The Steamboating Forum

On these cold winter days I dream of warmer times.My latest dream [halucination?] is that steamers run out of water and fuel over time.Has anyone ever put up a sail on our hobby steamers? I realize probably,dark sails would be a good start! Also flame proof would be handy but I would assume you wouldn't have the boiler fired if you had the sails up. There is so much to see in the Pacific north west and as organized as I am a sail might just get me to port! Any ideas? Den

Hmmm my experience sailing in the San Juans is that the winds are far more fickle than my boiler & power plant

The design trade-offs (space, shape of hull, etc) needed for successful sail propulsion are substantial... you're better off squirreling a small outboard
in a locker and using that if needed. If your boat is large enough that that wouldn't provide enough drive, a small air cooled diesel could be used for emergency power, belted to the prop. shaft... alternatively, a generator could be used to drive an electric motor...

- Bart

I feel that dreams of electric motors, sails and dare I mention it, diesel engines, are a sign of a troubled mind Den!

smelly long-chain hydrocarbon engines

That was meant to be "deeeeesel engines" but the profanity filter took it out

I don't have a troubled mind-I'm Canadian!! But I will withdraw the question cause I feel I opened a can of worms! And yes Bart I used to carry a kicker but I found I can fix anything on the ol' girl quicker than I could hang that thing over the side! And if all else fails throw out the anchor then fix it. I have everything I need to rebuild at sea cause spare parts are no good at home sitting on the bench. Though with all the extra stuff She resembles a tramp steamer more than a showboat I guess I can burn beachwood if I have to and I'd never dress up good enough to be a sailor!! How about a flat bottom stern-wheeler? There's lots of room for water and fuel on one of them isn't there?? Den

There's lots of room for water and fuel on one of them isn't there??

Would you not use the water you float on?

Aha! Were you not paying attention? The water I steam on is actually the Pacific Ocean.It would do in a pinch but not very good in the long run> Den

No evaporator then?

I thought you'd be a the pinnacle of technology!

Maltelec wrote:No evaporator then?

I thought you'd be a the pinnacle of technology!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. How little you know of the US/Canadian Pacific Northwest. Back in the days of steam locomotives, engineers ("drivers" some of you folks call them) would vie to get runs to the PacNW as they could fill their water tenders (and boilers if they had the time) with good, soft water - Olympia Beer (Olympia, Washington state) slogan "It's the water that makes it good!". Consequently our boilers have become spoiled and do not take kindly to distilled water.

It's "dismals" and "infernal combustion" engines.

On a larger boat, an evaporator is simple enough to rig... you can heat it via a steam coil. Rig a
modified pressure regular to keep from exceeding 30 psi in the evaporator; otherwise the salts
form a hard crust.

- Bart