Search found 77 matches

by Bob Cleek
Tue Aug 29, 2017 8:46 pm
Forum: Technical - Engines and Boilers
Topic: A question of a Lone skipper falling overboard
Replies: 30
Views: 25735

Re: A question of a Lone skipper falling overboard

There are two problems to be solved. One preventative and the other corrective. Rule one: Stay on the boat. This is accomplished by use of tethers attached to a harness which also contains an inflatable life vest. There should be two tethers, often made of ballistic nylon tubing with shock cord insi...
by Bob Cleek
Wed Jul 19, 2017 7:23 pm
Forum: Technical - non Engines and Boilers
Topic: Lightning Vulnerability for Steamboats.
Replies: 16
Views: 16609

Re: Lightning Vulnerability for Steamboats.

I'd expect a drunken fool going full tilt in a speedboat would be a much greater worry than a lightning strike. It seems the conventional wisdom on lightning strikes on smaller vessels is that on the rare occasions it occurs, the electrical discharge hits the highest metal and then runs in a cone sh...
by Bob Cleek
Thu Jun 22, 2017 11:21 pm
Forum: General Steamboat stuff
Topic: US Vessel Flag Question
Replies: 13
Views: 13846

Re: US Vessel Flag Question

Well, you were in better shape on the yacht "ensign" than I thought off the top of my head. I looked it up on Wikipedia. Three states have even enacted legislation recognizing it in their borders. Here's from Wikipedia: A modification of the national flag and ensign but with a fouled anchor in a cir...
by Bob Cleek
Thu Jun 22, 2017 6:51 pm
Forum: General Steamboat stuff
Topic: US Vessel Flag Question
Replies: 13
Views: 13846

Re: US Vessel Flag Question

Sorry to say, there is no proper option for flying the Hungarian ensign on your boat in US waters. A foreign ensign is only flown as a "courtesy" flag from the main yard or spreader, as described above. Similarly, although lots of people fly so-called "yacht ensigns" (the US ensign with an anchor on...
by Bob Cleek
Wed Jun 07, 2017 10:42 pm
Forum: General Steamboat stuff
Topic: Military Launches
Replies: 8
Views: 8716

Re: Military Launches

What's overlooked in the discussion of spar torpedoes is that the intended way they were supposed to work was that they were attached to the wooden hulled ships, either by some sort of barbed "dart," or by a screw attached to the torpedo and turned by the spar so it screwed the charge into the woode...
by Bob Cleek
Tue Mar 14, 2017 7:35 pm
Forum: Technical - non Engines and Boilers
Topic: San Juan sharpies
Replies: 33
Views: 30187

Re: San Juan sharpies

Harry Sucher's book, Simplified Boatbuilding, The V-Bottomed Boat (with a foreword by Howard Chappelle) has just what information you'd need. It includes plans for a lovely 50' flat bottomed New Haven Sharpie converted to a power yacht which appears very similar to some of the ferries in the Puget S...
by Bob Cleek
Tue Feb 28, 2017 2:07 am
Forum: General Steamboat stuff
Topic: Loo Solutions
Replies: 11
Views: 13951

Re: Loo Solutions

"Bucket and chuck it!" Heads have sunk more boats than anything else and they are one of the biggest maintenance headaches afloat. Add to that the expense and the amount of space they take up on board with holding tanks and all and it gets pretty hard to justify them, particularly on small boats whe...
by Bob Cleek
Fri Dec 30, 2016 9:40 pm
Forum: Technical - non Engines and Boilers
Topic: Painting wood grain on metals
Replies: 10
Views: 11413

Re: Painting wood grain on metals

I've done it and seen it done. There are kits you can get from interior decorating and paint stores that "supposedly" have all you need in them. To do what is known in the trade as a "faux finish" takes a bit of artistic ability but it isn't that hard if you follow the directions. That said, to do a...
by Bob Cleek
Tue Oct 18, 2016 11:16 pm
Forum: Members' Websites and Boats
Topic: It followed me home... can I keep it??
Replies: 6
Views: 13133

Re: It followed me home... can I keep it??

Wesley, it's just not fair! You and your dad have entirely too many steam toys.

She looks to be a really good boat. John York is up in Napa County, isn't he? Is he still building steam engines?