Captain giving up the helm

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/01/2011 (5568 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The future of a Winnipeg tradition is in dry dock after the longtime captain of the Paddlewheel Queen and Paddlewheel Princess has announced retirement.

Steve Hawchuk said Monday that he will retire as captain after 41 years at the ships’ helm, making him the longest serving captain in Manitoba marine history. He said both ships are currently being appraised, and will be put up sale.

Hawchuk said he hopes a young, energetic entrepreneur is up for the challenge, or the operation will have to shut for good. The 73-year-old said he’s “burnt out” after last year’s high water levels marooned his ships in Selkirk for the bulk of the summer season.

“If nobody’s interested in the next month, we’ll have to close down,” Hawchuk said.

Hawchuk’s departure could signal the end of the city’s long tradition of big-boat pleasure cruising.

The city’s other boat cruise tour operator, M.S. River Rouge, was put up for sale last year for $1.6 million.

Owner Kyriakos Vogiatzaki told the Free Press last July that he was ready to quit the business. He could not be reached for comment late Monday.

The 450-tonne M.S. River Rouge was stuck on the Red River in less than two feet of water for a week in 2010, after it ran aground on its way to Lower Fort Garry, stranding dozens of passengers for hours.

Hawchuk said he lost about 70 per cent of his business last year due to an unusually high Red River, and flood forecasters are already bracing for a soggy spring.

Last summer, Hawchuk’s ships were forced to dock in Selkirk until water levels within Winnipeg receded near the end of July. Two weeks later, he said his ships had to move to St. John’s Park when the river levels rose again.

The river levels put a huge dent in the pleasure cruise business, he said, along with the $600,000 he spent to upgrade his ships to satisfy Transport Canada regulations.

Winnipegger Ray Senft designed and built both Paddlewheel boats, which earned him the nickname Red River Ray.

Hawchuk said the Queen began her maiden voyage in 1965 and the Princess followed in 1966. The 440-tonne M.S. Paddlewheel Queen is 140 feet long, and can hold 400 passengers.

Its sister vessel, the Princess, weighs 72 tonnes, is 80 feet long and can accommodate 200 passengers.

Hawchuk bought the ships from Senft in 1969 and the cruises have been a popular attraction for locals and tourists ever since. Hawchuk estimates more than three million passengers have been aboard, including Pierre Trudeau, Frankie Vallie and Col. Sanders.

The ships sailed seven days a week until 2010, offering afternoon public cruises, evening dinner cruises, and late night dance cruises that didn’t dock until 1 a.m. Hawchuk said he’s hosted thousands of weddings and birthday parties and that the pleasant memories make retiring a “mixed bag” of emotions.

“It’s a Winnipeg tradition,” he said. “Let’s face it, a lot of other cities would give their right arm to have something like this.”

jen.skerritt@freepress.mb.ca