PS Waimarie
{{Short description|Paddle steamer in New Zealand}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:PS Waimarie}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=April 2022}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image | Ship image = NZL-wanganui-waimarie.jpg | Ship caption = PS Waimarie at Whanganui Riverboat Centre }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = |Ship country=New Zealand |Ship flag= | Ship name = PS Waimarie | Ship owner = Whanganui Riverboat Restoration and Navigation Trust | Ship operator = Waimarie Operating Trust | Ship registry = | Ship route = Whanganui River, New Zealand | Ship ordered = | Ship builder = Yarrow & Co, Poplar, London | Ship original cost = | Ship yard number = | Ship way number = | Ship laid down = | Ship launched = | Ship completed = | Ship christened = | Ship acquired = | Ship maiden voyage = | Ship in service = 20 July 1900 | Ship out of service = 1949 | Ship refit = 1993 to 1999 | Ship re-instated = | Ship identification = | Ship fate = | Ship status = Tourist vessel | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = | Ship class = Paddle steamer | Ship tonnage = {{GT|80|disp=}} | Ship length = {{convert|100.2|feet}} | Ship beam = {{convert|16|feet}}, {{convert|22|feet}} over paddle housings | Ship height = | Ship draft = {{convert|14|inch}} | Ship decks = | Ship power = Coal-fired water tube boiler with two single-cylinder steam engines | Ship propulsion = Side paddle wheels | Ship speed = 10.5 knots | Ship capacity = 110 passengers | Ship crew = 6 | Ship notes = }} |
The Paddle Steamer Waimarie is a historic riverboat based on the Whanganui River in New Zealand. She is the only coal{{en dash}}fired paddle steamer still operating in New Zealand. Waimarie was built in 1899 by Yarrow & Co. in London and transported to New Zealand in kitset form to be assembled at Whanganui. She operated on the Whanganui River for 49 years before being laid up. In 1952 she sank at her moorings and lay in the mud for the next 40 years.
However, in 1993 Waimarie was raised from the riverbed, and a six year restoration effort led to her return to service in 2000. PS Waimarie is now a popular tourist attraction in Whanganui, with 2 hour cruises on the river available most days during the summer season.
History
This paddle steamer was ordered by the Wanganui Settlers' River Steamship Co, and built as a kitset by Yarrow shipbuilders in London in 1899. She was shipped to Wanganui in 64 crates plus the boiler, and was assembled by David Murray & Co in March 1900. On 29 June, she took a party of about 100 people {{convert|61|km}} upstream to a meeting at Koriniti on a trial run, and commenced regular services to Pipiriki three weeks later. For the first two years, she was named PS Aotea.{{cite book|title=Paddle Steamer Waimarie 1899 - 2000|publisher=Whanganui Riverboat Restoration & Navigation Trust|last1=Lawson|first1=Geoffrey|last2=Reid|first2=Alec|year=2001|isbn=0-473-07734-5}}
The company operating the new vessel was in competition with existing passenger, mail and cargo services on the river operated by Alexander Hatrick, who at that time was Mayor of Wanganui. Hatrick had a well-established business on the river, and had been carrying large numbers of passengers to Pipiriki, on a tourist route promoted as "The Rhine of Maoriland" into the interior of New Zealand. The Wanganui Settlers' River Steamship Co could not sustain the competition and Hatrick's company purchased the Aotea in 1902. She was then renamed Waimarie, a Māori-language word meaning "peaceful waters".{{cite web |url=http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/alt_essayBody.asp?essayID=2H20 |title=Hatrick, Alexander 1857–1918: Merchant, shipowner, tourism entrepreneur, mayor |author= |year=1993 |work=Dictionary of New Zealand Biography Volume Two (1870–1900), 1993 |publisher=www.dnzb.govt.nz |accessdate=19 June 2010 |archive-date=12 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220412204423/https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/2h20/hatrick-alexander |url-status=live }}
The Waimarie operated a regular service on the {{Convert|88|km|mi}} route between Wanganui and Pipiriki for 49 years, carrying cargo, mail and passengers.{{Cite journal |last=Wrigglesworth |first=Karen |date=July 2012 |title=Riverbed to River Queen |journal=Engineering Insight |publisher=Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand |volume=13 |issue=4}} The opening of the Whanganui River Road in 1935 reduced the demand for river transport, and the Waimarie, needing her boiler replaced, ceased running in 1949. In 1952, she sank at her moorings in Wanganui.{{cite web |last=Emerson |first=Anne-Marie |date=22 June 2010 |title=Funding crisis could sink Waimarie |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/wanganui-chronicle/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503426&objectid=10997420 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151125213313/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/wanganui-chronicle/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503426&objectid=10997420 |archive-date=25 November 2015 |access-date=25 November 2015 |website=Whanganui Chronicle |accessdate=}}
Restoration
On 14 February 1990, a public meeting was held with 90 people attending, to promote the salvage and restoration of PS Waimarie. {{Cite news |last=Stowell |first=Laurel |date=11 January 2020 |title=Big Read: Whanganui's iconic tourist attraction PS Waimarie steams into the future |language=en-NZ |work=Whanganui Chronicle |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/whanganui-chronicle/news/big-read-whanganuis-iconic-tourist-attraction-ps-waimarie-steams-into-the-future/T5NVQ4DQ7DNJLI256AM5Q4NV7U/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=6 May 2022}} The Whanganui Riverboat Restoration and Navigation Trust was incorporated in July 1991 to plan and undertake the project. {{cite web|title=The Whanganui Riverboat Restoration and Navigation Trust|url=https://www.nzbn.govt.nz/mynzbn/nzbndetails/9429042892236/?sw=|publisher=NZBN|access-date=5 April 2022|archive-date=12 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220412204411/https://www.nzbn.govt.nz/mynzbn/nzbndetails/9429042892236/?sw=|url-status=live}} An important initial step was securing the use of the near-derelict Wanganui Rowing Club building as a workshop where the vessel could be restored. The Rowing Club building was renovated to serve initially as a workshop, and then as a museum facility. It was renamed as the Whanganui Riverboat Centre, and re-opened on 24 February 1995.
