Steam Launch parts acquired

[Ned L]

:thumb:Once again you have certainly thought this out very well. :thumb:
I do enjoy watching your progress.

Interesting tidbit about those spicer universal joints. My brother was telling me about an engine - pump installation with a jack shaft and two universal joints between the two. Apparently this particular installation kept going through universal joints and the regular guys couldn’t figure out why. IT might have been a rep from the pump make (or someone like that) who came in and inspected the setup. After looking at things for a while his comment to the guys was “you have the pump aligned to well, the universal joints aren’t moving.” He loosened the bolts on the pump, gave it a whack out of alignment and tightened things back up. They haven’t replaced a universal joint since!

 

[seikeinlemming]

The trailer came on Friday and by Saturday night we had spent the 1 hour transitioning the boat off of our wood dolly that has been its home for the last 9 years. As you look at these photos, note that there has been zero work done towards adjusting the trailer to fit the hull. There are quite a few adjustments that will be made to balance weight where it should be. This was merely the process of getting it up on the rollers. Trailer is 5400 lb capacity galvanized LoadRite with brakes on all wheels.

This process was about as normal as putting any boat on a roller trailer by attaching the bow eye to the winch and slowly cranking, watching to prevent different parts of the hull from coming into contact with the frame of the trailer... wouldn't want to scratch that nice new trailer. :lol: The main difference is that the height of the boat was going up about 1 foot as it came on. This contributed to the ending bow height. As things progressed we gradually cut away the wood dolly and let the trailer take more and more of the weight. The final picture is a 2-ton jack picking up the stern to take stress off the winch for the final positioning.

Start to finish was 1 hour including time spent dealing with any issues that came up. The boat is not quite level side to side, and the front is very high compared to where it should be. These adjustments will be made this week, weather permitting. Additionally - I am aware that when complete the boat may exceed the towing capacity of the pictured vehicle. We will be regularly towing with a more powerful vehicle and only using the Explorer once we are able to weigh everything and know that it is safely under the towing capacity - although we have reason to believe it will be.

One of the things that we were thrilled to see was that even with the increased height where the boat currently sits, that our 4' canopy top will clear the garage door. Once it settles down into the actual position, we will have even greater clearance.

The skeg is ready to be attached and we are just working on a few remaining parts that make up the rudder. Then in the water it goes.

 

[sphelps]

Even with no adjustments made yet ,she fits pretty good ! Bringing the bow down should give a little more clearance for the prop to the ground ...

 

[seikeinlemming]

sphelps - Agreed! The main adjustments that will be made is that a lot of the weight is in the boiler (especially once adding water) so I would like that not on the tongue. Probably will be sliding the boat a few inches back and (eek) moving the tandem axles a bit forward. Fortunately we have the weight of the engine to help counteract the boiler so we don't have to make up for all of the boiler weight. A few other people that have this model hull are trailering with similar weights and setups so once the adjustments are made I'm sure it will work for us.

 

[GA_Boater]

When I first looked at the pictures one by one, I thought canopy might clear, but what about the smoke stack. Invisible ink solved the that little issue.

You are so close to launch - 3 2 1.

 

[seikeinlemming]

GA_Boater The smokestack will NOT clear and we never expected it to. There are various ways to make it fold back or be able to be detached in about 4 minutes. Once we see final positioning we will pick a way to make it clear. I don't mind putting the smokestack on, but lifting the canopy on every time we take it out would have been a nightmare!

Indeed very close to launch.

 

[Scott Danforth]

GA_Boater The smokestack will NOT clear and we never expected it to. There are various ways to make it fold back or be able to be detached in about 4 minutes. Once we see final positioning we will pick a way to make it clear. I don't mind putting the smokestack on, but lifting the canopy on every time we take it out would have been a nightmare!

Indeed very close to launch.

a taller garage will be cheaper.....

 

[archbuilder]

Looks nice on the trailer! Looking forward to seeing her in the water!

 

[seikeinlemming]

I've been waiting to upload these photos a few days while the new forum came online, so we'll see how this works out.

