their crews. They form a visible point of reference line across the
Ohio River just upstream before the Big Four (walkway) Bridge.
These boats are required to sit at anchor on Saturday from 1:00 p.m.
to the end of the Thunder celebration. Should any of the upstream
pleasure boats that are on hand to enjoy the show drift downstream
below the picket line, they are re-directed back upstream by either
the harbor police boats or the US Coast Guard. A towing service
is available to manage any disabled boats. All this activity requires
several organizational and planning meetings. When Thunder is
completed, as a safety precaution, the harbor police escort all the
pleasure boats that were watching the day-long event back up the
river, at idle speed, as far as the head of Six Mile island and Captain’s
Quarters.
In previous years, Kevin Roppel has provided multiple functions
the day of Thunder, including the pickup of the parachutists and
boat exhibition crew. This year he attended several command organizational meetings and recruited the picket line boats. He was
also involved with a special Blue Angels’ meeting related to their
requirement of a different “air box” for their performance. His day
of Thunder responsibilities included the movement of the WAVE
3 personnel and the retrieval of the Blue Angel air show buoy and
anchor - within a 15-minute window - just after the Blue Angels had
completed their performance. I was invited by Kevin