After being buried in the river mud for nearly 40 years, the Waimarie was salvaged by volunteers in 1993. The restoration of the vessel was adopted as a sesquicentennial project in Whanganui. After a six-year restoration project, the PS Waimarie was re-commissioned, and commenced tourist cruises on 1 January 2000. She is the only coal{{en dash}}fired paddle steamer still operating in New Zealand.{{Cite web |title=Paddle Steamer Waimarie, New Zealand |url=https://www.paddlesteamers.org/news/national/paddle-steamer-waimarie-new-zealand/ |access-date=13 April 2022 |website=The Paddle Steamer Preservation Society |archive-date=16 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516093009/https://www.paddlesteamers.org/news/national/paddle-steamer-waimarie-new-zealand/ |url-status=live }}
Tourist vessel service
In the first year following re-commissioning she carried over 25,000 passengers.
PS Waimarie is owned by the Whanganui Riverboat Restoration and Navigation Trust. In 2003, a separate organisation, the Waimarie Operating Trust was formed to manage vessel operations.{{cite web|url=https://www.nzbn.govt.nz/mynzbn/nzbndetails/9429043020577/?sw=| title=Waimarie Operating Trust| publisher=NZBN|access-date=6 May 2022}}
PS Waimarie has been described as Whanganui's main tourist attraction. She typically carries more than 8,000 passengers each year, with a maximum of 90 per trip. During the summer season she operates on the lower stretches of the river, and is also available for charter. The typical daily cruise is a {{Convert|13|km}} trip upriver to Upokongaro and return.{{Cite news |last=Warnock |first=Ann |date=5 September 2009 |title=Rolling on the River |pages=12-13 (supplement) |work=Dominion Post}}
The operation of the vessel is undertaken by 8 staff and 12 volunteers. In 2020, it was reported that the operation of the vessel had been supported for several years with annual funding of $65,000 from a Community Contract.
PS Waimarie is hauled out of the river every 5 years for survey, on a site near to the Dublin Street bridge. The haulage operation is undertaken using vintage traction steam engines. In June 2021, the trust reported that in the previous season, the vessel had carried 10,000 passengers.{{Cite news |last=Stowell |first=Laurel |date=12 July 2021 |title=Coal storage needed for Whanganui paddlesteamer Waimarie |work=Whanganui Chronicle |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/whanganui-chronicle/news/coal-storage-needed-for-whanganui-paddlesteamer-waimarie/O54OMW5W4APFHBUF35QGCNR2LQ/ |access-date=5 April 2022 |archive-date=5 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220405155929/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/whanganui-chronicle/news/coal-storage-needed-for-whanganui-paddlesteamer-waimarie/O54OMW5W4APFHBUF35QGCNR2LQ/ |url-status=live }}
In August 2021, the Waimarie Operating Trust announced that they were contributing to an environmental restoration project in association with the Pungarehu Marae to plant trees and harakeke (flax) near the marae and the banks of the Whanganui River as a means of offsetting the carbon emissions of PS Waimarie.{{Cite news |date=16 August 2021 |title=Whanganui's paddlesteamer to offset its emissions |work=Whanganui Chronicle |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/whanganui-chronicle/news/whanganuis-paddlesteamer-to-offset-its-emissions/TFBJDNP4WMEZCPZ3YSEO72N3GM/ |access-date=5 April 2022 |archive-date=5 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220405155923/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/whanganui-chronicle/news/whanganuis-paddlesteamer-to-offset-its-emissions/TFBJDNP4WMEZCPZ3YSEO72N3GM/ |url-status=live }}
Gallery
File:Wanganui Rowing Club Building.jpg|Whanganui Riverboat Centre (formerly Wanganui Rowing Club building)
File:Wanganui Rowing Club Building 879.jpg|Remains of original water-tube boiler
File:Paddle Steamer on the Whanganui River, New Zealand.jpg|PS Waimarie on the Whanganui River
File:Waimarie and rowers.jpg|Looking down on the Whanganui River and the Paddle Steamer Waimarie, rowers and the Union Boat Club, from Durie Hill War Memorial Tower
File:Waimarie being hauled out.jpg|PS Waimarie being hauled out
File:Waimarie hauled out for survey.jpg|PS Waimarie out for survey
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category-inline|Waimarie (ship, 1899)}}
- [http://waimarie.co.nz PS Waimarie official website]
- [https://www.paddlesteamers.org/news/national/paddle-steamer-waimarie-new-zealand Paddle Steamer Preservation Society (Great Britain)]
{{Whanganui}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waimarie}}