Halifax businessman jumps on deal for Evel Knievel's old yacht | Cape Breton Post
Rob Steele has bought a vintage motor yacht Evel Knievel once lost in a high-stakes poker game that he plans to turn into a shrine to the former stuntman.
“That’s the story,” said the chief executive officer of Steele Auto Group, which has 40 dealerships in Eastern Canada.
“He is the original owner of the boat … Allegedly he lost it in a poker game to the guy that owned Caesars Palace in Vegas.”
Knievel was known for making dozens of breathtaking motorcycle jumps over the length of his career.
“He was mega famous in his day,” Steele said. “This guy went over to Wembley Stadium in London and 90,000 people were there to watch him jump (over 13 double-decker busses). Just think about that. It’s incredible.”
Steele, 59, grew up in Knievel’s heyday, when little kids played with the stuntman’s action figures and motorcycle enthusiasts waited to see what shark tank or huge canyon the daredevil would attempt to jump next on his Harley-Davidson.
“That was the original reality TV,” Steele said. “People of my vintage know the impact and the profile he had … He was a crazy guy. He was out there.”
Steele plans to outfit the yacht, built in 1976, with lots of Knievel paraphernalia.
“I’m going to turn it into kind of an homage to Evel Knievel because it’s just an interesting story, but I really like the boat as well.”
The vessel was called Bottom Line when Steele bought it, but its original name, Evel Eye I, popped up with a little internet sleuthing.
He’s since renamed the boat Viva Knievel, a nod to the 1977 movie of the same name where the daredevil played himself.
“I had to get clearance from the Knievel estate,” Steele said. “I had to get in touch with Robbie Knievel, his son.”
“I’m going to turn it into kind of an homage to Evel Knievel because it’s just an interesting story, but I really like the boat as well.”
- Rob Steele
Steele has a framed poster from the movie he plans to put in the boat. But his collection of all things Knievel doesn’t end there. He has a personalized EVEL license plate from Montana, the stuntman’s home state.
“I’ve got some autographed stuff. I’ve got a credit card he had with his name on it. I’ve got a bracelet that he had when he was in the hospital. I’m trying to get a helmet. I’ve got an Evel Knievel pinball machine. So it’s just kind of a fun thing.”
The original paperwork and title to the boat once sold on eBay, Steele said. “I would love to get hold of that.”
Steele hopes to host charity fundraisers on the boat.
“I’ll probably get an Evel Knievel suit and maybe get the captain to wear that. I’m just kidding.”
Knievel lived life at full throttle. That included multiple hospital stays after nasty crashes and an assault conviction for taking a baseball bat to an author who wrote a less-than-flattering book about the stuntman.
“Some of his life is not pretty,” Steele said. “He was a character.”
Steele bought the 24-metre-long craft, now tied up at the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron in Halifax, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
“It’s been a bit of a tourist attraction,” Steele said, noting it had high-profile location on that city’s waterfront.
He spotted the “old retro kind of boat” this past winter.
Steele didn’t know at the time it had once belonged to the world-famous stuntman who died in 2007 at the age of 69.
The boat had been owned for 30 years by a Florida businessman who had a full-time crew aboard.
“They really looked after the boat,” Steele said. “To make a long story short, I did a deal with him and bought the boat.”
The vessel was listed at $349,000 US, but the auto magnate, whose father Harry founded radio giant Newcap, wouldn’t divulge what he paid for the boat. “I can say I think it was a fantastic buy.”
The boat was built for the owner of Broward Marine.
“Somehow Evel Knievel got wind of it halfway through production and the owner agreed to sell it,” Steele said, noting he likes the boat’s “really classic lines.”
For all the speed conjured up during his stunts, Knievel’s former boat only has a top speed of about 12 knots, or 22 km/h.
“It’s actually not a fast boat. It’s more of a heavy-water cruiser,” Steele said.
He’s keeping the boat in Halifax but will likely use it to cruise the South Shore. “I plan to go to the Bras d’Or Lakes in the fall.”
Steele, who grew up in Gander, said he’d also like the take the boat to Newfoundland and Labrador.
“I’d like to circumnavigate the province,” he said. “I’d love to go up around Labrador.”
While he’s keen on Knievel lore, Steele won’t be copying one of the stuntman’s tricks.
“There’s a picture of him on the Evel Eye I and he’s got a helicopter parked on the top of it,” Steele said, noting he doesn’t own a chopper.
“I’ve just got a tender up there.”
Steele said he might get a replica of one of Knievel’s Harley-Davidson 750XRs for the boat.
“Maybe I’ll put that up there where the helicopter (used to be),” he said.
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