Success!!...part 2

In our last installment, all the parts (except the new engine, but more on that later) were built and it was time for the installation. The first thing that had to happen was that the boat had to come out of the shed where it had lived its entire life so far. This was no mean feat as she weighed close to 1500 pounds once all the decking was installed and the yard is on a slight incline. Moving her one way was easy. Stopping, turning and going back up hill, well... not so much. Not only did it have to come out, but it then had to fit under the swing set where there was only 3 inches to spare on either side. And did I mention the tongue of the trailer weighed about 200 lbs, so it wasn't like we could just pick it up and swing it around. Needless to say everything happened very slowly.

After about two hours of maneuvering, she was finally in place. The final few feet was accomplished with the help of a block and tackle which we used to haul it back up the hill. In the picture to the right you can make out the line attached to the back of the trailer that we used to pull it. Once it was in place it was time to put the boiler in.

Installing the boiler was the reason for the complicated move in the first place. My yard lacks and large trees that would have limbs large enough to lift the boiler in place, as I had cut them all down to make room for the boat. The only structure that was high enough and sturdy enough to lift the boiler in was the beam off of the treehouse that holds the kid's swings. Why not just lift it in? Mostly because the assembled boiler weighs ~520 lbs; too much for even two people to lift. So we possitioned the boiler under the swings, tied a come-along to the beam and rigged a harness for the boiler and started to lift. The feet you see on the ladder are mine as I'm operating the lift, one ratchet click at a time. We had to two-block the come-along to get the enough lift. Even then we only had about an inch of clearance between the boiler and the deck. Then we slid it in and bolted it down. Well, actually we pulled the boat back under the boiler.

With the boiler in, the only thing left was to install the engine and hook it all together. Simple, right? Well, it turned out to be mostly so, but it deserves a little technical background. The new engine wasn't (and still isn't) ready, so I was using the old one. The reason I wasn't waiting was because I was anxious to see if the boat would float, the missus was more than ready to have her back yard back, and I just had to have it in the water before labor day. The original launch date was Memorial day, so at least one day before the end of summer, she had to float and go. So the old engine was the only option.

Now the old engine was built for the old boiler. That boiler was high volume, but low pressure. The new boiler was lower volume, but was designed for much higher pressure. That meant that it would need to operate slower than before but with much more power on each stroke. How much slower I wasn't sure so I actually put three gears on the main shaft, a 10, 15 and 20 tooth gear. Matched with the 15 tooth on the engine shaft that meant that the wheels would go a little faster or slower than the engine. On the old boat, the wheel turned once for every 8 times around on the engine. Now the ratio would be nearly at parity. The calculations said that it would work, but that didn't mean it actually would. Anyway, I started it out on the 10 tooth, because it that worked the boat would really zip along.

The engine was plumbed in and all of that without any real trouble except, as usual, I was running out of time. My buddy Chadwick was coming at 3 to pick up the boat with his truck and I was still sweating pipe for all of the steam connections at 2:30. He pulled up just as I shut off my torch for the last joint.

The original plan was to lower the boat to the street by hand with block and tackle and then hitch it up there, but Chadwick, bold as ever, backed his big diesel right in. No small feat that, as his truck is a wide as the boat and that only has and inch to spare on either side out of the side yard gate. He pulled it down into the street without a problem, we loaded up and prepared for the trip to Seaside Park, some 60 miles away. That was 3:30 in the afternoon.

1.27 miles from the house, the trailer hit a bump, came down and sent every bunk on the trailer off in all directions. As we pulled over to assess the situation, the only thing holding it together was the paddle wheels which had prevented the outer bunks from splaying out. As Chadwick fearlessly started to raise the boat up using whatwas essentially a car jack and a game on Jenga, Earl arrived with some larger bunking materials and another jack. We were able to get the boat secured enough to get back to the front of the house.

At that point I truly dispaired of moving the boat further, but Chadwick would not be detered, and he and Earl immediatly devised a plan to fix things and get on the road again. What this eventially lead to was a complete rethink and rebuild of the entire trailer, something I wouldn't have thought possible and certainly wouldn't have been if not for those two, especially the indefatigable Chadwick. It was full on dark when we finally left. When we finally got to Seaside it was 10:30. What is usually an hour's drive had taken us 7.

Tomorrow, I'll post about the launch and what happened after. Until then.