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<\/p>\nThe Boldt Yacht House on Wellesley Island is open to the public and for modest additional fee is a recommended tour during your visit to Boldt Castle.\u00a0 Visitors are invited to take the free shuttle boat from Heart Island for easy access to this imposing structure on the river’s edge.\u00a0 The Boldts’ family yachts and enormous houseboat were housed here in the slips 128 feet long.\u00a0 Towering bay doors on the decorative facade provided access to the river.\u00a0 The building, rising 64 feet, also featured a shop to build racing launches and quarters for crew and staff.\u00a0 The grandeur of the Gilded Age is fully embodied in the structure’s shingle-style architecture, tremendous towers and spires and the steep-pitched gables.<\/p>\n
The Boldt Yacht House interior bays prior to restoration circa 1980.<\/p>\n
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Inside the Yacht House, you will find a collection of antique wooden boats on display – courtesy of the\u00a0 Antique Boat Museum located in Clayton NY.\u00a0 Some of the boats on display are from the original Boldt fleet.\u00a0 The intricately-designed service\u00a0bay features custom-crafted steel trusses, mechanical over-head traveling cranes, screw jacks and more.\u00a0 This grand landmark, first opened to the public during the summer of 1996, represents some of the 1000 Islands Region at its finest!\u00a0 The Boldt Castle Yacht House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.<\/p>\n
The Yacht House also features a 1892 Steam Yacht. \u00a0In the late 1800\u2019s just before the dawn of the gasoline era many private steam yachts plied the waters of the St. Lawrence and Hudson Rivers, Long Island Sound and many large lakes in the region, including the Great Lakes.<\/p>\n
The Kestral was designed by D. Crawford and built by George Lawley at his South Boston shipyard in 1892.\u00a0 Her first owner is not presently known, but the first available written records indicate that she was sold on June 14, 1899 to Samuel Keyser of Baltimore, Maryland.\u00a0 After a succession of owners who lavished money and care on her, she was sold to James A. Trowbridge of Norton, Connecticut on February 19, 1937.\u00a0 Mr. Trowbridge enjoyed her for nearly 33 years and her ship\u2019s log shows\u00a0 many short trips up and down Long Island Sound with a favorite stop at Northport, Long Island.<\/p>\n
Records show an overhaul and some replacements in 1957.\u00a0 Her original boiler was replaced first in 1926 and again in 1967.\u00a0 In 1972, she was sold to Robert P. Scripps of New York, and appeared in the New York Harbor for the 1976 Parade of Tall Ships.\u00a0 She was then sold to the American Maritime Academy on Staten Island.\u00a0 The American Maritime Academy used for a few years and then abandoned her.\u00a0 In 1988 she was acquired at auction by Mr. John H. Luhrs of Ponte Verde, Florida. After purchasing the Kestrel in 1988, the owner chose to have the steam engine completely repaired by the renowned Conrad Milster at his boiler room at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York.\u00a0 In 1990, she was taken to Kettle Creek Yacht Services at Tom\u2019s River for final finishing.\u00a0 Some of the individual items that were salvaged and could be reused were her 1967 boiler and cylinder blocks, part of the engine shaft and assorted hardware.\u00a0 She now has four pineapple finials atop her compound engine.<\/p>\n Her interior has been completely redesigned and painted white.\u00a0 She has sixteen \u201cWylie\u201d ports with decorative wedges, ten 22-inch deck cleats, and a compound curved sliding hatch on the forward deck.\u00a0 Her outward appearance shows a semi-permanent canvas awning with roll-down protective panels around her fantail stern.\u00a0 Her new five foot stacks displays Mr. Luhr\u2019s private signal and brass decorative dolphins adorn her railends.\u00a0 Her capstan is original, while her galley has all modern conveniences and the head has a very unique brass faucet with shower attachment.\u00a0 During a period of five years Mr. Luhrs completed her final restoration at St. Augustine Marine Center in Florida.<\/p>\n The steam yacht Kestrel is representative of the period and vessels owned and operated by George Boldt.<\/p>\n On July 30 of 2009 Mr. Luhrs generously donated the Steam Yacht Kestrel to the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority for permanent display at the Authority\u2019s Boldt Castle Yacht House facility for the enjoyment of present and future generations.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.boldtcastle.com\/visitorinfo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/kestral-yachthouse.jpg\" "\\"1892")
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