CalMac withdrew "Waverley" after the 1973 season as she was too costly to operate and needed significant expenditure. By then, the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society had been set up as a registered UK charity and had bought the near-derelict small River Dart paddler . CalMac, keen to ensure that the ship was preserved, sold "Waverley" to the PSPS for the token sum of one pound. Neither side really believed that the vessel would return to steam but, just in case, Caledonian MacBrayne stipulated that she should not sail in competition with their remaining cruise vessel, .