APAM- List of Paddlers Part 1 Modern and Restored Vessels

[Roderick Smith]

This was built c1977 as PV Lady of Barmah, wooden hull, single deck.
It was rebuilt c1984 as PS Barmah, with completely revised superstructure, now with two decks.
It is moored on the NSW bank, not far down river of Moama.
Michael has sent me photos of it at Echuca over a ceremonial weekend.  He regards it as underpowered, and hence very slow, and so not suitable for extended fleet voyages.

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[Roderick Smith]

Here is one of the few from my collection of a modern box-on-pontoons houseboat with paddle propulsion.
PV Amelia Jane is moored on the Victorian bank, not far downstream of Echuca.
It is more active than many, and has been mentioned by Michael in a different thread as one of the vessels in the Australia Day parade in January, forming part of the pontoon bridge over the river over which marathon swimmer Tammy van Wisse walked to cross from the Victorian bank to the NSW one.  That ceremony recalled the era of the pontoon toll bridge built by Echuca founder Henry Hopwood.
Amelia Jane was built in the 1970s as PV Rochester, then was renamed when sold.  The foredeck was lengthened in the 1980s.  (info from Plowman 'Murray Darling paddleboats').

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[Roderick Smith]

My journey of exposition has now reached the port where the APAM threads started, many months ago: Echuca.  This is the closest Murray River point to Melbourne, significant in the commercial era, and now in the tourist era.  The port claims to have the largest fleet of working paddlesteamers in the world.
IIRC Sean has placed histories of all of the commercial vessels and the two private vintage ones in APAM DC: PS Adelaide, PS Pevensey, PS Alexander Arbuthnot, PS Canberra, PS Emmylou, PV Pride of the Murray, PS Etona and PS Ranger.  I shall concentrate on the private boats, but may put in a token photo of the others, with no notes.
The balance of the fleet: PS F05 (to be named on Anzac Day, 25.4), PS Billy Tea, PS Adventurous, PS Perricoota, PS James Maiden, PS Henry Charles, PS Hero.
Combining these with the few moored just downriver provides a formidable fleet, and there is an effort to assemble most/all on four ceremonial days per year.  The most recent was over Easter, and Michael posted a report and photos in the Preserved Paddle Ships thread.

Today I present PS Perricoota.  It was launched in 1999, metal hull, 17.7 long, 3.9 beam over hull, 6.5 m over paddleboxes, hull depth 1 m.
I haven't been aboard.  The layout features large sponson cabins: the leading two house the kitchen and the toilet/laundry; the rear two are bedrooms.  The interior rear of the boiler and engine is set up as a large day lounge/living zone.  The clerestory roof brings light and air into it.  A similar layout was adopted for PS James Maiden, from the same designer/builder.

A closer view is in a photo posted with my PS Henry Charles post.

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[derekwarner_decoy]

Hi PD's - the .jpg of

was built c1977 as PV Lady of Barmah, .....not far down river of Moama.

Shows some AMAZING water that is not common on the Murray... like I can see 6" [six inch] high wave/swell.... must have been a very windy day in the Murray   or YES to create this in such shallow water  ---- should we talk about this  :gather    :?:  :idea:  :?: - Derek

[Roderick Smith]

My first reaction was that Derek's deduction was a little astray.  I can't recall the day being very windy, and felt that the waves were the result of a whole fleet of paddleboats in close formation passing at this point.  I took the photo from the deck of PV Impulse, in the middle of the Randell Cadell 150th anniversary fleet in ceremonial formation for the entry to Echuca.  As we passed PS Barmah, the welcoming Echuca fleet came down river to round up and form the rear of the procession.

I enclose the immediately preceding and following photographs.  This was a day when I was fortunate to be carrying a large stock of spare films: I used them all.

Now that I have looked at the the photos just posted, to get chop like that must have been the result of wind, and not just paddle wake.  In the lower reach (particularly Pellaring flat, just north of Mannum) chop like this is common, but of no significance for handling even boats with virtually no freeboard.  The Randell Cadell fleet was able to reach Echuca because the river had risen after recent rain, mainly entering via Goulburn River.  This was a two stage benefit: it wasn't so much that the rain had caused a huge rise, but it had caused irrigators to reduce the amount of water being pumped out.  Perhaps the day was windy: I left my hat in the cabin, but that was partly because I was taking a lot of photographs, and the brim gets in the way of the camera.

