Investigations into why the Pride of the Murray sank now beginning

Begun on Monday, the operation was complete by Thursday morning, surprising all when the 100 tonne paddlewheeler that had sunk six months earlier responded well to the initial pressure from the salvors, climbing quickly out of the muddy water she'd been resting in.

"The dear old girl - they were only going to pull her six inches and tighten everything up and she just started coming and they kept going," her emotional owner Richard Kinnon said. "They got her right up to the edge (of the water) - it's as if she was saying, get me out of here."

The Pride of the Murray was bought by the Kinnons in 2022 to expand Outback Pioneers Starlight's Cruise Experience in Longreach, transporting her overland from Echuca, Victoria, one of the biggest maritime moves in Australian history.

She was restored and cruised the Thomson River for a few months before the end of the 2022 tourist season, but sank in March 2023, just weeks out from the new tourist season.

The team from Baldwin Boats, project managing the salvage with help from Clayton's Towing and ABCO Commercial Diving, had her fully out of the water by Wednesday evening, and secured on a hastily prepared hardstand by Thursday morning.

It was a complex operation involving over 30 people on the site, managing pollution control, site safety and angry brown snakes, as well as taking each step of the winching gently.

Among those involved was the three-man diving team of Mark Veal, Jaiden Granada and Mike 'Chopper', who were the muddiest people on the riverbank on Wednesday.

Saying it was their bread and butter work, Mr Veal said he hoped they wouldn't be doing another outback river rescue for another hundred years.

"Any commercial diving is classified as high risk, but this vessel was at an odd angle, resting on a ledge," he said.

"That plus the nil visibility added to that.

"We had to do everything by feel basically."

Ross Robertson, the man who built the Thomson Belle, the smaller paddlewheeler being operated on the Thomson River by Outback Pioneers, was also on hand to witness the retrieval, and said he thought the salvors were doing a "marvellous job".

"Claytons are very good," he said. "That's exactly how I would have done it.

"You've got to be so careful with those wooden hulls.

"A hundred ton - the poor old timbers will be creaking and groaning a bit."

One paddlewheel, which the whole weight of the boat was resting on, has been damaged, but Mr Kinnon was confident that was repairable.

"Believe it or not, those wheels are off the Hero, one of the oldest paddlewheelers on the Murray River," he said.

Watching the winching process was an emotional rollercoaster for him, especially when the 99-year-old boat was cresting the steepest part of the bank, which had been levelled off for the operation.

"I feel a lot more relieved than when she was up in the air, and she had to get over that point," Mr Kinnon said. "I thought she could break her back at any minute but they got the bags under her."

While all were celebrating that the boat is in one piece, the questions about what caused the sinking in March, and whether she can be restored, remain to be answered.

Assessors, boatbuilders and marine surveyors will undertake inspections over the next week.

Some that were on the scene on Wednesday included David Bull, the electrical engineer who originally designed and installed the Pride of the Murray's drive system.

He said he would likely be the person to work on restoring the switchboard and generator to make the paddles turn again, if that was the decision reached, and he was pleased to see she wasn't coated in as much mud as he expected.

"It's relatively clean, but we haven't got in to have a look inside the cabinets yet, so we'll see," he said.

He complimented the Kinnon family for pressing ahead with the salvage.

"It seems like it would have been easy to abandon it, so I have a lot of admiration for them to do it," he said.

Mr Kinnon said that, whatever emerges in the coming inspections, she would be restored and have pride of place in Longreach.

"I can say for sure she will be restored to tell her stories - not just for outback Queensland but to inspire all of Australia," he said.

It will not be until they have all the reports that they will be able to guarantee she can be made seaworthy again but Mr Kinnon said she would have an important role as an Australian icon.

"If it's humanly possible, she will be back on the water for her centenary in 2024. That's definitely the plan," he said.

"If for any reason she can't be re-certified as a passenger vessel, we will still bring her back to life and give her an exciting new role.

"I know she is going to be an outback celebrity as she has such presence, and so many people around the country have been touched by her story."

Outback Pioneers is planning a fundraising campaign to get the restoration happening quickly, saying that after investing so much in the original restoration, they will need to ask their mates for help to fund this one.

"We will launch a fundraising campaign in a month or so but in the meantime people can donate through our Pride of the Murray website," he said.

To ensure her future preservation, $1 from every Outback Pioneers Starlight's Cruise Experience will go towards her preservation costs.

"This will mean tens of thousands of dollars each year will be put aside so she can always be maintained in peak heritage condition," Mr Kinnon said. "It's an important piece of history and a beautiful vessel we have here. We owe her our respect and to be custodians for future generations."