SL Surprize launch

A steam launch built to a Victorian design, with self made hull, boiler and steam engine, designed to run on wood, launched for the first time. The original intention was to use it for steaming on some of the great southern African rivers, such as Okavango, Chobe, Zambesi but it remains to be seen if this can be achieved. Time marches on. The hull design is by Selway Fisher of England, from whom I bought the plans. The engine is made from a combination of other designs seen on YouTube, fabricated by machining solid cast iron and then bolting sections together internally so it looks like a casting. The boiler is from Schedule 40 steam pipe, basically from a Tiny Power 'M' design, with an enlarged fire box for wood burning. The boiler steams very freely, and the engine has plenty of power for the 18 foot hull. The boat weighs 1.3 tonnes dry. I use pine off cuts which burn quickly but leave no ash. Flat offcuts tend to burn slowly on top of each other so need to be poked. It would heat for longer duration with heavier firewood, I suppose. The vessel floats high up so we can add lots. The hull was made from 35 x 18 mm tongue and groove red meranti, laid down one plank per day, glued with epoxy resin. An outer coat of glass mesh and white gel coat was applied. The hull and boiler took about 18 months to make, working evenings and spare time, then came a 9 year delay, then the Chinese virus and lockdown gave more time for completion. The boiler required the most work The TIG welding was the time consumer. The boat was launched (pushed into a dam over a rough excavated slope) on Oct 25, 2020, after a land based demonstration two weeks previously, at Somerset Timbers, Helderberg, Cape Town Getting the boat and trailer out of the muddy launch site took the combined effort of two Land Rovers and a heavy tractor.