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New Year's Eve - Wednesday 31st December | ||
| MPV Vevey operated an evening Dinner Cruise from Geneva at 2000 on Wednesday 31st December | |||
| PS Unterwalden operated an evening Dinner Cruise from Luzern at 1930 on Wednesday 31st December instead of her sister PS Uri which was unavailable due to her fire on the previous Saturday | |||
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In additional to the regular
timetabled sailings | |||
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PS Uri
caught fire near Hergiswil on her lunch cruise sailing 681 on
Saturday 27th December and
her 89 passengers were safely landed at the pier Firefighters put out the fire and the paddle steamer was later towed to Luzern Dock by mv Europa to undertake repairs for return to service in summer 2015 mv Europa then covered the evening 'Raclette cruise' that evening and went on to cover the paddle steamer ' lunch sailings' on Sunday 28th December and Monday 29th December Meanwhile PS Unterwalden was rapidly awoken from her winter slumbers and steamed on the Sunday then after a quick test sailing returned to quay two ready to operate the teatime Macaroni cruise sailing 675 | ||
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PS Blümlisalp
developed problems with her diesel generator on her first sailing of the day which was terminated
short in stormy weather at Hünibach and she returned direct to Thun resulting in the remainder
of her morning sailings 111-112 to
and from Beatenberg being cancelled The afternoon sailaings 15-16 on Saturday 27th December and all sailings on Sunday 28th December were covered by the much smaller mv Schilthorn The paddle steamer returned to service on Monday 29th December | |||
| Christmas Day - Thursday 25th December | |||
| MPV Vevey operated a Lunch Cruise from Geneva to Nyon at 1220 on Christmas Day - Thursday 25th December | |||
| PS Uri operated a Christmas Lunch Cruise from Luzern at 1130 on Christmas Day - Thursday 25th December and again on Boxing Day - Friday 26th December | |||
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| PS Uri operated an evening Dinner Cruise from Luzern at 1930 on Wednesday 24th December | |||
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PS La Suisse was
unable to sail on
Tuesday 14th October
due to a problem with her paddle wheel at Lausanne She was immediately taken out of service, being replaced by mv Général-Guisan and mv Valais She returned to service the following day operating a private charter and re-commenced timetabled sailings on Thursday 16th October | |||
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PS Stadt Luzern
broke down early on
Tuesday 14th October
(reason unknown) and
mv Waldstätter was summoned to cover the
Wilhelm Tell Express
sailings 13-24 from Luzern at 1112 She was quickly repaired to enable her to operate a charter sailing that evening | |||
| PS Blümlisalp operated an evening Fondue Cruise from Thun at 1910 on Friday 10thh October | |||
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MPV Vevey
broke down on
Wednesday 24th
September and was unable to operate the Upper Lake "Circle" cruises It is understood mv Général-Guisan was sent out from Lausanne immediately after operating her morning Thonon-les-Bains ferry sailings She took over the Upper Lake sailings and the official CGN website showed the service as "operating without full catering from 1100" She remained overnight at Le Bouveret and also covered all the Upper Lake "Circle" sailings on the Thursday The motor paddle vessel returned to normal service on Friday 26th September | |||
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| PS Rhône broke down at Lausanne prior to service on Friday 5th September (reason unknown) and all her sailings were covered by the small mv Lavaux | |||
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PS Schiller
broke down on
Sunday 31st August
(reason unknown, other than it is understood there was a loud "hissing" noise coming
from the engine) mv Gotthard was diverted from her planned Alpnachstad sailing to become the second "acting" paddle steamer of the day to operate to Flüelen | |||
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Following a noticable "smell" whilst in service the previous day,
PS Neuchâtel
broke down at Neuchâtel on
Friday 15th August
and was immediately taken out of service There was a major problem with the boiler (which was still under Warranty) The refractory lining at the end of the combustion chamber was letting go, causing abnormal overheating and both Shiptec and Garoni started to solve the problem All her sailings had to be covered by motor vessels with mv Ville de Neuchâtel operating to Lake Murten on the first day | |||
| PS Blümlisalp operated an evening Jazz Cruise from Thun at 1910 on Friday 15th August | |||
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After some 'on the spot' repairs she managed to reach Lachen where all her passengers disembarked and they had to return by land From the following day her sister | |||
