A fine day for an excursion aboard SL A Boy's Will on McWain Pond, Maine
last updated 1 March 2010
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or call (207) 583 6957 eves (east coast USA)
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"A boy's will is the wind's will,
And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts."
from the poem, "My Lost Youth," Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's
thoughts about his boyhood in Portland, Maine
Dreams of steamboats are those of men who have always been kids
Every once in a while a dream is caught and a flame burns brightly
the continuing saga of the steamboat "A Boy's Will"
The Lee's Mills Annual Steamboat Meet
will be held in September 2010
Moultonboro, NH
Follow signs to the Loon Center and continue
about 2000 feet to docks
Show up during this session and ride some great steamboats FREE!
CLICK HERE FOR A
FEW PICTURES FROM THE 2009 MEET
May 28-29, 2009 Steam Meet, Moultonboro, NH
Click on the picture below for the operational engine display
Joe Bowen's Hasbrouck #5
Click on the image below for more details
Sadly, Joe Bowen has passed away
If you haven't already subscribed to Steamboating Magazine you can do so by
clicking here
Many "Steam Happens" articles have a supplement on this website expanding on the
article's topics
SUPPLEMENTS TO STEAM HAPPENS ARTICLES::
Steam Happens #2, Engine choices
Steam Happens #3, Boilers
Steam
Happens #4, Putt-Putt Boats
Steam
Happens #5, Quick Winterizing
Steam Happens #6, Building a clutch
Steam Happens #10, RPM meter and alignment
Steam Happens #12, Concept Model of a New
Engine
Steam Happens #13,
The Rise of The Derelict
Steam Happens #14,
On-Going Saga of the Carrie-Jean
Steam Happens #16,
Rick Blackham's RC Mini Tug
Steam Happens #18,
Two
Boats, Two Visions A World Apart
Coming Soon: Steam Happens #19: The Swash
Plate-Axial Steam Engine
Christophe Carcenac de Torné
ccarcenacdetorne@gmail.com , a French model engineer, is looking for
information (mainly drawings) dealing with bronze cylinder castings for a triple
expansion marine engine he recently acquired. There are no markings on the
castings nor was he able to obtain any drawings.
The dimensions are of the cylinders are:
- total cylinder block length: 11"
- HP Cylinder bore: 1"
- IP cylinder bore: 1" 7/8
- LP cylinder bore: 3"
- Stroke: 2"
(by the dimensions, it seems like it's possibly either English of American)
As you can infer, with the aligned cylinders being around 1 ft (30cm, the length
of the caliper scale), this is quite a large model or, rather, a small
launch engine. Here's a photo of the three cylinders in place
Other photos of these castings as well as a 3D CAD drawing of the set are to
be found by clicking on the above photo.
If you have any plans, suggestions, or leads please inform Christophe
directly at the above email address. Please cc email me so that we may
follow his adventure on this site. This should be quite a beauty when
finished.
At Cabin Fever January 2008 I met with Joe Ritter, a very
clever engine designer from Mt. Airy, MD
Joe presented a new engine he designed which he calls a Pogo-Stick.
He also displayed his 6 cylinder, single-acting swash plate
engine that I'd love to see scaled up for a full scale boat.
The use of a swash plate, the radial arrangement of the
pistons and the direct alignment with the prop shaft would make this an ideal
small power unit. Click on the photo below for more details and movies of the
engine in operation.
Here's a photo of Peter Renzetti's Swash Plate engine
This one uses a shaft-ported valving, much as used in 2-stroke
model airplane engines.
In the picture below the pistons are all retracted. When
pressure is applied they each move to contact the swash or wobble plate. Peter
is in the process of building a full-scale version.
Here's a rough diagram of Peter's valve porting
* * * * * ** * *
steampg1.mpg
steampg2.mpg steampg3.mpg
steampg4.mpg steampg5.mpg
Al Berry's beautiful little Hasbrouck-designed #5 steam engine
Video of engine being reversed click on photo of Al and engine below
this is a large (2.4 meg) file. Download only if you have broadband
This was the first time the engine ever ran on steam
Albert was pretty pleased!
A couple of years later Al had his own boat. See the Rise of the Derelict
(above in the "Steam Happens" section)
other still pictures of this engine
click here
A Boy's Will
Pond trials: first day afloat summer 95
In spite of numerous small problems we're into a strong headwind
with a
"bone in our teeth"
flying solo
Joanne at the helm
A few summer 2004 pictures are here
a couple of summer 2001
pictures are here
The summer 2000 steam boating
pictures are here
To see some pictures from summer 1999 click on the little photo of
Bruce
below
Watch out! there are 3D pictures in this collection
Instructions for how to view 3D pictures are at the bottom of this
page
Ginny Ryan, Sue Powachinsky (sp?) at the dock
Maybe it's time for that diet
Hey Nick you got that engine ready yet!
Ya know, if we could just put 2 more inches of pitch on that prop
we'd be able to break out them water skis
summer 98, watching the pressure climb and waiting for the pizza to
get
done.
Yup, these steamboats offer everything.
A quiet ride, a hot cup of expresso and a toasty pizza...all in the
same
package....Try that with yer damn infernal combustion, will ya!
Kathy at the helm, Summer 98
The annual tire rotation summer 98.
New radials improve turning significantly
summer 98
Nick at the helm after our best time ever on the slalom course
Zero to six mph in forty five seconds!
Left my hair a mess and mild case of whiplash!
some repairs are definitely more fun than others!
Then there are other steamboats, too!
Helmut Strothjohan's Vaporosa and a Rheinfahrt in spring
and uncle Reb Shawn Fergeson on the deck of the Pavonia
(seated, his hands folded in prayer)
A rare stereo photo taken shortly before he was pushed overboard
Click here for a few Old Iron pictures
from 2005
And there are other means of steam propulsion, too!
Al G. at the reins of 20 rampant horses
and in stereo
and other forms of water transportation, too
How to view the stereo shots.
If you are over 40, back about 6 feet away from your screen (If you
are
under 40 stay right where you are).
Hold your left hand vertically between your eyes with the base knuckle
of
your index finger touching the tip of your nose.
Close your right eye and check to see that your left eye can clearly
see
the left picture. The close your left eye and check to see that your
right
eye clearly sees the right picture.
Now comes the tricky part. You actually have to relax your eyes
enough
to cause them to diverge (this is the opposite of crossing them).
The
eyes point outward a bit. This may take 5 or so minutes the first
time,
but becomes easier with each use as your eye muscles get some
practice. Eventually you should see a third image form
between the two real images. This middle image will be 3D and
should be right behind your vertical hand.
Get you hand out of the way by moving it downward and out of your
vision and
you should be able to hold a 3D image....
Some people take 10 to 15 minutes to master the art. Others can
get
it within 5 minutes...There are a few (about 5%) who can't do it....But
if
you were able to see those "random dot stereograms" Magic eye
images
that were popular about ten years ago you can do this...It's the same
skill.
Once you can free view the photos easily you can try getting closer to
the
screen.