On page 1 of this thread I have photos of PV Alice and PV Killawarra in chop on the section from Clayton to Goolwa: half lake, and half river (Hindmarsh Island provides shelter in this reach).  This day was windy.  I was in my centenary outfit, but didn't dare wear the hat.  A brief glimpse of me on the tv documentary shows the tails of my coat blowing sideways in the breeze.  On that occasion, all of the paddle boats in the fleet glided through the chop, as did one long-lean elegant launch.   Shorter V hull sea-going launches were pitching a lot.  The main lake Alexandrina crossing can be quite rough, with 1 m (and even 2 m) waves.  No commercial operator takes passengers over the lake: Wellington is the boarding point for upriver journeys.  Likewise, when PS Marion crosses to Goolwa for festivals, only rostered crew are allowed aboard, no paying passengers and not even volunteer workers who are not on the roster.  A Tennessee like mine has survived 2 m waves in the lake; the skipper was able to keep the boat headed into the waves, and the motor performed reliably.  My own has survived 1 m waves on Lake Eildon (Victoria, upper Goulburn River, a Murray tributary).

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[Roderick Smith]

From the Preserved paddle ships thread comes the news that this Echuca-based paddlesteamer is for sale.
It was launched in 1999: metal hull, 20 m long, 4.5 m beam over hull (plus two 1.2 m paddleboxes), hull depth 1.2 m.  The paddles have a diameter of 3.1 m, each with 12 floats.  The boiler is certified for 120 psi [950 kPa].  The engine is a 10 hp Ruston & Proctor.
I have only two photos scanned already on the hard drive, neither of which is particularly good.
In the forard view, it is behind PS Perricoota (mentioned a couple of posts back).  It is in steam, as this was taken on the Saturday of Heritage Festival weekend, and the boat would be in the evening parade of paddleboats (houseboats and launches banned) preceding the fireworks.  I did see it steaming, but in darkness, so no photo.  I had hoped to be riding PS Adventurous in that parade: Michael had the boiler in steam for the owner's arrival, but the owner didn't arrive.  We went out on PS Canberra, and Michael (only just 17) steered it through the parade, and did the rounding up (competently, he didn't swing the stern into the bank) upstream of the bridge.  Also in the parade that evening were PS Etona (before a lengthy period out of service for hull, boiler and engine overhaul) and PV Gemma (a little cutie, now reduced to a hull by a fire and sinking).

The trailing view is taken from some distance, as I was photographing the Randell Cadell 150th anniversary fleet (which now included the Echuca commercial paddleboats) passing the moored private fleet.
In the parade, visible are PS Mary Ann, PS Lady Augusta, PS William Randell, PS Billy Tea & MV Slainte [pronounced Slancher].
Moored, visible are PS Hero, PS Alexander Arbuthnot (under maintenance, with the upper deckhouse removed), PS James Maiden (just a paddlebox visible), SWPS Adventurous, PS Henry Charles and SL (Victoria? with the steam equipment removed?).
Eight paddlesteamers in the one photo.  I am not sure which photo I took that day had the greatest number in the view.  No Swiss fleet exceeds six (steam);  IIRC the Dresden fleet has eight paddlesteamers.

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[paddlesteamerman1]

I have a couple of photos of PS Henry Charles, though neither are expert shots.. and it is for sale for anything above $100,000... private sale..

[Roderick Smith]

This is another of the Echuca private small fleet, and has the same configuration as Perricoota: the sponson cabins house the kitchen and toilet/bathroom, plus bunks; the area rear of the boiler & engine is a large lounge.  A clerestory roof brings light and ventilation to the zone between the paddleboxes.  It was launched in 1987, 15.8 m long (rudgum planks on a steel frame), 3.7 m beam.  It has been to Goolwa.
The boat is named after the founder of Moama, James Maiden.  He ran a punt across the river there.  This was the turning point of Randell's pioneering voyage in 1853 (see my Mary Ann thread and photo).

