioriver #westvirginia #shantyboat
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Sistersville is a classic adorable small river town laid out parallel to the river.
The classic adorable small river town is laid out with…
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Sketchy McSketcherson’s sketchy homemade dock
Sketchy McSketcherson’s sketchy homemade dock. Note the interesting piles of…
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Hazel doing what she does best
Hazel doing what she does best. Charming us. #hazel #cattledog…
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Age came from New Zealand to shipmate
Age came from New Zealand to shipmate on the Shantyboat.…
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Just got 20 on my turn though Age is still kicking my ass
Just got 20 on my turn though shipmate Age is…
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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Collecting, making history on the Ohio River
Pittsburgh Post-Gazetteby Christian Snyder When Wes Modes arrived in Pittsburgh,…
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It’s a two knee knocker sort of day
It’s a two knee knocker sort of day. While a…
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This is a pipeline cut
This is the beautiful Appalachian Plateau in the West Virginia…
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WTRF: “Shanty Boat” sails away today in Moundsville
According to Wes Modes, the project hopes to uncover the…
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The Tillers – Shanty Boat at Payne Hollow Kentucky [VIDEO]
By and by, I’ll be coming up on Payne Hollow,…
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Wheeling News-Register: California researcher travels Ohio River in shantyboat to learn about river life
The Intelligencer, Wheeling News-Registerby Mike Jones WHEELING, W.Va. – Wes…
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The Grave Creek Indian burial mound, at 70 feet high, dominates the skyline of Moundsville
The Grave Creek Indian burial mound, at 70 feet high,…
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Moundsville famous.
Moundsville famous. #media #westvirginia #ohioriver #press
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Shantyboat at the Prima Marina in Moundsville WV.
Shantyboat at the Prima Marina in Moundsville WV. #ohioriver #westvirginia
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Outdoor evening concert in Moundsville, a delightful Midwest summer phenomena
Outdoor Friday evening concert in Moundsville, WV. This is a…
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Shantyboat morning with wildflowers
Shantyboat morning with wildflowers #Shantyboat #Wildflowers #poster
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We thought you was a shed that had come adrift
As I made coffee and checked my email drifting down…
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Scenes from a sunrise walk around Wellsburg, West Virginia
Scenes from a sunrise walk around Wellsburg, West Virginia. #OhioRiver…
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Morning fog on the Ohio River.
Morning fog on the Ohio River. #Shantyboat #OhioRiver #WestVirginia
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Harvey pulling in a 10lb cat from the Wellsburg WV docks
Harvey pulling in a 10lb catfish from the Wellsburg WV…
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See ya, Steubenville. Given the highwater and the decrepit condition of the marina, exhibition canceled
See ya, Steubenville. We had an exhibition planned in Steubenville…
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Shantyboat in Toronto Ohio. We were rocked by tugboats and tows all night.
Shantyboat in Toronto Ohio. We were rocked by tugboats and…
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Shantyboat breakfast with cheesy grits. We eat well.
Shantyboat breakfast with cheesy grits. We eat well. #shantyboat
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Beaching the shantyboat for a quick pitstop for Hazel.
Beaching the shantyboat for a quick pitstop for Hazel. #Pitstop…
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Montgomery Locks on the Ohio River [VIDEO]
Montgomery Locks on the Ohio River #shantyboat #lockanddam #locks #ohioriver…
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As everyone knows, when you drive under a train, it’s good luck. [VIDEO]
As everyone knows, when you drive under a train, it’s…
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Do you need power? Water? Do you need any money? Do you need anything? Groceries? My keys are in my truck.
When we arrived in Bridgewater, PA along the Beaver River we…
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First day’s voyage celebration. No one was arrested. No one died. And no one lost a limb. Success!
First day’s voyage celebration. No one was arrested. No one…
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Boats of Pittsburgh
Boats of Pittsburgh #pgh #BoatOfPittsburgh #BoatsOfInstagram #secrethistory
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Squirlsey ridin’ the wave!
Squirlsey ridin’ the wave! #squirrel #shantyboat #waves
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Looking sexy Pittsburgh.
Looking sexy Pittsburgh. #pgh #skyline
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Interview with our trip angel Evan Clark who lives on a shantyboat
Interview with our trip angel Evan Clark who a) does…
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Props props props. During my travels some low driveway took a bite out of my prop
Props props props. During my travels some low driveway took…
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One of the last things we do before we launch
One of the last things we do before we launch…
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Shantyboat on the Allegheny
Shantyboat on the Allegheny. Thanks to Evan from Brilliant Marina…
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Hazel at the bow of Evan’s boat on the Allegheny [VIDEO]
Hazel at the bow of Evan’s boat on the Allegheny.…
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What I look like after a cross-country drive and repeated visits to Home Despot
What I look like after a cross country drive and…
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When you park right next to the tracks
When you park right next to the tracks you experience…
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For the first time in a week I have a moment to relax
Sunset over the swollen Allegheny River and for the first…
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Hangin with the PGH boat punx on the swollen Allegheny River.
Hangin with the PGH boat punx at Brilliant Marina on…
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Arrived in Pittsburgh to a warm welcome
Arrived in Pittsburgh to a warm welcome by boat punk…
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Welcome to America.
Welcome to America. Apparently, this is the largest cross in…
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Battened Down. Finally.
After 6 years, I finally got tired of all the…
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Big storm over Vandalia, Illinois
Big storm over Vandalia, Illinois #roadtrip #shantyboat #stormacomin
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Accusatory look. I don’t think either Squirlsey or I thought this trip would take six days.
Accusatory look. I don’t think either Squirlsey or I thought…
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Middle of the night truckstop shantyboat repair [VIDEO]
Middle of the night truckstop epoxy work to repair the…
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First real meal of any kind in three days of travel at the Sunnyside Diner in OKC
First real meal of any kind in three days of…
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There are a lot of abandoned places in the American Southwest
There are a lot of abandoned travel service places in…
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Sometimes you move over the same landscape so many times that you get a sense of déjà vu.
Sometimes you move over the same landscape so many times…
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30 minutes out of my way to Lake Havasu City to someplace that had fiberglass supplies
30 minutes out of my way to Lake Havasu City…
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