Possible steamboat?

[RogerV]

I was hunting for boat plans on the web and came across this one:

http://www.boatdesigns.com/16-or-18-Tug ... ducts/669/

I'm posting it in the hope of getting some reactions to the question of whether it might be built as a steamboat. My initial reactions are:

1) It would probably have to be lengthened a couple of feet to avoid putting the engine and boiler in the cabin, though the generous beam might make for less cramped space.

2) Fitting a propeller large enough and deep enough for steam might pose a problem, and the prop would probably need some kind of protection.

3) A rudder would have to be set up somehow, as the design calls for an outboard motor.

4) The flat bottom-- aside from the cautions already given in the plan (it's not for open seas), would it present any particular advantages or disadvantages for steam?

Other thoughts are that there is a wide range of possibilities on how elaborately the cabin could be fitted out, and it might be simplified somewhat by using clear plastic snap-on panels in place of all or some of the windows. Being able to open windows would be a "must," to avoid it becoming a floating greenhouse on warm, sunny days.

So what does anyone think? I'd be quite happy to hear reactions to the points I've made, and also to hear of points I haven't thought of. And if you think it's a crazy idea, I'd be happy to hear that as well.

--Roger

[S. Weaver]

Mr R.

My two cents:

1) I would be too frustrated with all of the mods that you are already suggesting - you may be too;
2) Go with a purpose-built design. There are enough steam hulls out there, designed with steam in mind, with the dimensions you have in mind. That will mean the difference between something that floats that happens to have a steam plant, and a craft that really moves out with steam;
3) Aside from the bigger sizes - something along Iron Chief's dimensions - many small tug designs are disappointing to their owners and aesthetically. The wetted area is too much; the house is too small but it looks too large. And this is from someone who worked on tugs and adores them ...

Your mileage may vary ...

[barts]

In general, when evaluating boat plans, you need to decide first:

1) who and what is coming with you, e.g. how many people and how much stuff.
2) how long do you want to go out for? A hour? An afternoon? All day? Overnight? A week or more vacation? Live aboard?
3) when and where are you taking the boat? likely water conditions, winds, salt vs fresh, summer time vs winter, etc.
4) where are you keeping the boat when you're not sailing? trailer? slip? moored out?

If you want to get steaming on your first boat, some recommendations:

* Trailer the boat, so you can work on it more easily. When I get to build our 34' boat, I'll make it (barely) trailerable so it can be pulled out of the water in the winter, and can be dragged to my shop for larger projects.
* Keep the size and weight manageable - something under 25', and avoid a superstructure. Boats cost by the lb, roughly.
* Strive for simplicity... there's plenty of stuff to debug at first even w/ a simple design.
* you won't have a lot of power w/ a steam plant - so avoid hulls with buried transoms. Look for a design that is length >= 3 x beam
to make it more easily driven. 4x is better if you can handle the space.

If you want a big boat, I'd build a small, light one first to get your feet wet. Here's pictures of Allan Gregg's Empirical - an excellent steamer. He's since build a much larger, more complex boat - but it mostly all worked the first time, because he'd figured out what he wanted on a smaller scale.

- Bart

[DetroiTug]

Roger,

That looks like it would make a good hull for steam power. Obviously, the bottom would need reinforcing for the weight of the steam plant. keeping the prop wet should not be an issue, but setting the engine at more angle to the center line would be - or use a flex coupler. It would obviously be relegated to small diameter props. One advantage a hard chine hull has over a multi-chine hull like Iron Chief, or the salty design is stability. The Multi-chine is faster, but they give up stability dockside and under way. Any sort of design and/or build process like this is a series of compromises to stay within a set of parameters, that your needs dictate.

Since building Iron Chief, I occasionally have folks email me wanting to do something similar, looking for build input. One of the common things I get is "I want it to look like a XXXX class of Tugboat" The reality is, to maintain the proportions of an 80 footer in a 20 +/- foot tug is going to result in a craft that is basically unusable. The big harbor/ocean tugs are what we are used to seeing with sleek lines and aftercabin roofs that barely eclipse the decks. However if one digs a little deeper in Tugboat history, there were many small Tugs under 30 feet with houses and ample headroom, mostly used around construction sites moving barges, and heavily used in the river logging industry. If the hull gets shorter, the cabins look taller. Nothing wrong with that.

If you're contemplating taking the 18' version out a few more feet on length, I would suggest strongly looking at the plans for Salty from Reliable steam. It wouldn't cost much differently to build and it is a hull better suited to steaming.

If I build another, and I may, the reliable Salty would be built again, only a few feet longer this time. It rides well, turns on a dime, it's fast (7.8 mph on 80 psi), it's spacious and plenty of headroom, and trailers behind a half-ton truck just fine. With windows and doors, it's virtually an all-weather boat.

-Ron

[fredrosse]

This TUG looks very similar to the boat put together by Charlie Roth last year. Charlie trailers it all over the east coast, and the boat seems to have lots of space, although I have not been onboard yet. It is flat bottomed, and quite beamy.

[DetroiTug]

Fred,

That is a fine looking tug. It does look like the plan above for Glen-L. If I remember correctly, the Rachel Z is about 18 foot.

-Ron

[farmerden]

As far as tugs go-I've always loved the shape of this one.It gets a little hot in the engine room but the profile is perfect! Another one that was for sale a couple of years ago [sold for around $7000!] was the Lil'Foss .I have know idea where it went ,it was only ran once ,then the builder died,it sat forever then was restored and sold for peanuts![/img]