I couldn't find a photo from my collection fast, so I enclose one from Michael.  How to make small boats look large?  Moor Jessie II amid them, and yet my boat is the maximum length for unrestricted road towing (longer boats may be moved under permit).
Visible: PS James Maiden, MV Jessie II, PS Perricoota, PS Henry Charles, with (PS Hero?) behind it.  The glimpses through the trees must be PS Etona up on the slip.  I had moored in PS Ranger's spot, is it had left for Barmah already, and I was about to voyage upriver (with a lunch stop at Cape Horn winery) to join it and PS Billy Tea.

The second photo is mine, showing PS James Maiden in a cluster of Echuca private paddlesteamers.  Sat.11.10.03.  (Roderick Smith)

Michael has posted a shot recently of PS James Maiden up on the slip (page three of Echuca news in Preserved paddle ships).

I should have one in my collection taken recently.  I was aboard while the owner demonstrated his boiler converted to auto-start oil-burning, using oil recycled from the motor industry.

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[Roderick Smith]

The interesting boat has been written up in APAM DC, and has been mentioned in various threads (including a book about it life in the book thread).  It was built to be a mission boat in the SA stretch.  It was superseded as towns with fixed facilites grew up.  It then spent years cut down as a fishing boat.  It was brought to Echuca and restored to close to original condition, and has appeared in a film or tv series as a mission boat.  The chapel was in the rear saloon, recessed into the hull.
For its centenary, Etona voyaged to Milang (the place of its construction).  In 2001, it became the only Echuca boat to participate in the Source to Sea Fleet.

PS Emmylou had planned to voyage with that fleet to Mildura, running as four sector cruises.  All were booked out.
* Sun.12-Fri.17.8: Echuca - Swan Hill, local festivities.
* Mon.20-Fri.24.8: Swan Hill - Robinvale, local festivies
* Mon.27-Fri.31.8: Euston - Mildura, local festivities.
* Mon.3-Tues.4.9: Mildura - Wentworth & return, farewelling the continuing fleet.
* Empty back to Echuca in 9 days continously, or 16 by daylight only(Pevensey has done that journey in 16 days).

When it was clear that the voyage could not take place, many Echuca boats left on the originally-planned date, and cruised to Torrumbarry Weir:  Emmylou, Etona, Perricoota, Pevensey, Adelaide, Henry Charles, Ranger & Adventurous.  Emmylou was lowered in the lock, but then brought up again.  The fleet voyaged back to Echuca (but Etona lingered, in the hope of a rise, and got it).

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[paddlesteamerman1]

I have only ever seen PS Etona moving under her own steam once or twice.. Once at the Source to Sea in Goolwa, and the other IIRC at the Wooden Boat Festival in 2003...
I always see it tied up downstream from the wharf, or on the slip..

[michael]

Couple of shots of Henry Charles and Perricoota.
Etona is having its forward deck and cabins rebuilt over June/July, with work still needed to be done to the boiler tho the engine has been rebuilt. The owner was keen on taking it in the 2007 trip even if she wasn't complete!

[Roderick Smith]

This Echuca-based boat has been mentioned many times, and has appeared as a glimpse in a photo of something else, but has so far missed a writeup or its own photo.

Billy Tea was built in Canberra by an enthusiast whose profession is making precision scientific instruments.  He rushed to have it completed for the 2003 Randell Cadell event.  It was trucked to Yarrawonga, launched below the weir, and made an adventurous journey  through less-navigated stretches of the river to join the fleet at Nyah (below Swan Hill).  The owner's friendly hospitality at Swan Hill was another of the influences contributing to my buying of my own boat.

At the conclusion of the event, Billy Tea remained at its new home, Echuca.  Unlike many private boats, it has had quite a lot of use, helped by having a locally-based supervisor keeping an eye on it after work.  I was a passenger aboard a venture into the narrow and fast section above Barmah Lake.  Various modifications have been made, particularly shifting the boiler forwards to achieve better trim, and make it more convenient for solo operation.  Front sponson decks were added, and paddlebox covers mounted.

