The Steamboating Forum

Dear Stevey_frac ,

Because they usually hold less water for a given output water-tube boilers are generally held to be less dangerous than fire-tube ones . However no properly designed and built boiler operated and maintained according to good practice is dangerous . Break any of these rules and any boiler , of whatever type, is potentially lethal.

I'm not sure what the status of the "affordable steam launch project" is . As at winter 2008 three bare hulls had come out of the mould and preparations for the next run of three were being made.
Although the project was initiated by the SBA Committee to call it a single project is slightly misleading : the hull was designed by a SBA member and funded by three SBA members . While not expecting to get rich from this they have to recover their costs and at least cover their expenses . The hull was designed to be suited to a number of small engines and another SBA member has designed an engine for the project (referred to by Maltelec) which is simple to build and fairly cheap ( see : http://www.wilkiesteam.com ) The intended boiler is in the SBA Boiler library , it is a Blackstaff type water-tube which requires almost no welding , so can be built by an amateur , however inspection by a qualified inspector before its use should be considered mandatory .
So you can see that if you wanted the whole package you would have to pay for and order the hull from one supplier , the engine materials and plans from another , and the boiler plans from a third .
Since you already have an engine I won't give any more details of the Wilkie engine which you can in any case get from the link . Similarly you already have the link to the details of the SBA Boiler Library . So here are some of the details about the hull :

Length overall --------------------- 18' 7"
Length on datum WL-------------- 17' 6"
Breadth moulded ------------------ 4' 8"
Depth moulded --------------------- 2' 1"
Draft aft ----------------------------- 2' 0"
Light displacement ---------------- 530 Kg

It is a displacement hull with a transom stern and slightly raked stem . As standard it is supplied as a bare moulding with no bulkheads or stiffeners but extras can be added.

Gel coat : white as standard but any other "normal" colour possible.
Main hull Lay up ---------------------------- 3 layers 600g CSM for the whole hull.
Keel & bottom shell reinforcement------Additional 2 layers of 450g CSM
Stem & transom corners reinforced-----Additional 4 layers 450g CSM
Bulkheads (if ordered)--------------------- 9mm marine ply
Boiler bearers floors & engine
girders (if ordered) -------------------------Foam cored
Weight with all the above items---------173 Kg
Weight with SBA Blackstaff boiler
& twin 2 1/2" + 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" ----------Approx 550 Kg

COSTS These are highly dependent on the international price of oil . As at
Last winter they were :
Hull moulding ---------------------------£ 1,850.00
Colour other than white---------------£ 50.00
Deck clamp ------------------------------£ 200.00
Forward & aft ply bulkheads----------£ 200.00
Bottom stiffening , boiler &
engine bearers --------------------------£ 450.00

Sterngear consisting of a bronze P bracket , GRP sterntube assembly , tailshaft , half coupling , thrust block , cone nut and propeller ( max size 18") can be supplied either loose or bonded into the hull . Costs will vary according to the requirements of the engine .

Of course this is not enough information to decide whether to buy or not (no pictures for a start , quite beyond my computer skills ) but I hope it gives you an idea . I'd be surprized if a similar hull was not available in the USA which would save on transport costs . In any case you would want to do more homework first .

You also asked whether a non SBA member could buy ; as all the components come from individuals rather than SBA Sales I don't see why not . But you might like to consider joining the SBA . Obviously a member based outside the UK can't get quite the advantages of a UK member but all the facts I've given come from Edition 139 of "The Funnel" the SBA magazine . If you were to join I believe you would gain from membership.
Perhaps some SBA members from across the pond would like to comment ?? In any case I would strongly recommend joining a club or association such as The SBA or the nearest North American steam club or group to you .


All the best Edward

morning- You know we 've all ommitted the pro's in the business-yes they may cost alot but they are keeping steaming alive. They have all the parts and info you need and I have found them very free with info. Here's a list from the NWSS site. Den
http://www.northweststeamsociety.org/Pa ... Slinks.htm

As an aside, Farmeden. I see you are from Canada. Can you tell me anything about licencing requirements?

From what I can tell, there are strict controls on traction engines, with federal inspection required every year or two, and you must be a licensed traction engine operator. However, the best I can find for marine use, is that if your ship is above a certain size, or used for commercial reasons, you have to be a marine engineer. The two don't seem to match up. Do you know any more?

Thanks, Steve

If you are packing the paying public you will need cert. on the boiler. My son was thinking of bringing a 15" locomotive into canada so I phoned the BC boiler inspector and was informed that it was the grate area that concerned them and it was quite large and for the life of me I can't remember how big that was but it excluded all of our hobby steam boats.Unless for hire. His concern basically started with Laundermats and up.That being said we must police ourselves and not have any problems or the long arm of the law will descend upon us!.This only pertains to BC. I don't know about the rest of Canada. If we do hydro tests every Spring,check our safetys every trip[Like lift them manually to make sure they're not seized,check your site glass etc.]Be safe I don't need a boiler inspector to protect me .He's not out there when the steam system fails due to my lack of maintenence! Sorry I sometimes get on a rant but in the end it's up to us to operate safely.NWSS makes a dandy little check list for operating and winterizing your steam boat.Mine never leaves the boat! It's available on their website. Just another thought about safety-Are you the only one who can run your boat? What happens when you fall overboard? Have a heart attack? Teach your passengers safety ,how to shut it down,where's the fire extingisher,Are you life jackets stored neatly out of site so no one can find them when you need one? Sorry sometimes I get carried away Den

I had this whole reply written out. I swear I posted it, and I came back to look if there were any replies, and it wasn't there!

Don't worry about the rant Farmerden. I don't mind! It's nice having someone I can reach out to who doesn't think i'm nuts because I want a steam powered boat!

Your research seems to confirm mine, small boats not carrying paying passengers don't require boiler certs.

join the SBA. Great quarterly publication with lots of pictures and info

I have printed out the application, and twill be in the mail.. tomorrow!

By building your own boat, you will have exactly what YOU want, but at a muh greater price than if you were to purchase a boat that someone else has already completed.

87gn@tahoe wrote:By building your own boat, you will have exactly what YOU want, but at a muh greater price than if you were to purchase a boat that someone else has already completed.

Wait... Isn't that backwards? Isn't building the boat yourself cheaper than paying someone else for the supplies AND labor?

Because if you know where I can buy a finished launch for less than the cost of "stitch and tape" building my own I want to know where that is!

Hello wearyman ,

I think that he means that by buying a good second hand boat it will be cheaper than buying all new components and assembling/constructing yourself .

There are of course any number of permutations between telling a boat builder to build a new one-off bespoke boat , an engineering company to machine castings and erect an engine and make a boiler for it (most expensive) , and collecting some second hand components , making others and then assembling /constructing yourself (cheapest )

Regards Edward.