40ft Steamboat Launch and Maiden Voyage 4k 

HMAS Diamantina sounds like a wonderful ship. I plan to visit Australia in the near future. I will be sure to give her a visit. Thank you for your service. An allied serviceman deserves the same respect and appreciation in my book.

She had admiralty three drum boilers, triple expansion engine bit is correct. speed was more on the 16 knot range. Maintaining station keeping when on a nansen cast was time consuming, especially the deeper ones. My time was spent as throttle watch keeper on the Starboard main engine, (1971-1974) LSMTP (rank).

My dad went aboard HMAS Diamantina with the Brigadier of 29th Australian Brigade to take the Japanese surrender at Torokina, Bougainville on 8 September 1945. Dad was a warrant officer of the Australian Army and his job on the day was to carry the Brig.'s briefcase and make sure he didn't lose his spectacles. Dad did score a couple of surrendered Japanese swords which were later lost in the 1950's when we moved house. Mum couldn't stand the sight of them. I was too young to remember them but close questioning of Dad later in life suggested that they were just standard IJA issue rather than priceless 400 year old heirlooms. I visited Diamantina in 1988 at her museum dry dock and I well remember the impeccably painted and lubricated triple expansion steam engines. It was a self guided tour and you could poke around and linger as long as you wanted. Expo 88 was taking place at the nearby South Bank precinct and I recall some smartly uniformed young Japanese sailors from a visiting warship who were also inspecting the old girl. I could see them thinking "This is the Australian Navy? Maybe we give up too easily in 1945."

What does recirculation mean? Using the condenser?

Cool history. Thanks for all who share these tidbits that form the whole picture.

dgmarklin thank you! We were so pleased with how she ran and glad we had a bunch of experienced friends aboard in case we ran into any issues.

Wesley Harcourt A chase boat video would be the only way to improve this. Thank you for sharing.

Thank you! I'm glad you liked it.

Mark, we really appreciate your kind words. I'm happy to share the experience with those that can appreciate the kinetic art.

They're out there for sale, and at prices a fraction of what it would cost to build one from scratch.

Thank you so much! She's been putting many miles under her keel since her launching. Time for an update I suppose.

Bill rouleau thank you very much!!

You are very welcome. Thank you so much for your kind words and watching. It is a pleasure of ours to share with the world

Shortribs Longbow Thank you! There will be lots more!

TunTavernWarrior2 you're welcome! Thank you!

Haha thank you!

Thank you for your kind words, and for watching.

Thank you!

Thank you so much for your kind words!

Thank you so much! I've been meaning to do a 1-year update...

Aaron Divel thank you very much! It has been a very long time coming! I've messed with steam cars, trains, stationary engines, etc, and love ALL of them, but steam boats and ships are my favorite. One isn't confined by roads or tracks... you can explore the 70% of the planet cars and trains can't. You don't need to be an engineer, a professional machinist, or a welder to build one, nor have ALL the right tools. Go out and build it! You'll love it! Then send me a link to the video!

@@WesleyHarcourtSTEAMandMORE how much did it cost you? (perferably in US or Canadian dollars)

NuttyforNissan Thank you so much. Yes it has been a long time coming!

Travelift operator must be paid by the hour. Use the throttle man!

Thank you very much!

cyberbadger thank you!

Thank you very much!

mnewlyn Thank you, and thank you for watching!

Thank you. I hope you enjoyed watching

Good eyes. We were oiling with a hand held oil can until we got all the needles set. Oilers have since been changed as well.

Thank you very much! It was a long time coming.

Hahaha! Thank you! I'm glad you recognized that. It was a running joke with my parents that they would retire in Belmont. As a kid my dad spent his first 8 years on the family ranch 40 miles outside of Eureka. His mining engineer father took them to live all over Nevada, including Round Mountain (when it was still a mountain), Tonopah, Yerington, and more... "Home means Nevada to me..."

@@WesleyHarcourtSTEAMandMORE I moved to Elko when I was 5 years old back in 1950, and lived all my life in Nevada until I retired 7 years ago. Now I live in Ecuador, but I'm still a Nevadan

John Dubpernell Thank you very much! 2018 has been good steaming so far!

dampfboot Thank you so much Rainer. I must say your steamboat register has helped in the process. By inspiring and by giving ideas for aesthetics and machinery layout. If you ever find yourself out this way, please contact us and we'll get you out on the boat for a ride.... If you schedule your visit for the end of September/beginning of October you can catch the Delta Steamboat Meet as well.

Hello Wesley - this is a tempting idea! Might be hard to push into my work scedule. Also quite a ride/flight to this place from Germany. But... Is it this meet? Friday - Sunday, September 28-30 Sacramento Delta Steamboat Regatta B&W Resort 984 Brannan Island Road (Delta Loop) Isleton, CA

dampfboot yes Rainer, that is the one! Though, I'll have to check on the dates for you. Hope all is well on your side of the world. Would love to see "Rami" running. I have some more boats to add to your wonderful register as well.

Thank you very much!

Thank you very much!

@@WesleyHarcourtSTEAMandMORE, Today also happens to be my 12th birthday! :D

@@awildjared1396 congratulations! Happy birthday!

@@WesleyHarcourtSTEAMandMORE Thanks!

If you find yourself in the California Delta area and the pandemic has subsided, hit me up

@@WesleyHarcourtSTEAMandMORE ,Thank mate I surely will if i find myself in America .