The hull is steel, 14.3 m long, 3 m beam.  A feature is the counter stern, to give the boat a different look from many others.  The boiler and steam engine were purpose built; the boiler is fitted with a superheater (rare in Murray-Darling practice).  As at 2006, a larger engine was being fitted.  To be ready for a fireworks parade, the owner arrived from Canberra in the afternoon, refitted the old engine, and had Billy Tea in steam in 4 h and in the parade.  He has also had to panel beat several dents from hitting snags.

I enclose three photos today: moored at Swan Hill (showing the stern); steaming into Moama on the last day of the Randell Cadell voyage (showing the slightly nose-up attitude); and camped out in Goulburn River at the confluence with the Murray (with Michael, about to assume command, checking how he will leave the mooring).

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[Roderick Smith]

I am pushing to reach the end of my Murray series before the river itself runs dry.  Yesterday's newspaper headlines featured a call from out prime minister to pray for rain.

PV Cameron of Lochiel is a new one, under construction at the rear of an engineering yard on the fringe of Echuca.  The owner is semiretired from a factory which produces ornate joinery, and this shows in the fitout: panelled doors, ornate timber mouldings, replica pressed-metal ceilings (characteristic of domestic architecture in the era 1900-20).  The main deck will be a large lounge living zone with a roll-down screen to form a home theatre.  So far the only fitting installed is the bar (I like the thinking).  One sponson cabin holds a toilet & laundry; I guess that the other will house a kitchen.  The bedrooms are upstairs.

There are other boats under construction in towns perhaps 100 km from Echuca.

Advice from Mildura is that the owners of many of the boats under construction there (see Michael's post a few pages back) are focussing on launching in time for Wentworth Junction Rally (Sat.7 & Sun.8.7).  There could easily be 20 paddle boats present to help celebrate PS Ruby's centenary.

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[Roderick Smith]

APAM DC:
p1: general history; PS Cumberoona text & photos; PS Adelaide text & photos; PS Pevensey text only; PS Hero text only.
p2: Barge 22 photo, PS F05 photo, PS Hero photo
p3: PS Roy text & photos; PV Gemma photos (after the fire); PV Julie Fay photos (the attempt to rename as Lady Joan didn't stick: the original name is still on the hull).
p4: PS/PV Australien text & photo; PS Edwards text & photos of the hull; PS Emmylou text & photo.
p5: PV Pride of the Murray text & photos; PS Etona text & photos; PS Ranger text & photos; PS Australien more photos; B22 photo; half a hull of PS Murrumbidgee photo; PS Adventurous photo; PS Enterprise photos.
p6: PS Enterprise text & photos; PS Pyap text & photos; PS Canberra text & photos; PS Gem text & photos; barge Vega text & photo.
p7: PS Gem photo; PS Canally text & photos; Queens article (PS Gem, PS Ellen, PS Marion, PS Ruby, with Gem & Ruby photos); PS Hero photo; PS Excelsior text only; PS Roy text.
p8: List of Sydney paddlesteamers; list of Port Phillip Bay paddlesteamers; notes on Australian railway & tram ferries (not paddlesteamers, but notes on SWPS General Gordon, which connected with trains).
p9: mainly discussion; list of Australian maritime museums; a shipwreck resource.
p10: Gippsland Lakes paddlesteamers; Tasmanian paddlesteamers (I have more to add now, as I have obtained an excellent book in the last few weeks); PS Oscar W brief notes & some photos.

I will edit this post soon, to add the summary of APAM LoP.
While my series there is still at Echuca, I see that the gaps are photos of Pevensey and Alexander Arbuthnot.

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[Roderick Smith]

While my exposition is at Echuca, I will post one of each of the boats being covered in APAM DC.

Today: PS Pevensey, PS Hero and PS Alexander Arbuthnot.
There are also several several of Sean's photos of AA in the Paddler modelling - construction forum, in a thread titled PS Alexander Arbuthnot / Lady Caroline.

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor