Donald Duck is a Jack of all trades, that he eventually he would end up on a dredge was inevitable. The story was already published in 1977 in a Donald Duck comic magazine. It is written by Freddy Milton1 and drawn by Daan Jippes2. At that time, I read it and already liked it very much. Later, I had it in a comic album3, but lost it moving to a new house. I wanted to review this story here already for a long time. Eventually, I consulted ‘Bul Super’ in Delft4, he advised me to search for Daan Jippes. That helped to find the story back on the internet.5
The story revolves around the endless feud between Donald Duck and Gladstone Gander. This time they have to compete in a success test by operating two different vessels: a ferry, ‘Seagull’ and a dredge ‘Aristoteles’. They have varying degrees of success and the outcome is unexpected.
The best known illustrator of Donald Duck is Carl Barks6. But Daan grew into his footsteps and eventually his stories are at the same level as the original master. He was with the Disney studios in the USA, but was working mostly in the Netherlands. In this edition, Jippes drew one of the most Dutch professions: dredging. Jippes had a keen eye for the elements that make up a dredge, tough the execution lacks some reality. Here I want to highlight some shortcomings that will help to illustrate the tricks that should have made it work and explain how real life dredging equipment functions.
The ‘Aristoteles’ is a truly multi-functional dredging vessel. It features both a grab and a bucket chain and the sediment can be loaded unto the vessel itself like a hopper or into a barge in tow. It is also self-propelled, although there seems to be a magical power generation as there is no visible exhaust pipe. Maybe Donald is again ahead of his time and running fully electric already?
Than the dredging equipment; the grab is suspended from a gantry, but it does not seem to be able to swing. Loading the tow barge would be difficult, as he has to reposition either the dredge or the barge. Apparently Donald should know about the technology of a rotating crane, as the picture on the front page has such a crane. And how would the material end up in the hopper?
Maybe with the other dredging tool: the obvious bucket chain? Though it is not supported on a ladder. Maybe that makes sense, as the buckets seem to be positioned on port or starboard in various panels. The material falling from the buckets might end up in the hopper. The vertical orientation presents some difficulty, as the material will fall onto the previous bucket and eventually through the well. In a normal operation, this is controlled by moving a carriage receiving the load and bringing it to the chutes. With a real vertical orientation, this would not be helpful anymore.
I once saw a solution for working with a vertical bucket chain on an exhibit in the National Dredging Museum7. A manual operated drawer-like slide was moved between every passing bucket to catch the load. It seems very labour intensive and prone to accidents.
Even after breaking down these operational details in the design of the ‘Aristoteles’, the vessel serves its purpose in the story: it is a really useful dredge for dredge master Donald. Well done Daan.
Call to the audience
The exhibit is still there, but unfortunately, it is broken. The mechanism has to be repaired, any model building fanatics are invited to help the museum restore it. There is a special event for new volunteers, now!
References
- Freddy Milton, Wikipedia
- Daan Jippes, Wikipedia
- Oom Dagobert En De Ondergrondse Kluis, nr34, Disney
- Stripboekhandel Bul Super
- Read online Walt Disney’s Comics Penny Pincher comic – Issue #4, ZipComic
- Carl Barks, Wikipedia
- Nationaal Baggermuesum