Clem LeGates: Milton's steam engine man

Like any well-prepared boater, Clem LeGates brings extra fuel when he goes cruising in his boat.

Unlike emergency fuel for other boaters, which stores nicely in a 5-gallon gas can, LeGates’ extra fuel is a 50-pound bag of white oak. His boat has a steam engine – the only one in Delaware he's aware of, he said recently while cruising down the Broadkill River in Milton.

LeGates’ boat, named Phoenix, is 23 feet long, and the lines created by its black hull, beige topsides, red Bimini top and fine woodworking would be eye-catching even if it were powered by a standard gasoline-using motor.

But it’s the steel, 5-horsepower Tiny Power steam engine, copper-plated firebox and steam-streaked smokestack protruding through the Bimini top, that really turn heads.

LeGates said the boat attracts attention whether it’s in the water or on land. He said when the boat is trailered and being pulled down the road, people will drive alongside and take pictures.

“I’ll think they’re passing me, and then all of a sudden they’re still there giving me a thumbs-up,” he said.

LeGates, 72, has lived in Milton his whole life. “I’m pretty much as local as you’re going to find,” he said.

His parents owned LeGates Texaco on the corner of Federal and Union streets, across from the police station.

LeGates said he didn’t spend much time on the Broadkill as a boy, but during the trip he knew which old boat launch, dilapidated dock or corn field went with which property. He knew exactly where the old chicken, bean and scrapple factories were.

Milton, he said, has changed since he was a boy.

“It used to be you’d walk on the street, see 15 people and know the first name of all 15,” he said. “Now, I can see 50 people and not know anybody.”

Milton might have changed, but LeGates continues to do his part in celebrating the community, and his boat is a key part that.

He donates rides on the boat for local charity auctions, a picture of the boat is scrolled across the the town of Milton’s website and he can be seen pulling Phoenix down the street at parades.

The boat’s hull was cast in Portland, Ore., and is made of two layers of quarter-inch-thick fiberglass, with half an inch of balsa wood sandwiched in between.

“It was basically a big bathtub when I got it,” he said.

LeGates designed, built and installed the rest of the boat’s interior himself. The steering wheel is made of walnut, with handles made to look like lag screws instead of the typical rounded post design. The flooring is marine-grade plywood with a vinyl covering. The red top is a grid of 2-by-4s with a hole cut in the middle for the smokestack.

This is the second steamboat LeGates has built. The first one, built in 1998, was destroyed in 2010 when his garage was engulfed in a fire. He said he managed to reclaim the engine and took the opportunity to make a few adjustments in the design of the boat the second time around.

LeGates, a self-described fixer, built the first boat after purchasing the engine at an auction in the late 1990s. The former owner of Boulevard Appliance, LeGates was on a service call, and the auction was taking place next door. He said he saw the Tiny Power steam engine and knew immediately he wanted it.

LeGates thought the engine was going to cost him a few thousand dollars, but he said he paid less than $400, and apparently he couldn’t contain his excitement when he got home.

“My wife said I wasn’t that excited when my kids were born,” he said laughing and then justifying his excitement with, “This was different. Kids are born every day. How often do you find a steam engine at an auction?”

He and his wife have traveled the East Coast attending steamboat events, including ones at Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire and Key Largo, Fla. The boat’s maiden voyage was an 80-mile trip down the Erie Canal.

LeGates said he’s not really a boat person, but he likes the mechanical abilities of steam power. He bought the old steam train that used to run in Milton Memorial Park, but trains just sit there unless a person lays track down in their yard.

“If it wasn’t for the steam, I wouldn’t own a boat. It’s a steam project that floats,” he said.

LeGates’ enthusiasm for how the system works is clear when he's asked for a tutorial. The boiler, or pressure vessel, is made of three-eighths-inch-thick welded steel. The system holds about 30 gallons of water and is closed, which means energy isn’t wasted heating cool river water, and pollutants aren’t leaking into the water. He knows he needs about 200 pounds of wood to go round trip from Milton to Lewes. The maximum amount of steam pressure the system can handle is 150 pounds.

“It’s really pretty simple, really. There aren’t many moving parts,” he said.

LeGates likes the attention the boat attracts, and he enjoys taking people out on it. While docking the boat, a man dropping a book off at the Milton library came over and started asking questions. Immediately following the interview, he was taking a group down the Broadkill so they could use a drone to get photos of the boat from above.

“People just seem to love this thing,” he said as he refueled the firebox with a couple of logs so the engine would be ready when the next group of passengers arrived.