Our Captains

Capt. Jack Libbey

Our company's founder, Captain Jack, has spent a lifetime on riverboats, including towboats, passenger, and research vessels... as well as exploring endless back waters with Mississippi Explorer. Having a vast knowledge of the river's navigation system, it's environment, history, people, and ecology, has afforded him many opportunities to share his experiences and knowledge as a public speaker, consultant, archivist, and author. Highlights of his career include a two-year stint archiving river folk life with the Smithsonian Institution. The research concluded with an exhibit and presentation in Washington D.C. that has yielded over a million visitors! Never short of a river yarn, Captain Jack always enjoys sharing river lore and legends with passengers.

Capt. Eric Dykman

Capt. Eric has enjoyed being around water his entire life. After high school, he served 4 years onboard the U.S.S. New York City, a fast-attack submarine based at Pearl Harbor, HI. After his service, he enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and earned his B.S. in Marketing. While attending, he began working as a deckhand on one of the five remaining Mississippi River steamboats, the Julia Belle Swain. Four years later, he was promoted as captain/pilot and lead the Julia Belle on the Grand Excursion of 2004.
He began working for Mississippi Explorer Cruises in the spring of 2008 and thoroughly loves every minute of it. Attaining an M.B.A. from Viterbo University in 2007, he is continually seeking knowledge and handles the majority of Explorer's marketing duties. Capt. Eric works primarily as the La Crosse, Wisconsin captain, but can be found helping out at all of the Explorer ports.

Capt. Annie Weymiller

Captain Annie grew up in New Albin, Iowa along the backwater sloughs of the Upper Mississippi River. She comes from a long line of celebrated Mississippi "River Rats". Her father,  a brother, and a nephew are all tow boat captains with over a hundred years of combined time on the river.
Annie holds a degree from the University of Arizona and over the years has specialized in working with people with disabilities. She has a great passion for learning about the various plant and animal life found along and in the Mississippi River's Wildlife Refuge. She also truly loves sharing this acquired knowledge with her passengers and friends.

Our Crew

Jon 'Hawk' Stravers

Experienced with the river's backwaters and ecology, Jon's expertise adds a special zeal onboard the Mississippi Explorer during Bird Watching cruises. Jon Stravers currently serves as the Driftless Area Coordinator for National Audubon’s Mississippi River Initiative, and has been working on inventory and monitoring projects involving Red-shouldered Hawks and other birds along the Upper Mississippi River for the past 30 years in cooperation with various state and federal agencies as well as other conservation organizations along the river.  Jon has also conducted and supervised research on a cooperative basis with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Mississippi River Project, and Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources.

Jon formerly taught Ornithology at William Penn College in Oskaloosa, Iowa.

Jon and Larry Stone have co-authored two books: “Sylvan T. Runkel, Citizen of the Natural World” a biography of one of Iowa’s most influential conservationists, and “Gladys Black, the Legacy of Iowa’s Bird Lady” a biography of one of Iowa’s most influential birders. (Set for publication in March of 2010).  Other research he has conducted includes: Raptor migration along the Upper Mississippi River and the effects of human disturbance on Bald Eagles nesting within the Upper Mississippi River.

In addition to being a great wildlife interpreter onboard the Mississippi Explorer, Jon also brings musical insights into the emotional and spiritual connections of working and birding on the Mississippi River.  With his late son, Jon Jr., and various other musicians, Jon has recorded five CDs of original music which reflect the connections to the water and the earth (www.bigblueskyproject.com).

Ric Zarwell

On specified cruises, local birding experts, Ric and his wife, Betty Zarwell,compliment our crew. Together, Ric and Betty sponsor an educational birding festival in Lansing every fall. They share their knowledge with hundreds of birding enthusiasts from around the nation and parts of the globe. Ric is the regional coordinator for the Audubon IBA [Important Birding Areas] Program.

Norm Leeman

Norm Leeman was a Middle School Social Studies teacher for the Postville Community School District for 34 years. He taught U.S. History, Iowa History and World Geography, as well as Hunter Education. He has fished the Mississippi River for over 50 years. He also attended an archeological field school in the Prairie du Chien area for 3 summers.He has a strong interest in history and enjoys visiting with our passengers.