| The planned evening Party Cruise from Como to Brienno on Sunday 3rd August was cancelled due to thunderstorms earlier in the day | |||
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PS La Suisse was
unable to sail when
a paddle float worked lose during the warming up process at Lausanne and
damaged
the mechanisme of the paddle wheel on
Saturday 2nd August She was immediately taken out of service, being replaced by mv Général-Guisan on the Saturday and Sunday and mv Lausanne on the Monday before returning to service on Tuesday 5th August | |||
| Swiss National Day - Friday 1st August | |||
| PS La Suisse operated an evening Fireworks Cruise from Lausanne at 2030 on Friday 1st August | |||
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Fireworks at Brunnen All five paddle steamers paraded in convoy followed by some of the motor vessels from Luzern at 1945 to Brunnen for the annual fireworks display on Friday 1st August | |||
| Instead of her regular timetabled Friday sailings PS Neuchâtel operated an evening Fireworks Cruise from Neuchâtel at 2000 on Friday 1st August | |||
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In additional to the regular afternoon
timetabled sailings | |||
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PS La Suisse
operated an evening
Fireworks cruise from the Upper Lake piers to Le Bouveret on
Thursday
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PS Uri
broke down at
Hertenstein on return
sailing 24 from Flüelen whilst covering for her broken down sister
PS Stadt Luzern
due to yet more problems with her replacement generator In consequence her 400 passengers were transferred to PS Gallia to return to Luzern She later made her own way back to the dock at Luzern and she remained out of service on Monday 28th July whilst repairs were undertaken - she had again been planned to cover her larger sister PS Stadt Luzern on the 1112 Wilhalm Tell Express due to her breakdown the previous day, but in the end it was left to PS Schiller to do the honours Not the best of days for the SGV with only three of the five advertised paddle steamers actually in service - a very poor 60% availability - fortunately not affecting too many passengers as the weather was poor She returned to service on Tuesday 29th July - again covering for her broken down sister PS Stadt Luzern | |||
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PS Stadt Luzern
broke down on
Sunday 27th July (reason as yet unknown - although 'strange' noises were heard coming from the engine on the previous day) mv Waldstätter was quickly summoned to cover the 0912 sailing from Luzern allowing the smaller PS Uri to 'step-back' to the busy Wilhelm Tell Express sailings 13-24 at 1112 The same arrangement "was" initially also planned for (see above) She returned to service on Tuesday 29th July in time for the busy Swiss National Day weekend | |||
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100th Birthday PS Lötschberg operated an evening Dinner Cruise from Interlaken at 1915 on Friday 25th July | ||
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PS Gallia
broke down for
half-an-hour at Weggis on
Friday 25th July whilst repaiors were undrertaken - eventually arriving Luzern at
approximately 1710 In consequence her sister PS Stadt Luzern had to cover her "after-work" sailings 29-38 | |||
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| PS Blümlisalp operated an evening Jazz Cruise from Thun at 1910 on Friday 18th July | |||
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PS Neuchâtel
broke down at La Sauge
pier on the return
sailing 64 from Morat on
Thursday 17th July The following service - the Three Lakes Tour operated by mv Isle St. Pierre on her return sailing to Biel - double-banked and took all the passengers back to Neuchâtel - leaving with a very full load This was the first time there had been a problem in public service and it is understood one of her burners failed to restart - however after quick repairs she was able to return light half an hour after her passengers had left and re-entered service the following day A motor vessel covered her afternoon sailings 207-209-210 | |||
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PS La Suisse
operated an evening
Fireworks cruise from Lausanne at 2015 to the display at
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PS Unterwalden
FAILS YET AGAIN on
Saturday 5th July ! She was immediately taken out of service on the first day of the peak season when all five paddle steamers are advertised in public service mv Waldstätter was quickly summoned to cover her lunch and afternoon cruises before PS Uri was given an extended day to cover the evening "sunset cruise" IT SEEMS THE SGV MANAGEMENT SIMPLY "THREW IN THE TOWEL" as NO attempt was made to cover her with another paddle steamer on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday - instead they have simply planned mv Waldstätter to cover all her sailings, including the "Sunset Cruise" Initially the "fahrordnung" only showed detailed changes due to her non-availibility up to and incluing Monday but this was subsequently changed to include up to the following Friday She eventually returned to service on Saturday 12th July after taking a full week for repairs | |||
