The brothers who bought Border icon the Paddlesteamer Cumberoona, Robbie and Fraser Knowles will bring their second cruise boat, The Sienna Daisy, to Noreuil Park as soon as the water levels rise.

Cruise Yarrawonga-Mulwala co-owner Fraser said it had long been a plan to operate a charter boat in Albury.

He said they had approached Albury City to operate The Sienna Daisy even before early 2015 when they bought the PS Cumberoona, which last sailed in Albury in 2006.  

“In Albury-Wodonga the water heights need a shallow draft vessel and The Sienna Daisy was always on the cards,” he said.

“The 500-millimetre draft (on The Sienna Daisy) is better suited to conditions in Albury.”

Fraser said they were now waiting on more rain or increased river flows before they could start the journey to Albury. 

He said they had hoped to leave on Monday but it now came down to water levels.

“The river level’s dropped 700 millimetres since last Wednesday; we’ve lost a lot of water,” Fraser said.

“We need some heavy rains or some water released downstream.”

A modern cruise boat, The Sienna Daisy will run two cruises daily, Wednesday until Sunday, from the PS Cumberoona's old mooring in Noreuil Park. 

The 49-seat passenger boat, which is licensed, will offer a 90-minute lunch cruise and an hour-long afternoon cruise.

The journey will come with a commentary on the history of Albury and the PS Cumberoona. 

Fraser said they had planned to operate cruises in Albury until at least Easter.

“As long as we’ve got water we’ll be in Albury,” he said.

“For as long as we’ve got enough water that boat will stay in the water.

“We want the public in Albury-Wodonga and the tourists to be able to enjoy the river at Albury again.”

Fraser said Cruise Yarrawonga-Mulwala had been overwhelmed with the response to the PS Cumberoona cruises on Lake Mulwala.

“It’s been well received after a lot of hard work to get it back up and running again,” he said. “Tourism is going ahead in leaps and bounds.”

The Knowles brothers fitted out the 130-tonne vessel with a commercial kitchen ahead of the peak tourist season at Yarrawonga last summer.

It runs three times daily during the peak season in January.