Due to needing the space available in the shop for a different project, I had to move the canopy and the best place to put it was on the boat. The canopy is by no means done, and we actually had a bit of destruction happen while getting it up there but once I get over the initial frustration of things breaking and come up with a fix, we will be back in business.

In the photos below you will see the canopy placed on its poles 4' above the deck. In this position it gives 6' of standing room (my height exactly). Depending on how it looks as things finish out, we may lower it a few inches. However, this was the real test for garage clearance... Picture 4 shows the 2" that we get before we do the final shaping of the canopy. In this photo it is hooked up to a Chevrolet Suburban so we have the actual trailer tongue height. With upcoming modifications we will get a few more inches of clearance.

We have also cut temporary side floor pieces so when we get out on the water there is something to walk on. You will see them in the interior photos.

Trailer is adjusted to fit Pennsylvania state requirements in terms of rear overhang as well as all the axle to tongue weight ratios that should be adhered to. I wasn't sure how well that would work with so much weight in the middle-to-forward part of the boat, but we pulled it off without modifying the trailer in any way that LoadRite wouldn't approve of.

Rudder is still coming together and we are working on sanding/staining/varnishing the remaining deck wood that may be subjected to water.

 

[seikeinlemming]

The countdown has gone from years, to months, to weeks, to days. Steam Launch Merrilee is ready to splash.

We have stained the top deck and applied multiple coats of varnish to protect it from water. You will see in the photos below that much of the deck hardware has been mounted. Additionally (and most importantly), the rudder and skeg have been installed.

We have done quite a bit of fine-tuning alignment of the propeller shaft since we last fired her up. The current plan is to get out on the lake this Sunday for a first sea trial. We have removed many of the extras and have the minimal necessary equipment to successfully travel under steam power. The rudder is currently operated with a tiller although over the winter we will be fitting it up with hydraulic steering. We also are temporarily fitting in a steam injector which will allow us for the first time to add water to the boiler while it is under pressure. (that is the picture of the boiler). On the completed boat, there will be multiple ways to get water in the boiler but this was the easiest to connect for our trial run.

We plan to do a test fire up on Friday to ensure everything works as designed and splash early Sunday afternoon.

I will be sure to post videos once we get out on the water.

 

[archbuilder]

Deck looks beautiful! The hardware is the finishing touch to it! Looking forward to the launch!

 

[seikeinlemming]

To clarify, the varnish will get many more coats. If you look closely you will see dust particles in it. As we sand down and finish, these will go away, leaving a shiny smooth finish. I believe the final goal for the deck is over 10 coats of varnish. These first 2 -3 coats were just to protect against water on the first trip out.

 

[archbuilder]

lol it still looks beautiful!

 

[Baylinerchuck]

She looks great. You have a great weekend coming up in South Central PA. I’ll be hitting Raystown Lake on Saturday. Should be close to 70 both days. Good luck on your launch.

 

[sphelps]

Varnishing not the easiest task to do .. No mater how dust free you think you have the area you still get stuff in it .. LOL !
Looking forward to the splash !

 

[Scott Danforth]

looking forward to the launch

 

[GA_Boater]

I'm looking forward to seeing Merrilee steaming on the water. And hearing the whistle!

 

[Scott Danforth]

If you get it splashed this year, you can be nominated for the SOTY......... @sphelps would probably agree.

but, it has to be splashed.....

 

[seikeinlemming]

@GA_Boater I will definitely have some whistle in the video for you.

@Scott Danforth - we have gone to great lengths to not have our Sunday splash derailed. 60-70 degree weather shouldn’t mess us up either. If something DOES come up, my father is pretty set on getting it in the water ASAP. He was trying to get me to agree to splash it tomorrow AND go out again Sunday. Our schedules are flexible enough that if somehow Sunday does fall through, it will still be in the water this coming week somehow.

 

[GA_Boater]

Friday and Sunday gets my vote! Or is that - Toot! Toot! Saturday isn't free?

A wet hull moving under it's own power counts as a splash with out a doubt!