Hello all,
Glad to finally be a part of this great webpage! I am VERY amateur to the steam world, but I have dome my research, become very interested, and having a steamboat has become one of my all time dreams. I have floated around the forum (no pun intended) pretty frequently recently, and have finally "joined the club". I am very excited to ask questions pertaining to, and share my journey into the steamboating world. One day, I would like to have a paddlewheel vessel similar to the Margaret S. of Mr. fredrosse, whom I have followed and taken great inspiration from. As I mentioned, I have no experience in anything steam related, but I plan to start small, and work my way up to the big leagues. Once again, very excited
Welcome to the forum, and thanks for the compliment. Much help in your future with steamboats can be found here, from a minimal conversion of a small existing sailboat hull to obtaining a much larger traditional steamer. Where are you located, and what is your background? Best wishes in your future of steaming, actually steam today produces far more power than all the ships on the ocean, all the trucks and construction machinery in the world, more than all the hydroelectric power plants in the world, all the wind and solar power across the world, combined. Thus a worthy place to put your powering endeavors.
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Welcome aboard! We are all for adding more steamboaters to our ranks!
It was not easy to convince Allnutt. All his shop training had given him a profound prejudice against inexact work, experimental work, hit-or-miss work.
Many thanks for the welcomes! So I live in North Georgia, within driving distance to many lakes/bodies of water, and my working background pertains of Janitorial and Groundskeeping. To clarify, my ideal steamboat would be mechanically similar to the Margaret S. while having a different hull type. The hull I would hope for would be something better suited for the ocean, and the rougher weather that comes with it. Now one might ask- What does a guy living in the middle of North Georgia want with an oceangoing vessel? Well, I have family down on the space coast of Florida, and I would like to go on some coastal trips in the event this steamer becomes a reality, and the idea is that the vessel could also be used on the freshwater systems around home. Of course being a salt-capable vessel does add a new angle to the mechanics of a steamer (ie. condenser and such), but with enough hard work this can be done. I will need to get a clearer idea, but this is my plan so far. To introduce myself to the world of steam, I am building a very small model engine, the instructions which can be found in Archie Fredrick Collins' 1918 book The Boy's Book of Engine Building available at the Library of Congress Website. The engine I am building is of the oscillating cylinder type. The illustrations and verbal descriptions have many contradictions, so I have had to redesign some parts to accommodate for the author's mistakes. I feel this will be a good "jumpstart" into the world of steam, and I hope to only grow from here.
There are a number of steamboats available and it's a buyer's market due to more steamboaters aging out of the hobby than new steamboaters signing up.
Good luck.
It was not easy to convince Allnutt. All his shop training had given him a profound prejudice against inexact work, experimental work, hit-or-miss work.
That is quite a pretty boat, but it is a little out of my price range. I hope to have a boat that would be affordable, yet functional and fun, and I would like to have the pleasure of either building my own hull or putting an engine on an old one rather than buying a pre-fabricated vessel. Ideas are welcome and appreciated.
It just ended, but may still be available, and unless it's junk, it's dirt cheap for a hull and trailer. It could be converted to steam without too much trouble.
It was not easy to convince Allnutt. All his shop training had given him a profound prejudice against inexact work, experimental work, hit-or-miss work.
Welcome to the forum. There are still several suitable "sea-going" hulls available (like flying cloud) that can be had in bare form. In fact I believe there is another "mosquito" hull available with trailer on the NWSS website.
'Flying Cloud' has been up for quite some time and has come down considerably from her original price.
Oc course, overseas boats will be subject to unfavourable exchange rates, and unforseen new additional taxes that come and go with the blowing of hot air.
