Waverley emerged from her annual drydocking at Dales in Greenock in the rain around 2pm on Wednesday 16th April 2025.
She was then towed astern by two tugs the short distance down river to Greenock……….
……..where she berthed at around 2.45pm to warm through her machinery in readiness for steaming up river to Glasgow.
Capt Dominic McCall on the bridge with the dockyard pilot berthing at Greenock
Amongst much other work this refit the outer face of the starboard paddle box has been renewed in its entirety by Dales and a very fine job they have made of it.
The roundel containing the head of Edward Waverley and ornate work around it in the centre have ever been vulnerable to damage and loss in occasional heavy landings. I recall thirty years ago that the then management kept a supply of them in the store to be put on if one was accidentally knocked off. At that stage they were made by a firm in the Historic Dockyard Chatham and organised through Kingswear Castle. I remember driving down from Chatham in my car to unload a fresh supply to Waverley at Penarth Pier in June 1997.
By contrast here is a pic of the paddle box of the paddle steamer on which Waverley was based Jeanie Deans (1931 – 1968) seen here laid up on the Medway in her last guise as Queen of the South in 1967.
Waverley’s multifaceted General Manager Paul Semple
I love the look of a freshly painted hull in the water looking shiny, new and as yet untroubled by any weed.
Cosens chose emerald green for their boot toppings as seen here on Embassy in 1966. As a child it was always a thrill seeing Consul’s and Embassy’s freshly painted hulls after being returned to the water as I stopped by to gawp at them in the harbour at Weymouth on my bicycle on my way home after school. It was a harbinger that winter had gone, that the paddle steamer world was moving on and that it would not be long before the summer season filled with loads of lovely trips would be upon us.
Waverley set off from Greenock at about 3.15pm still in the rain to sail up river to Glasgow where she arrived at about 4.30pm.
Waverley is scheduled to start her season on Friday 16th May with a trip from Glasgow to Greenock, Kilcreggan, Largs and through the Kyles of But to Tignabruaich. To find out more about this and her other sailings during the 2025 season check out the Waverley website: Timetables – Waverley Excursions
Kingswear Castle returned to service in 2023 after the first part of a major rebuild which is designed to set her up for the next 25 years running on the River Dart. The Paddle Steamer Kingswear Castle Trust is now fund raising for the second phase of the rebuild. You can read more about the rebuilds and how you can help if you can here.
John Megoran
