She has survived it all. The end of the golden age of steam yachts. Two world wars. Decades of neglect. Even a sinking in Boston Harbour in 1999 that seemed to have written the final chapter of her story. But no. Built in 1901 for an American timber magnate, this elegant 38-metre steam yacht has returned to the water after one of the most complex restorations ever undertaken on a historic vessel. Today, more than 120 years after her launch, the Cangarda is not merely a vintage yacht: she is a floating time machine that has sailed through three centuries.
The shipyard
The Cangarda was built at the Pusey & Jones shipyards in Wilmington, Delaware, one of the most dynamic industrial centres of nineteenth-century America. The company had been founded in 1848 by Joshua L. Pusey and John Jones and, in its early years, focused primarily on what was then fuelling the Industrial Revolution: steam engines, machinery and mechanical repairs. The turning point came in 1853, when the shipyard launched its first vessel, the Mahlon Betts, a side-wheel steamer with an iron hull. From that moment on, shipbuilding became one of the company’s core activities. After the American Civil War, Pusey & Jones entered a phase of extraordinary expansion: over a hundred steamships were built to operate on South American routes, whilst numerous other vessels were commissioned directly by the United States government.
The shipyard’s reputation also grew rapidly in the world of pleasure boating. In 1887, the steel yacht Volunteer, designed by Edward Burgess and built right here in Wilmington, won the America’s Cup, definitively cementing the company’s prestige. During the same period, elegant motor yachts such as the Avalon also emerged from the shipyard’s workshops, exemplifying a production capability that combined industrial solidity with refinement. But Pusey & Jones was not merely a shipyard. It was a true manufacturing powerhouse of industrial America, capable of operating across a wide range of sectors. The company, for example, constructed the iron framework of the famous Crystal Palace in New York, built for the great Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations in 1853, on the very site where the New York Public Library stands today. Even more significant, from an economic perspective, was the production of machinery for the paper industry, a sector in which Pusey & Jones went on to become one of the world’s leading manufacturers, exporting its technologies on an international scale. For over a century, the Wilmington shipyard was one of the driving forces behind American industry. Then, in 1960, after more than a hundred years of operation, its doors closed for good.
The story of Cangarda
The yacht was commissioned by Charles Canfield, a timber magnate from Michigan. The name itself tells a little story: Can-Gar-Da, a fusion of the surnames Canfield and Gardner, that of his wife. Designed for social and representative cruises, the 38-metre yacht sailed extensively on Lake Michigan and along the American east coast. A Cuban mahogany deckhouse, Tiffany glass, brass fittings: everything spoke the language of American industrial high society. In the years that followed, the yacht changed hands several times, following the fate of many large yachts of the era. Although it had only just been built, the Cangarda remained with its first owner for only a short time.
In 1904, she was sold for $100,000 — a huge sum for the time — to the Canadian senator George Taylor Fulford, who renamed her Magedoma. The new name was itself a family acronym: MAry, GEorge, DOrothy, MArtha — the names of his wife and children. At one point, she even made it into the annals of history. In the 1920s, it hosted the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VIII, on board during a diplomatic cruise on the St Lawrence River alongside prominent British and Canadian political figures.
Then came the war. During the Second World War, the Cangarda was requisitioned and used as a training ship for the Royal Canadian Navy, a surprising fate for a yacht that began life as a floating salon for American high society. In the 1950s, the Cangarda was purchased by Frederic Burtis Smith, who lived on board for 28 years on the Genesee River in Rochester. It was no longer a social yacht, but a permanently inhabited houseboat, a sign of how many historic yachts survived thanks to the passion of individual owners. Like many historic vessels, the Cangarda then went through a long period of decline. In the post-war years, she passed from hand to hand, underwent alterations, incomplete restorations and years of gradual neglect.
The most dramatic moment in her history came in 1999, when the yacht sank in Boston Harbour. To many, it seemed the definitive end. But that very moment marked the beginning of its rebirth. In the early 2000s, the yacht was salvaged and underwent a massive, almost archaeological restoration. The hull was rebuilt with the aid of digital technologies, whilst the complex steam propulsion system was restored and brought back into working order. The aim was not to modernise the boat, but to restore it exactly as it was at the start of the 20th century. The Cangarda thus returned to the water, becoming one of the most fascinating historic yachts in the world and one of the very few surviving examples of American steam yachts (the other being the famous SS Delphine). Its story did not end there. In 2024, the yacht was purchased by the founder of the Rahmi Koç Museum, located in Istanbul.
The restoration
The restoration of the Cangarda was undertaken with a clear principle: to preserve, not to modernise. “Every intervention was carried out with a museum conservation mindset,” explains Cuneyt Okcu, Director of RMK Yachts. “Wherever technically possible, we retained the original elements: the Cuban mahogany panelling, the brass and bronze fittings, the deck fittings, the interior layout and numerous mechanical components.” Where certain parts were beyond repair, they were reconstructed using materials and techniques consistent with those of the era, faithfully following the original specifications. The hull and superstructure also underwent targeted interventions, designed to ensure structural integrity without altering the yacht’s geometry or construction philosophy.
One of the most complex steps involved the steam propulsion system, the true technological heart of the Cangarda. The aim was to preserve its original configuration, rebuilding only those components essential to meet current safety standards. This was no small challenge, not least because there are very few specialists today capable of working on early 20th-century steam yacht technologies. For this reason, RMK Yachts enlisted international experts and engineers from Tüpraş, the energy company of the Koç Group, whose contribution proved decisive in restoring the system to working order in full compliance with the original design. Throughout the restoration, every decision was guided by the quest for a balance between historical fidelity and conservation responsibility.
The brass and bronze fittings were restored by the team at the RMK Museum Workshop, whilst the interiors were treated as a living document of their time: furnishings, materials, finishes and spatial layout were preserved to keep the yacht’s atmosphere intact. Today, the Cangarda has found a new home at the Rahmi Koç Museum in Istanbul, overlooking the Golden Horn. Here, the yacht is on display to the public as a living testament to the era of steam yachts. And its story does not end there: a documentary dedicated to the restoration and the extraordinary history of this century-old vessel is currently in production and will be released in 2026.
Transferred to the RMK Marine shipyards, the Cangarda underwent a new conservation restoration, carried out with an almost museum-like approach: to consolidate, preserve and protect. Today, the yacht is on display at the Rahmi Koç Museum, along the Golden Horn. It is no longer a tycoon’s yacht nor a private vessel. It is something different: a living testament to the era when steam ruled the seas and yachts symbolised the power of an entire industrial generation.
Matteo Zaccagnino
