Australian skipper visits Whanganui to experience the PS Waimarie

Australian boat skipper Beth Conner crossed the Tasman to learn about Whanganui's Paddle Steamer Waimarie. Photo / Fin Ocheduszko Brown

One of the few female boat skippers on the Murray River in Echuca, Victoria, has visited New Zealand’s oldest paddle steamer.

Beth Conner, who mainly operates PS Canberra, arrived in Whanganui last Friday to see the PS Waimarie and meet with PS Waimarie Operating Trust manager Jen Britton.

Conner immediately boarded the two-hour 11am cruise and was able to drive the boat for a “decent chunk”.

She said the Waimarie exceeded her expectations.

“She’s absolutely wonderful - my friend said, ‘you are going to fall in love if you’re not careful’,” Conner said.

“She’s just beautiful, she’s got a charm about her. There is something about the smell of steam that is universal and it is awesome.

“The amount of people that were happy to chat and the crew; I cannot speak highly enough of the crew or Jen for looking after us, they have been absolutely wonderful.”

Conner and her friend are embarking on a two-week trip around New Zealand but the Waimarie was the catalyst and the main item on their itinerary.

She wanted to learn, compare and contrast how the Waimarie operated to her vessels in Echuca.

“I’ve always wanted to get in touch with a lot of different boats around the world so we can learn from each other because it is such a small world to have paddle steamers and they are such an integral part of history at the time,” she said.

“Listening to Sam, the skipper, and his story about loving the boat, I learned heaps about the boat and the incredible history of it.

“The Waimarie is the only paddle steamer that I know of in New Zealand so I had to go on it.”

Britton said it was a pleasure to host Conner.

“I think it is quite cool that there is an international interest from people within the industry,” Britton said.

“Being female makes it even cooler because we have never had a female skipper [of the Waimarie]. Having the interest helps to spread the word because it is such a unique vessel.

“It was quite cool to hear about what they are doing and how they run and the similarities in operation.”

Australian boat skipper Beth Conner (left) and Paddle Steamer Waimarie Operating Trust manager Jen Britton on the vessel.

Conner fell in love with paddle steamers at age 5 after her grandfather put her behind the wheel.

She is the fifth generation in her family to operate a paddle steamer and the nearly 112-year-old PS Canberra she skippers was built by her great-great-uncle.

Conner was able to drive a boat before driving a car thanks to the support of Neil and Kevin Hutchinson, father and son paddle steamer skippers on the Murray River.

She said many girls were not as fortunate in being able to become a paddle steamer operator and were, instead, discouraged.

“The idea in movies is that it is the men are off on the boat but it wasn’t; the women were on the boat too,” Conner said.

“They knew how to fire, they knew how to drive, they raised their kids because that was their home and their livelihood as well.

“They could do all of those things but they just weren’t granted the qualifications because of the misogyny at the time.”

She was the only female skipper who regularly engineered a boat on the Murray River and said she regularly received misogynistic comments from men and disbelief from young girls who saw her.

Getting rid of the stigma would be a step forward to getting more girls and women involved in operating vessels, she said.

“Showing it is possible is a really big thing, as well as encouragement.

“I think because a lot of the older media and stuff is always men doing it, whereas getting stories out about women out there and doing it is becoming more interesting because it absolutely is going on.

“I think a lot of people don’t realise that it can be a job and career. I am officially up to 18 years doing this job; unofficially I am up to 30.

“You can do whatever you want, so if there is a young lass who wants to have a go on the boat I’ll forever encourage it - if you want to do it, absolutely go for it 100%.”

The PS Waimarie is New Zealand's oldest coal-fired paddle steamer.

Conner said it is important to cherish and continue to promote heritage boats and historic paddle steamers like the Waimarie.

“We’ve got a bit of a saying back home ‘we are guardians and custodians of these boats’, in that we look after them while we have them and it is our responsibility to pass that information on to the next generation,” Conner said.

“It opened up a lot of places that wouldn’t have been able to open up otherwise. They opened up a lot of inland Australia - most of those stations wouldn’t be there without the rivers and the paddle steamers.

“Keeping them is incredibly important and people supporting them is too because it is part of our history.”

Conner was impressed with the Waimarie crew’s commitment as well as the effort to preserve the vessel’s history by using salvaged timber for the tables.

She was optimistic about the PS Waimarie’s future.

“To keep as much of that history alive as they have, good on them,” she said.

“I think in the future, having listened to how passionate the crew are, I think this may become the spot that people come to - it has potential for sure.”