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This was her first public cruise for nearly two and a half decades following stage one of her major re-build | |||
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MPV Vevey
collided with Geneva Mont Blanc pier on return non-stop
sailing 321 from
Yvoire on Thursday 12th June
and sustained damage to both her
bow at the pier and
stern when she came into contact with the adjacent bridge After off-loading her passengers she returned light to Ouchy dock before being taken out of service for repairs In consequence most of her planned sailings from Friday 13th June were either replaced by a smaller motor vessel or in limited cases cancelled This was her second mishap following her major re-build - her first on Tuesday 26th November and had similarities to her accident at Geneva on Friday 12th April 2002 She returned to service on Friday 27th June when she took over thr Le-Bouveret based sailings | |||
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Similar cruises also operated on Friday 30th May and Saturday 31st May | |||
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As Ascension Thursday is both 'mid-week' and a 'local holiday'
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Following technical problems on a pre-season "test sailing"
PS Unterwalden was still "under repairs" on
the first day of the
summer season resulting in her sisters having to be juggled round to
cover most of her sailings (except to Alpnachstad as none of them can sail under
the Acheregg road and
railway bridge at Stansstad She eventually returned to service on Tuesday 3rd June after extensive repairs | |||
| Following many decades out of service PS Neuchâtel finally returned to public service and took over some of the Neuchâtel based sailings as part of LNM fleet on the Three Lakes commencing Saturday 24th May with a sailing to Estavayer-le-Lac | |||
| PS Stadt Rapperswil operated a rare evening " Dinner Cruise" from Rapperswil to the Obersee at 2000 on Saturday 24th May as part of her 100th birthday celebrations | |||
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The 100 year old PS Stadt Rapperswil
was the star of a special "Jubliee
Parade" from Zurich along with her sister
PS Stadt Zürich and the
50 year old | |||
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| Swiss Navigation Day - Sunday 27th April | |||
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In addition to | |||
| PS Simplon operated a pre-season charter sailing for the ABVL from Evian-les-Bains to Geneva - via Lausanne - after the AGM on Saturday 26th April prior to entering public service the following day | |||
| PS Stadt Rapperswil operated an evening "Dinner Cruise" from Zurich at 2000 on Saturday 26th April | |||
| Easter Weekend | |||
| PS La Suisse and PS Savoie joined MPV Vevey to open the CGN 2014 Summer season and operate sailings from Lausanne and Geneva on Good Friday 18th April | |||
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PS Stadt Luzern opened the SGV 2014 Summer season
and operated sailings 13-24
from Luzern to Flüelen and return on
Good Friday 18th April She also operated the same sailings on Easter Monday 21st April | |||
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PS Stadt Rapperwil operated the lunchtime
sailings 109-110
from Zurich to Rapperswil and return on
Good Friday 18th April She also operated the same sailings on Easter Monday 21st April | |||
| Following many decades out of service PS Neuchâtel finally re-entered service commencing with three 90 minute Return to service private charter sailings from Neuchâtel on Friday 11th April and repeated the following day | |||
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Following a private charter on the previoius day
PS Stadt Rapperswil operated
the lunchtime sailings 109-110
from Zurich to Rapperswil and return on Sunday
6th April This made her the first Swiss steam powered paddle steamer to re-enter service for the 2014 season She also operated the same sailings on both Sundays 13th and 20th April | |||
| PS Piemonte operated a special International Charter Cruise from Luino (Italy) to Locarno at the Swiss end of the lake on Saturday 29th March together with a special historic connecting train from Luzern | |||
| MPV Vevey operated a special Evening Valentines Dinner Cruise from Geneva on Friday 14th February | |||
| MPV Vevey returned to service and operated the winter timetabled Sunday Lunch Cruise from Geneve to Nyon on Sunday 2nd February and on subsequent Sundays throughout the winter timetable | |||
| New Year's Day - Wednesday 1st January | |||
| PS Uri operated a New Year's Day Lunch Cruise from Luzern at 1030 on New Year's Day - Wednesday 1st January | |||
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6th May 2017
e-mail
(c)1999-2017
John B Bird
