I have come across it, and it's very good in a CLEAN environment. PTFE is generally a disaster in any application where there are metallic and other particulates floating about, because these embed into the plastic and can produce a very abrasive surface quite quickly. Iglidur is better, for reasons...

There was an inquest near here yesterday, for a man who died on his boat in December: it sounds as though propane just filled the boat up while he was asleep in the cabin, possibly aided by alcohol. This is despite regular legally binding inspections of the installation, a requirement for at least t...

Nobody has answered the original question about grate area. In England these days you have get home-heating stoves tested for both output and efficiency/pollutants, before you can legally sell them. For multi-fuel stoves such as the one I use to supplement a heating oil, the output ratings burning w...

No, I put that badly, my nearest steamable water is the Orwell, which is always salty, and any boat I own MUST be able to go on it. What I meant was a surprising number of steamboaters won't go on salt water because it messes up the polished brass work, which I regard as a shame. In fact I'm between...

Ah! I can't remember how far up the Tamar remains salty, but it's a shame not to be able to steam in salt water.

He/she certainly looks good in your photo. Good luck with the final details of fitting out: they always take longer than one can possibly believe beforehand! Where are you intending to steam her?

There's nothing really difficult in restoring an old hull to seaworthy (or at least riverworthy) condition, but it does need a lot of time, thought, and effort, and I would say a covered working space for it. Nobody could really blame you for filling in the worst holes, replacing a few frames, and ...

There's nothing really difficult in restoring an old hull to seaworthy (or at least riverworthy) condition, but it does need a lot of time, thought, and effort, and I would say a covered working space for it. Nobody could really blame you for filling in the worst holes, replacing a few frames, and t...

Given that you're an SBA member now, give Kevin Slater a call: as SBA President currently, AND owner of a boilermaking company, he has lots of contacts, and may be able to suggest something. Incidentally, I think his waiting list for new boilers runs to something like 2 years.

There's nothing wrong with being slightly bonkers: steam involves eccentrics everywhere! Conventional domestic immersion heaters are not designed to take any significant pressure, and I don't know what would happen if they were subjected to it. However, if you ran one through a 1:1 isolation transfo...