Following on from “Jerry’s Steam Launch Wear” and “Jerry Does Some Milling and Turning”, I’m starting the promised larger launch. This time last year I’d finished the boiler, engine, feed pump and burner. I brought them with me to Canberra to build a launch down under to keep me off the streets and to give myself something the keep the little grey cells happy. I spent 6 months hoping a suitable hull would turn up but to no avail. Went back to our boat in the marina in Cheshire and after a couple of weeks visiting family, arranging phones and internet we commenced our Summer Cruise on the cut. This on Facebook entitled “Angelica’s Adventures”.We travelled to Liverpool for the Mersey River Festival and Armed Forces Day. Then cruised the Leeds-Liverpool Canal, The Aire and Calder Navigation, The Huddersfield Canal, The Huddersfield Narrow (Shallow), Canal, The Ashton and Rochdale canals before returning to our marina. Sometime before Liverpool I found a used 49” GRP double ended clinker built fishing boat hull. I bought it sight unseen and had it delivered to my brother in laws in Liverpool. On completion of our cruise he delivered the hull to the marina. I was very pleased with it and reckoned with a few changes to its outline I could come up with a decent steam launch.First question, how to get it to Canberra? Too big for Royal Mail and all the couriers wanted £390 to deliver it. They should cocoa. It only weighed 9.4 kg so with a bit of rearranging our check in baggage we actually managed to bring it for free as hold baggage. Customs weren’t interested in it so a winner!After a week acclimatising and getting over jet lag it’s time to get started. First job was to cut out the upper deck. Tried with a pad saw from Bunnings. Rubber blades so gave up and bought a cheap jigsaw which made short work of it. Water line is determined by the diameter of propeller add a bit of stern trim for aesthetics and marked it with a felt tip pen. The hull is very similar in shape to an old ships lifeboat and at first sight doesn’t look right for an Edwardian launch having far too much freeboard. Fairly easily sorted by cutting out both sheer strakes and the plank below. Now she looks more like it, a straight stem, lovely amount of shear and will sit nicely to her waterline. I found the longitudinal CofG, Gl, by simple balance method. I’ve marked this inside the hull for future reference. A trip to Majura Models and Hobbies in Fyshwick got me a used 4 channel 2.4Ghz tranny, a tiny Rx, a 5 cell battery pack and three tiny servos. Looks like the store has most of the materials I’ll need for the build and very helpful too. Got some 3mm stainless nuts bolts and washers plus a few nyloc nuts for good measure also some Ali tubing and 6mm ply sheet. Not having any plans to work from is a bit difficult coz I’ve got to frame out the foredeck, side and after decks. Will visit a sheet metal works tomorrow to bum some 1/2” Ali angle to make a ladder base for the steam plant. I want to be able to remove the plant as one quickly and easily as I can with S L Wear. So this is what I’ve done so far today. Jerry.
When I tried to post this with pictures this is a screenshot of the result. My iPhone used to take jpeg pics. Why won’t it let me? In the past I have taken a pic, emailed it to myself, resizing in the process and using resized pic in post but now it won’t let me. I’ve spent 2 hours trying.
