Re: Reliable Steam "Traveler" design
Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2012 7:34 pm
Everyone has made very good points. I'm reminded that my own driveway has a fairly deep "dip" where it connects to the street and I frequenly scrape something when in an ordinary car, so the boat ramp issue is a very important one. And hopefully not going too far off track, I can recount my family dragging a 15-foot travel trailer first behind a 1958 DeSoto, and later behind a 1965 Chrysler Newport station wagon all over Eastern Oregon and Idaho on some of the worst roads you can possibly imagine.
Returning to the issue of boats, I'm trying to follow the sage advice of "make the first one small and simple." Though I would dearly love to have a small compound engine, I'm even wavering on that one. The international register kept by our friend in Germany is quite helpful because you can sort the boats by size, and get a rough idea of just how much you can cram into the limited space available. And yes, I know you must take care to keep everything balanced.
The rather foggy vision I have is of a boat somewhere in the 15-18 foot range with either a small compound or simple engine and a VFT boiler. I prefer the VFT because it (usually) takes up less horizontal space than a water tube model does. I'm leaning towards oil fuel because of its convenience, or possibly propane, also because of its convenience and simplicity (no injector or oil burner). I would really like a canopy of some sort (I live in Portland, after all).
I'm handicapped by inexperience, but do know there are plenty of people and places to ask for advice, and my brother recently built a small stitch and tape boat, so I do have him to lean on as well, though he can't understand why anyone would be interested in a steamboat, as he's standing in front of his 41-foot sailboat. Anyway, I'll proceed from here and see if I get anywhere.
Returning to the issue of boats, I'm trying to follow the sage advice of "make the first one small and simple." Though I would dearly love to have a small compound engine, I'm even wavering on that one. The international register kept by our friend in Germany is quite helpful because you can sort the boats by size, and get a rough idea of just how much you can cram into the limited space available. And yes, I know you must take care to keep everything balanced.
The rather foggy vision I have is of a boat somewhere in the 15-18 foot range with either a small compound or simple engine and a VFT boiler. I prefer the VFT because it (usually) takes up less horizontal space than a water tube model does. I'm leaning towards oil fuel because of its convenience, or possibly propane, also because of its convenience and simplicity (no injector or oil burner). I would really like a canopy of some sort (I live in Portland, after all).
I'm handicapped by inexperience, but do know there are plenty of people and places to ask for advice, and my brother recently built a small stitch and tape boat, so I do have him to lean on as well, though he can't understand why anyone would be interested in a steamboat, as he's standing in front of his 41-foot sailboat. Anyway, I'll proceed from here and see if I get anywhere.