Travel!

The ticket of ferry is taken! departure for London Tuesday, when dawn is breaking, to go to seek the hull. This time it's gone!

Action

In fact, everything really started, while ferreting on Ebay, first machine, and the decision, does I buy it or not, knowing that if I buy, it will be necessary to go until the end of the project.

It left, but the machine is small to propel a boat able to trott the family.
The steamboating having to be a shared pleasure,I need a second machine,and there is another one on Ebay!

And now it is necessary to find a hull, there are wonderfull one in England, the Frolics, but they are quite expensive and a little low on water to go at sea.
Research continues, here and there, nothing of nothing! then, one day, a mail of Patrice, it found a hull on Ebay,but it is necessary to decide quickly and go to seek it in London!
(to be continued…)

Presentations

Having thus decided to pass to the real staem, I was registered with the Abv (French steamboat association). The annual meeting of theAbv, last year being held in DINAN, on the river Rance, located at 15 km of my house in Brittany,I could appreciate the pleasure of navigation, thanks to new friends. Because of course, a project like that, that are done between friends! Some presentations: There is first those which I knew before, George and Benoit, first are impassioned of mechanics with built many small engines steam, large handyman, he is the specialist machining in the group, Benoit, is the youngest (sixteen years old) but intellectual curiosity do not await the number of the years! therefore all impassions it and its dynamism given pleasure to see. Then there is those fully experienced tried with steamboat in full scale: Patrice who has his own boat, bought in GB, I will put the picture of its boat online very soon! Patrice is member of the Abv and of Sba, it is impassioned of steam, and motorbike. And then there are those, which built or build their boat, in Paris area, Bruno, of which I already spoke you who assisted of Jean-Yves, carried out Mélusine.
Jean-Jacques, whose beautiful clinkers hull Keltia and its Pearl engine are in completion, and many others still! Jean-Jacques, is the man who is able to find everything, suppliers, machinists, he carried out the drawings of all the accessories of his boat!

Let us begin again at the beginning

All that being unstitched a little, I will take again a little the history and the explanation of this project.

Model maker, after having tested the plane and of to have crashed many! I convert to the boat, quieter, and I discovered the steam, with these small machines and their boilers.

Our British friends are the largest specialists in this hobby, a famous company in that area is STUART MODELS, their steam engines, are for a long time a reference on the matter.
After having the small sizes run, I discovered that STUART also manufactured the foundries which make it possible to produce machines for boats of real size.

Thus model making led me to the boats into full scale, (tour common to much of vaporists which mixt the two passions).

The Paris model show enabled me to meet the ABV, french steamboat association , (They are present at this show which, do not hesitate to make a trip there)

On this stand, I discovered what was a true boat, launch MELUSINE, a splendid boat, entirely built by Bruno and his friends, and there ,I say that one day me also….

The second machine

The second of the two machines, this one has its Stephenson reverse, these two machines will be coupled longitudinally to produce a twin-cylinder, it will be necessary to carry out the missing reverse on the first machine and the coupling of both.
The wheel of inertia of each machine will be dismounted and replaced by only one.

Pressure vessel

The pressure vessel of the boiler such as it will be necessary that I carry it out!! unless I do not find an used boiler! I am looking for!

The first machine

The first machine, bought on ebay, was damaged in the transportation, the crankshaft was distorted, the heavy wheel not having been dismounted, a shock twisted slightly!

The Hull

The hull that Patrice found me, such as I discovered it on Ebay, 18 feet length, apparently in good condition, therefore a little gamble!

The beginnig

This blog will enable you to follow the realization starting from existing elements to be restored, modified, invented of a 18 feet steam-launch, intended for navigation in river and Northern Brittany along the coasts.