FOR SALE: Steam Launch Pocahontas

• Launched 1979

• Custom built by Thomas G. Rhodes, Saratoga Springs, NY

• Subject of a 26-part article in Live Steam Magazine from 1982 – 1984

• Extensive hull repairs over the past 5 years

• Laying (Suttons Bay, MI) summer, inside heated storage (Northport, MI) winter

• Boat will be in the water through September for sea trial and or survey

• Owner will provide vessel familiarization and training

• For additional info, see specifications sheet HERE

Asking $49,000 USD

​

Contact: Preston Claytor

Phone: (561) 740-8721

 jpclaytor@gmail.com

Vessel Details

Pocahontas (formerly SL Tuscarora) is a custom-built steam launch constructed between 1975 and 1979 by Captain Tom Rhodes, a past steamboat editor of Live Steam magazine. The boat has Philippine mahogany stringers and the is hull covered with two ¾ inch layers of marine-grade plywood and a layer of fiberglass cloth.

Pocahontas has a teak deck (forward) and a solid wood superstructure. Much of the interior hardware, such as flooring, was salvaged from much larger vessels. Entering through the custom-built teak pilothouse doors, there is a V berth forward which can sleep two. The pilothouse contains a custom wheel with hydraulic steering. Full engine controls are available with linkages for forward/reverse and throttle.

The engine room is accessed via two steps down from the pilothouse. In addition to the boiler and engine, there is a bench seat (storage underneath) for the engineer, a sink, and an enclosed head with a port-a-potty.

Aft, there is a horseshoe-shaped bench that easily sits six passengers on Bottomsider closed foam seats.

Machinery

• 40-HP vertical fire-tube boiler, new 2002

• Safety Valve (2020) set to 150 lbs.

• Semple 10 HP 354 cross-compound, rebuilt by Fred Semple Jr. in 2003

• Pemberthy 3/8-inch injector

• Custom-built boiler feed pump, plunger type, belted to the shaft via Browning gear belts

• Jabsco air or condensate pump

• Boiler, vacuum, and water pump gages mounted on a custom cherry wood board

• Gauges, all original, large steamer origin

• Eight-gallon hotwell with the ability to condense or pump condensate overboard

• Custom heat exchange (boiler feed pre-heat)

• Custom keel condenser

• Drip oiler for crossheads, pump oiler for valve oil

• Two, 26-gallon freshwater tanks

• Coal bunker, capacity 100 lbs

• Prop shaft 1¼ inch Aquamet 22 stainless steel

• Propeller – Michigan Workhorse, 18 X 22 four-blade, right hand

• Numerous spares

​

​

Electronics

• ​Raymarine autopilot (2017)

• Raymarine depth sounder (2011)

• Garmin GPS (1999)

• Standard Horizon VHF (2020)

• Feedwater temperature gauge

• Volt meter

• Rule bilge pumps (2) with float switches

• High water alarm

• Two Duracell deep cycle batteries (2021)

• Battery selector switch

• 10-amp battery charger

• Freshwater pump

• Three circuit breaker panels (2016)

• Spotlight

• Weems & Plath running lights (rare)

• Stereo with speakers in pilothouse and cockpit

​

Miscellaneous

• Eight jack stands included

• Vessel can be moved by road (no trailer included)

• Three-chamber, low tone steamboat style whistle included

• Vessel USCG documented

• Forward rails from a 1923 Elko

• Engine room hatch from a 1910 launch, includes canvas cover

• Recent (2021) survey available

​​

Vessel Data

Length – 29.2 feet

Length at waterline – 25 feet

Vertical clearance 14.5 feet over masts

Draft 2.5 feet (stern skeg)

Beam – 10 feet

Beam at Waterline – 8 feet

Hull speed – 6.3 MPH Max 7.5

Registered tonnage – 7 net, 9 gross

​

Exclusions

Owners personal property including tools

Click image above to see photo gallery.