Cunard experimented with steam, cautiously at first, becoming a founding director of the Halifax Steamboat Company, which built the first steamship in Nova Scotia in 1830, the long-serving and successful SS "Sir Charles Ogle" for the Halifax–Dartmouth Ferry Service. Cunard became president of the company in 1836 and arranged for steam power for their second ferry, "Boxer" in 1838. Cunard led Halifax investors to combine with Quebec business in 1831 to build the pioneering ocean steamship "Royal William" to run between Quebec and Halifax. Although "Royal William" ran into problems after losing an entire season due to cholera quarantines, Cunard learned valuable lessons about steamship operation. He commissioned a coastal steamship named "Pochohontas" in 1832 for mail service to Prince Edward Island and later purchased a larger steamship "Cape Breton" to expand the service.