Steam engine / boiler maintenance

[farmerden]

The boat you speak of was finally launched as a steamer last year! Although it's not in the NWSS boats section I think it's name is "Thrice" [For the number of times the owner changed his mind before the boat was finished!] It steams in and around Bellingham Wash but was built in Sidney BC by the same people who built the cabin on my boat "Steam Queen" A beautiful shape but I would think a fair weather boat to say the least.So just whip over to Georgian Bay and steam there!! Do the math-fifty miles-6-7 hrs that's a long day steaming. I once took my wife to a craft fair on Saltspring Is. 4 hours one way at 6 knots .Then I gave her 45 min to shop and back in the boat 4 hours to get back. She hasn't spoken to me since. I just don't understand women!! Den
And of course I'm having a senior's moment .The plan I was refering to was #123 not #125 but I stand by my guns and say both are fair weather hulls. However looking at a map of the Apostle Is indicate excellant steaming in and around the islands. If something blows up you can run for cover behind the many islands.We steam on a regular basis in the ocean out here.Learn to read the weather and respect that water!

[Jstemwedel]

Yes, although the design is billed as being capable of heavier weather than most launches (due to its greater beam), I would not plan to use it in any questionable weather.

As luck would have it, I'm in Bellingham, WA right now on business! I'll be here through the 17th. Do you have any idea how I might contact the owner of "Thrice"?

[farmerden]

sent you a private email of a contact person-Den

[DetroiTug]

Jstem,

Thank you for the compliment, yes she's a lot of fun.

On the horsepower formula I was referring to, as Greg wrote, should have more than just the required horsepower to make hull speed. My engine is rated at 10hp.

For a days cruising (12 hours) on good seasoned mixed hardwood firewood, we use about 2' X 7' X stove length. Or around 300 pounds I'd estimate. The whole floor under the pilot house is the wood bunker. We always carry a little extra, I'd sure hate to have to burn my shoes to get home

As for what engine, a simple single or twin non condensing is probably the easiest. There is no perfect engine/steamplant. Some benefits are going to cause some sacrifices and vice versa.

For boilers, the Roberts/Yarrow type water tube boilers are really good steam generators, but they require more tending - smaller water volume. The Large VFT (Iron Chief's boiler)and HFT boilers are the easiest to operate, more stable and forgiving, they do everything more slowly, unfortunately that includes making steam. Monotube and Flash type boilers are the best steam generators, but require some sort of intelligent controls to maintain them, and are best suited to steam car applications. Personally, I think the Ofeldt boiler is the best ever designed in mainstream use, all things considered - Simple, compact, lighter, safer, excellent steam generation, good internal circulation, manageable and relatively inexpensive and easy to build.

-Ron

[fredrosse]

The typical (or heavier) fantail steam launches are really for protected waters, I would recommend a more seaworthy design, possibly the late 19 th century navy steam cutters, but I am sure there are many other designs available for rougher sea conditions, with displacement type hulls and speeds.

As to the boiler, many of the watertube type boilers work very well, but they have a smaller water inventory, and hence require much more frequent attention to fire and water level. For rather long cruising voyages, consider automatic water level controls with a watertube boiler, oil fuel, and automatic firing. Now you are probably getting away from the simplicity of reciprocating steam.

The vertical firetube type, while slower to get up steam, is inherently much more stable in operation. I can usually cruise all day with my VFT boiler water level varying less than one inch, the engine driven pump just chugs away and keeps the water level where it should be.

The horizontal firetube types, for example a gunboat boiler or scotch marine type, has similar characteristics, but is even more stable in water level than the vertical firetube type. Add to that the lower center of gravity for the horizontals, and you have perhaps the ideal seagoing boiler. Ever notice that 90% of the small seagoing steamships of the late 19 th century had scotch marine boilers?

A VFT, Scotch, or Gunboat boiler can be fabricated by most shops, as there are no bent tubes and no complex shapes in the entire boiler (dryback Scotch excepted).

As to maintenance of a steam plant, the open frame engines are usually requiring lots of manual lubrication and cleaning. If that is not for you, enclosed crankcase engines need little more maintenance than their IC cousins.

As to the steam plant, water quality is of little concern (except NO salt water allowed!), just a teaspoon of trisodium phosphate into the feedwater for every 100 pounds of blowdown. Your lake water will do just fine. The ABMA recommendation is 3500 PPM maximum dissolved solids in the boiler, much much more than than allowed in any modern marine or stationary steam plant, no difficulty here. Oil has to be kept out of the feedwater, an issue that requires attention if and only if you use cylinder oil, many marine plants use no oil here.

[S. Weaver]

Stemwedel:

Off-season layup isn't too big of an issue. Most folks drain their boilers right away after a run - dissolved oxygen is not our friend - and put a low amp heat source in the firebox to keep things dry.

Up around Superior you'll have to figure out how to keep your piping from freezing. Heated shops are nice, but only if they are not electric dependent. A steam plant freeze-up is not an option.

Actually, when you think of boat ownership in general, a steam plant is not a lot more work. There is the wipe down and boiler work after a run; like a horse, you can't put them away wet. But the many other incidentals are similar to the maintenance of any other other well-kept craft that one cares to keep in reliable condition.

You might find a tension between your hull and your machinery. Carvel-planked hulls prefer dirt floored shops so they don't dry out too much during layup. But your machinery won't like the humidity. You'll figure it out. Great reference resources that you may already know about are the NWSS here state-side, and the SBA of GB.

All the best.

[Jstemwedel]

Thanks for the excellent information!

Despite some of the comments, I think that the vessel is stable enough for my needs. I certainly see many smaller and more frail vessels putting out into Lake Superior in the summer, not the least of which is my rowing skiff. The skiff is only used in protected bays, however. There is nothing inherently unseaworthy about the hull form itself, other than its size, the open cockpit, and relatively low power and speed. The fish tugs common on the Great Lakes, old steam tugs, as well as 19th century launches and other small passenger vessels used in the area had very similar hull forms. But as I've said, I have very healthy respect for Lake Superior.

[Jstemwedel]

Yesterday I received photos of a completed Gartside #125 launch. This one was powered with a watertube boiler and a single cylinder engine of perhaps 5 hp by the look of it. The boat is used only in a relatively small inland lake, so more power is apparently not needed.

[Jstemwedel]

Den,

I see that "Steam Queen" (nice looking boat) is just 1.5 ft. longer than the Gartside #125 design. What are her other dimensions? I looked up the design (Duckworks "Diana") and it looks pretty similar to the one I've picked, but with a bit of bow rake instead of being exactly plumb. What kind of horsepower does she produce?

[DetroiTug]

Being a fellow Michigander, a note on the Great Lakes and as Jstemwedel is aware I'm sure, they're all dangerous. Even the southern most Lake Erie is known for it's quick change in disposition and tall seas. Superior is treacherous in late fall and winter, through the summer it's quite tame in comparison. We camped off of Tawas point one spring and there were 30-40 knot winds, huge waves coming in off Lake Huron. These lakes are a veritable graveyard of shipwrecks.

-Ron