New guy from Florida

[DCSmith]

I'm on the South West Coast of Florida. I have no experience, but I do have a long time interest, and have done lots of reading.
I'v been planing a small boat suitable for the harbor and rivers I have here, but that's a few years off still, so I'll mostly have questions for now.

[Mike Rometer]

Welcome DCSmith.

I know of only one thing you can do with questions: ask them; and if it's about steamboats, you will usually get an answer on here.

[fredrosse]

Welcome to the Group.

A small steamer can be built for very little money, or plenty of money depending on how much work you do yourself, and the type of machinery you choose. A lawnmower engine can be converted to a steam engine in a day, or a traditional engine can be built with more than a thousand hours of machine work. The same goes for the boat itself, beautiful traditional fantail launch hulls in fiberglass cost thousands, but a small steamer can be made from a fiberglass centerboard sailboat hull for a "song".

Either way you can get lots of good advice on how to proceed within this forum.

[DCSmith]

Thanks for the welcome.

I tend to do my own work, and enjoy the planning stage, as much as the finished stage of a project. I live where cruising waters range from barrier islands, canals, and slow moving rivers; much of it is salt, and it tends to be shallow. I'm trying to plan for as much of it to be accessible as practical. The boat can be on the small side, one to three people, one to three days. (mostly one person one day)