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by Greg Martin
There ’ s only one thing worse than being up a creek without a paddle .
And that ’ s being up a river without a paddlewheeler !
Just ask Ian Burns , owner and skipper of the Hawkesbury Paddlewheeler , Torrumburra .
In fact , the 62-year-old mariner has been up and down the river over the past four months , being a jack-of-all-trades repairing the boat which was severely damaged in major floods in 2021 and last year .
For the past six months Torrumburra has been berthed at Brooklyn , firstly in dry dock and more recently back on the water . Throughout that time Ian has been travelling from his Windsor home down to Brooklyn where he spends five or six days and nights each week , doing repairs to the 47-year-old paddlewheeler .
“ The floods , plus a couple of mongrels who somehow boarded her while she was tethered to a tree down at Gronos Point waiting for the July flood to recede , left the old girl in a bad way ,” Ian said .
Those “ pirates ” did over $ 5000 damage , trashing the place and smashing every window .
Ian proudly says Torrumburra is one tough boat to have somehow survived the ’ 21 and ’ 22 floods .
“ The March ’ 21 flood kicked off our woes . I had the boat anchored at her normal berth at Windsor and the water
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rose so quickly that we had to use an angle grinder to cut off our chained mooring ,” Ian explained .
Ian and two crew members were aboard the boat as she careened down river and although under power , she was “ at the mercy of the flow ”.
By the time the boat reached Grono Farm , a high-powered police launch and its crew came to their rescue .
“ They tied a strong rope to a tree above the flood level and managed to attach it to the paddlewheeler and take the three of us back to safety ,” Ian said .
That very night , the rotten boarding party did their damage to the boat .
Ian had to wait a week before he could drive the boat down to Lower Portland where he managed to do what repair work he could .
Work was progressing slowly , and Ian began to believe he would soon be able to return the paddlewheeler to Windsor and recommence his cruise business .
But then came the March 2022 flood and once again the boat was at the mercy of floating debris such as caravans , cabins and trees as it was washed down to Wisemans Ferry .
Lightning might never strike twice , but another flood did , just four months later , with detritus of all shapes and sizes once again battering the beleaguered boat .
It wasn ’ t until last January that Torrumburra was fit enough to be driven down to Brooklyn where she went into dry dock so Ian could assess and begin working
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Ahoy me hearty . The Hawkesbury Paddlewheeler skipper , Ian Burns , with his friend , Greg “ Whiskers ” Whitfield , a regular aboard the boat on its various music cruises .
on the damage to the hull .
“ Before that though , I must have had to exterminate about 100 rats which had got onboard and did a lot of damage , including to the electrical wiring ,” Ian said .
Since Torrumburra has been back in the water , Ian has been able to get to work on the deck and cabin , firstly cleaning away mould , “ it was everywhere and took me four months ” and doing 99 per cent of the repairs with a welder , carpenter and electrician called on board when necessary . Ian is now putting the finishing paint
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strokes to the interior and exterior of the boat and is confident the Hawkesbury Paddlewheeler will be returning to home berth at Windsor .
“ I reckon I will be cruising again around the middle of this month ,” Ian said .
Several members of his former staff have already told Ian they would “ chuck in ” their temporary jobs and return to the crew .
“ All of them are locals , as are most of the entertainers we use on our various seven-days a week and special night
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SHOWTIMES | |
Fri 11 August |
7pm |
Sat 12 August |
2pm & 6pm |
Sun 13 August |
11am & 2pm |
Wed 16 August |
7pm |
Fri 18 August |
7pm |
Sat 19 August |
2pm & 6pm |
Sun 20 August 11am & 2pm | |