The Steamboating Forum

Is the owner of the steam boat Leviathan a member of the Steamboating Forum? Does someone know the owner and would share their name?
Thanks

There is no leviathan on the SBA register.

However there was a dredger in Liverpool called the Leviathan.
The 465 ft long Leviathan was fitted with a triple-expansion steam engine ... 1909 to 1963

I found this picture from the Steamboat Regatta - B&W Resort. I don't know how old long ago this regatta was but it seems it may be annual. Leviathan is reported to have a Navy K engine and I want to communicate with the operator.

She was owned by a fellow named, if memory serves, Jim Sweeney, when she was berthed in San Rafael CA back in the 'seventies. (I'm not sure of the first name, but I'm sure of the "Sweeney" last name. Nice guy.) I heard she was sold and kept up the Delta until some years ago when she ended up on the hard for a while. Rumor had it she was going to be donated to the Navy as a museum vessel, as she was the last of her class of Navy steam launches extant, but that plan fell through. I don't know what happened to her after that. If she had her original engine in her, it's quite possible it was a Navy K.

Double post

Double post

Bob's summary 's pretty accurate.

Sweeny ended up donating her to the California maritime academy. At the time it had a fire tube boiler put on to side with a few of the top rows of tubes welded blank... super safe

A gentleman by the name of Will Heyne bought her and put a 90sqft Roberts style watertube built by Don Mentzer in her. He took great care of her and kept her in the water at a berth on Bethel Island. He would steam her over to the delta meet every year. Some of my fondest memories are of seeing her steam in late Thursday or Friday night.

Ole Will ended up passing away in the early 2000's and she was sold to a chap that was going to sell her to the Smithsonian or the Navy. After acquiring her he put her on the hard in a boat yard, tore all of the superstructure off and left it as that, uncovered. Fast forward a couple years and the late John Woodson let me know that the owner hadn't paid his rent in months and the boat yard would probably sell her for a song... rusting Navy K, boiler and all. We agreed on a price, $4000, and I was working on arranging transport when my grandmother fell ill and ultimately passed. In the interim the boat yard got rid of her and another super rare, get this, Chinese junk to some unknown buyer for an exorbitant price. I suspect the leviathan was thrown in as a "only if you take this too!" type of deal, as the boatyard owner had no interst in her at all, just interest in the ground she was taking up. That was around 2011 and is where the trail runs cold.

Her engine was indeed a navy k (you can see her in this video a few minutes in)

[Youtube]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1bDkxV_i5Pk[/Youtube]

She also had a beautiful little gen set with a Stewart #1 I believe, and a nice simplex steam pump. All left to rust in the open for 5 years+. The hull was in miserable shape due to her storage and would probably never be seaworthy again (new hull plus one stick of original is not a "restoration").

I spent many a delta meet salivating over that boat and kick myself for not finding a way to save her.

Thanks Ron... apparently the forum doesn't like the link for the YouTube mobile site... I'll adjust when I get to a computer.

Hi Wes,

I just replaced the "m" with "www". Great video!

-Ron