'Smallest paddle steamer in UK' not sold at auction
A commercial paddle steamer, described as the smallest in the UK, has failed to sell at auction.
The PS Monarch, which carries only 12 passengers and is 42ft (12.8m) long and 15ft (4.5m) wide, went under the hammer on the Isle of Wight.
The vessel, which was built 28 years ago, has been making trips from Newport along the River Medina. Its owners had said they would be upset to see it go.
The boat failed to reach its reserve price of £35,000.
Prior to the auction, the Island Auction Rooms said it had received inquiries from as far away as New Zealand.
Monarch's owner and chief engineer, schoolteacher Ian Rees, said before the auction: "I have always been into steam engines [and] she has a compound engine.
"We [Mr Rees and his friend and skipper Matt O'Crowley] saw her up for sale on the internet, we had too much to drink and we bought the paddle steamer three years ago.
"To us, she is like a child."
Mr O'Crowley, who is joining the Merchant Navy, said: "When we got her she was falling to pieces, she really was scrap and it took only nine months to get her into working order.
"It took me a year to drive her in a straight line and it was very hard because there was nobody to ask."
He added: "There are only two other small paddle steamers and they are the Waverley, based in Glasgow, and the Kingswear Castle in Medway in Kent."