Steam Launch parts acquired

[chevymaher]

That is exciting to me and it isn't my boat. I like it.

 

[seikeinlemming]

Well, you win some, and you lose some. Today started off hopeful as we headed to the lake and lit the match. Pressure built up correctly and we rolled Merrilee off the trailer and down in the water. For an engine and drive shaft that never gave us problems, the day was plagued with 2 universals disconnecting, and the engine not running smoothly. After Wednesday’s run we had tightened down most of the bolts and so the engine was stiff- apparently enough to make it run as shown in the video below.

We tried to venture away from the dock and it was abundantly clear that things were still not right and after trying to turn around (several forwards and reverses), I paddled the boat the 100 feet back to dock- a surprisingly easier feat than one might expect!

We were able to get the bilge pump tested, as well as steering on our very limited voyage, and we got to see the boat in the water with all of the name plate and woodwork that has been added. Also- given that it was an October day, we got to test that the heat in the boat worked. It did. Ah, modern day comforts…

Anyhow- I wish I was able to report more, but the fact that we really didn’t get it to run as desired basically shut down our entire day. Admitting defeat, we somberly loaded back on the trailer and looked forward to having it back in the shop to be able to fix things without the engine being blazing hot.

 

[GA_Boater]

Days like this will forgotten once you're past the teething problems. Having heat -

 

[Scott Danforth]

Remember, a bad day on the water is better than a good day in the office.

 

[seikeinlemming]

Nominations have closed. I will set this up in a poll later today.

- Dale

 

[seikeinlemming]

Real quick update on this as we took it out for another test run on May 20. We had a few things to test after last fall being a miserable flop.

Prior to launching we fired the boat up in the driveway and tested the engine - all worked fine, so we pulled off the smokestack and drove it 45 minutes north to the lake (yes, with pressure in the boiler). The wind creates a nice draft over the boiler so we had to stop a few times to ensure that the fire had wood and didn't go out. Anyhow - got to the lake with ample pressure (we might even have set off the safety valve a few times getting there...)

No water leaks again this time, and we backed it out from the dock to test the steering. When building this, I underestimated the force of water hitting a rudder in reverse, as well as overestimated the bonding strength of epoxy. After successfully getting off the dock, we started moving forward and I'm realizing that the wheel is not changing the direction of travel. I look back to see the hydraulic cylinder laying on the back seat with its steel mount separated from the hull. I steered by holding the hydraulic cylinder to get the boat back to dock. We still called this trip a success, I just had to rebuild the attachment. 4 stainless steel lag screws going into 3" of wood should hopefully fix it for next time and has already been completed. The plan is to take it out in the next month or so and try to test again as schedules permit.

Otherwise, the engine ran great and continues to run better and better as we tweak it and it starts to wear in. On the way back to the shop we stopped to weigh the entire rig so we had an idea as to what was necessary to pull it all. Total weight with trailer and 200 pounds of water in the boiler is 3960 pounds. Dry weight of the boat ends up being around 2400 after factoring out the trailer and boiler of water. That will be subject to increase by a few hundred pounds as we add the remainder mahogany and canopy.

 

[buxmj]

That is a cool piece of history you have saved. Thanks for sharing the journey and look forward to the adding of the small things, compared to where this started.

 

[archbuilder]

Glad to hear you are making progress, there are always teething pains!

 

[seikeinlemming]

Yesterday we took the steering improvements out for a test and everything worked about as good as could be expected. We had a fair bit of wind, so retrieving the boat required some extra effort (especially since you can't really drive this boat right up onto the trailer, you basically have to handle it with lines and physically being in the water).

Reverse did not break the steering and we did 6 mph into the wind with 3 passengers on the way out. I would safely say the boat can do 7mph on a calm day. Because of the rougher water, we did get some spray over the side but it was a hot day and we weren't really concerned about getting water in the boat - the steam engine was doing enough of that for us!

Here's the video, sorry for using the same song as the other launch video, but this one is intended to supersede that one: