Another member of the Waimarie trust board has resigned, unhappy with the organisation's leadership.
Neville Procter had served on the board for a little under a year but in a letter to the Chronicle he said he no longer had confidence in chairwoman Christine Jones.
His resignation follows that of Ed Boyd and manager Peter Hardy. Last month Mr Boyd said he needed to give more time to his business interests and did not want to make any further comment.
Mr Hardy had been contracted to the trust as manager and the Chronicle understands his contract was up for renewal but he had resigned before that.
Mr Procter said the paddle steamer had had a record number of sailings in December, January and February, and the hard work of Mr Hardy and staff had managed to increase the trust's bank balance by more than $20,000.
"But faced with the extra unpaid work that the chairperson required him to do, he resigned. Also two of the crew made themselves unavailable for further work," Mr Procter said.
"This is the first organisation that I have been involved with that the minutes of meetings have gone to the chairperson before being released to other trustees. I've been on national, regional and local committees and the minutes have been released at the same time to all members."
Mr Procter had moved a vote of no confidence in Mrs Jones at one meeting but he said that failed to gain majority support.
He said those issues aside, he had enjoyed his time working with the staff on the Waimarie.
The resignations come 12 months after the Chronicle reported that after several years of financial struggle, the historic tourist attraction was debt-free.
At that time Mrs Jones said the trust was looking at funding options and had applied to the Lotteries Commission, Whanganui Community Foundation and the Lion Foundation.
About a month ago Mrs Jones was reported as saying she was upbeat about the future of the historic steamer.
She said the trust was working to present an even better customer experience leading into next summer season. Among the initiatives were an improved identity and a new website with a more efficient online booking and ticketing system.
She said passenger numbers were up about 15 per cent on last year.
"The trust is determined to make the Waimarie a success and we will build upon this momentum with our new marketing and strategy efforts."
She said the manager's position would be advertised later in the year and timed to start in October.
The trust had gone to the Wanganui District Council asking for $60,000 a year for the next 10 years to cover fixed costs. The council cut that to $40,000.