Although the steamer’s namesake, Alexander ‘Squire’ James Cooke Arbuthnot, was not able to make the trip, his twin sister Alison Monigatti (nee Arbuthnot) was.
The paddlesteamer may be the youngest boat in the fleet at the Port of Echuca, but she has still enjoyed a rich history and has had an eventful life.
The hull of the Alexander Arbuthnot, more affectionately known as the ‘AA’, was built in Koondrook by shipwright Charles Felshaw in 1916, where she began her life as a barge.
In 1923 she was commissioned and towed upstream to Echuca where she was fitted with an engine, boiler and superstructure and then launched into a second career as a working steamer on the river. For many years, she towed barges piled high with redgum logs harvested from the nearby forests and headed for the Arbuthnot Sawmills. She worked at the mill until the 1940s before she was replaced by the PS Hero and onsold to charcoal producers at Barmah, who used her to bring bagged coal to the Echuca wharf during World War II. After the war ended, she became redundant and sank. Fortunately, a group of concerned volunteers decided to join forces and raised her in 1972 for use at the International Village Theme Park but in 1989, the AA was bought by the then Echuca City Council for further restoration by the Port of Echuca.
Mrs Monigatti has fond memories growing up around the steamer as well as being in the Echuca area.
‘‘I remember taking trips up and down the river on this steamer,’’ she said. ‘‘I’ve always loved being around the river and Echuca, it’s in my blood.’’
Today, the PS Alexander Arbuthnot cruises daily and can carry up to 47 passengers.
‘‘Cruises like this just bring back the history of the river, I loved it,’’ she said.
16°C