July 18, 2023 | Lake Hopatcong News
For possibly the first time this century, Lake Hopatcong will host two steam powered recreational boats on July 21, July 22, July 23 and July 24.
The S. L. Saucey was built around 2001 by Carl Kriegeskotte, who has since passed away. The Saucey was featured in the History Channel’s 2005, 90-minute documentary focusing on what has been called the “most daring mission” of the Civil War: the heroic raid of Lt. William Cushing’s launch on the ironclad CSS Albemarle. Kriegeskotte, an Emmy-award winning documentary filmmaker, was the producer. Glenn Papp, who lives in Kintnersville, Pennsylvania, is the current caretaker of the boat. Its home lake is Lake Nockamixon. The vessel is 21 feet long with a vertical fire tube boiler that operates at 150 PSI.
The engine is a single cylinder steam engine that can be fired using wood or coal. The S.L. Mockingbird is owned and operated by Colt Steward of Athol, Massachusetts, who pilots the boat on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. Built in 2017, the 16-foot-long vessel uses a water tube boiler and operates at 120 PSI. The engine is also a single cylinder steam engine and is wood fired. The operators of each vessel will be dressed in 19th Century attire in homage to Lake Hopatcong’s bygone era when steamboats were once a common sight. Their steam whistles will echo around the lake, entertaining with sounds not heard for decades.
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