[BITList] Fwd: [IrishSeaShips] Re: NEWS: WAVERLEY

[Michael Feltham]

Begin forwarded message:


Date: 16 June 2011 20:01:00 GMT+01:00
To: <IrishSeaShips at yahoogroups.com>
Subject: RE: [IrishSeaShips] Re: NEWS: WAVERLEY
Reply-To: IrishSeaShips at yahoogroups.com


Posting from the Guardian which appeared on the FoNE group

 

Paddlesteamers are slow, inefficient and charming, which is why, every summer, tens of thousands of holidaymakers pay to take trips around Britain's coast on the delightfully antique PS Waverley. Unfortunately, they do not pay enough to guarantee the future of the world's last operational ocean-going paddlesteamer, which is now making what might turn out to be her farewell tour of seaside resorts.

The charities which maintain and operate the vessel have launched an appeal to raise the £500,000 needed each year on top of fare revenue to keep her sailing. The total has soared thanks to rising fuel costs – up 60% in a year – which make the economics of keeping the ship at sea precarious. It is possible that rather than touring Britain's west and south coasts each summer, she will end up never straying from her Glasgow home berth.

That would be a loss: the Waverley's passing presence enlivens seaside resorts but, as they have declined, so has her custom.

Built in 1946, the Waverley chugged its way around Scotland's sea lochs and islands for the first part of its life, and has been kept afloat since then by a keen group of supporters.

A few times a year she sails into London, passing under Tower Bridge; this week she is in the Bristol Channel, a living and active ship rather than the static museum piece she might one day become.

Sunshine draws out the crowds: a wet summer this year, and a fall off in passenger numbers, might spell the end of a unique way to travel.

 


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