The first time Jamie Zaroski took the steamboat he built out on the Kaministiquia River, his neighbours posted on social media that there might be a locomotive crossing their backyard.
He laughed as he recounted the hissing whistle when the pressure reached 95 pounds per square inch and the steam released on his maiden voyage. It was the sound of success he'd been living in wait for over most of the last year.
"The gain is keeping me alive, giving me purpose, goals to strive for and achieve," he said.
"In the first launch, it all comes together. Talk to anyone who has built a hot rod or an airplane. That's it."
Jenny, named after Zaroski's dog, slowly came together during the four-day cycles he had off working at the mill. Acquiring and building the 19th Century technological wonder took him nine months of searching for the right parts, using the Internet: the 21st Century's technological wonder.
The result is a classic wood boat with a a firebox at the base of a vertical tube that supports 40 gallons of water. The water is drawn from the surface and runs through 22 copper tubes. The 40-gallon tank can propel the boat for 10 miles, over which time Zaroski has to burn about 20 small logs.
For Zaroski, the project was a way of reaching back to where power boating began.
"A lot of people are interested in the history," he said.
"That's where it all started. It went from steam, there was a short period of electricity and then the gas engine took over. It's just a steady progression."
It hasn't been all smooth sailing. There was one occasion in the boat's infancy when the coast guard had to rescue him. Zaroski has conquered the voyage down the Kaministiquia to the marian and is setting his sights on a longer trip aournd the welcome islands.
Zaroski's satisfied for the moment but for a boat-builder with the kind of work ethic he has, he's already stirring on what might be his next project.
"Usually, I sell the boats I build but this one, I'm holding onto. This is it. It doesn't get any better. I can't think of anything else to build after this -- maybe another steamboat, a 30-footer."