Thank You! She's almost 12 ft wide at the gunwale. About 11ft at the waterline. Thank you for watching!

She definitely develops a significant amount of torque!

Christophe Carcenac de Torné thank you so much! Yes he has never been happier! She has run incredibly well and continues to get better every time. We've taken a lot of slack out of the bearings and have quieted-up the burners significantly since the video. He has steamed her nearly every weekend since her launching. The stethoscope with the probe makes finding a knock in the bearings much much easier. I believe they're readily available in auto parts stores around here.

mervyn evans ¡ Muchas gracias!

estoy en lo mismo. colega. con un barquito a vapor de 7 metros. ya subire m,is videos.

Thank you! There were twenty life preservers under the seats and other areas close at hand. We have never gone out unless we have enough for everyone onboard.

Thank you very much! There is a build thread on the Steamboating forum. Here is the link: thesteamboatingforum.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=250

Thanks for the link, Wes. I enjoyed following the construction, a lot of work, and it gave context to your Dads emotions in the launch video. I hope he has many years of cruising her.

@@fletcher3913 You're very welcome. Thank you for your kind words and interest. We've put 100's of miles under the keel already and hope for many many more. It was a long long road.

Thank you very much! I'm happy you enjoyed it. We burn wood, and very very very old vegetable oil.

Thank you very much! That ship is the steam ferry "Klamath" she was until recently the corporate headquarters for Duraflame inc. She still has her triple expansion steam engine and other machinery down below. They are going to be moving her to San Francisco to be used as office space. I'm not sure whether or not they are going to scrap the machinery when they refurbish her for the new assignment. I hope not. Better get a tour soon... www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/philmatier/amp/SF-s-high-rents-drive-even-a-big-business-group-14957346.php

Yes oilers received oil and are always open when warming and running. We use 140w oil in them. The oiler setup is different now than what is seen in this video. Oil was manually added to the engine via handheld oil can until the oilers were properly adjusted. Funny thing about editing video... Not everything makes it to the final cut.

James Shanks I appreciate your concern for my personal safety, but those are calculated risks I am willing to take. My mother and nephew weren't in the engine room while the plant was in operation, and there was no risk of explosion/flashbacks/etc. I have been around steam machinery my entire life and am well aware of the hazards involved. I'm also well aware if my surroundings and work in industries that are significantly more hazardous in every way. We do not let strangers into the the engine or boiler room while under way unless we know them, and their steam "credentials" Additionally, a steam leak from a plant running at 150psi will not cut you at all, in any way shape or form. It will certainly burn, as will nearly every machinery surface in the engine/boiler room. It is also not invisible like a leak from a plant running pressures orders of magnitude higher than 150psi which translates to.a little more than 360°f bty. Thank you for watching, and I hope you can understand we're here for fun. This is not a commercial operation.

Wesley Harcourt been running steam since I was 16 starting at EDAVILLE railroad then went to work for Penn Central, later Conrail and finally Amtrak. Worked as a volunteer at Steamtown in Vermont and later in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Was promoted locomotive engineer March 9th, 1974 on the west end of the Boston & Albany railroad. As a teenager I learned steam from the engineer of the Wakefield Laundry Wakefield, Massachusetts. A 125 horsepower Corliss Poppit Valve stationary steam engine with an 21 foot flywheel. That was in 1964 and that engineer taught me the entire engine and cleaver Brooks boiler burning bunker C with a motorized spinning burner. Boiler ran at 100 pounds of steam. Got woken up one morning in 65 by the manager of the laundry at 625 am to tell me he was asking me to fire up his engine as the engineers truck had thrown the driveshaft and couldn't make it there on time for a 7 am start. My dad who is a retired US Navy boilermaker was in shock. I went with the manager to the laundry and after checking the water level fired up the cold boiler it being Monday and she was cold so it took longer to start up. Started piling up and checking up the feedwater pump and the rest of the auxiliaries to make sure everything was ready to start when I reached 90 pounds pressure. When the boiler reached 30 pounds of steam the manager tried to start the engine as it was already past start time of 7 am. I yelled at him and pulled him off the throttle and told him get the hell out of my engine room. He finally left when I picked up a wrench and threatened him with it. 20 minutes later I picked up the eccentric and after cracking the throttle worked the Poppit valves back and forth to work the condensation out of the cylinder and then after 6 times working the pop pits back and forth then allowed the engine to start, then opened the throttle wide open and spent the next 10 minutes walking around checking everything twice. The engineer finally showed up in his truck just after 10 in the morning and after walking around sat down and and asked what happened with the manager. I told him what he tried to do and how I had to threaten him with a old Stillson wrench to get him away from the engine as I only had 30 pounds of steam. He then told me I did the right thing. Called the manager down to the engine room and read him the riot act. I got a nice paycheck from him later in the day and an apology as he didn't realize how much damage he could have done IE: water hammer in the cylinder. My dad showed up about 11 in the morning and was astounded that I knew as much about steam as I did as he never told me a thing about marine 600 pound boilers. The first time I went onboard a Navy ship into the boiler room that is where the chief of the boiler room handed me a stick roughly three feet long and then told me floor to above my head to avoid being seriously hurt by by superheated steam. The chief was missing all the fingers on his right hand because he didn't believe the chief in his first boiler room and lost his fingers 9 days later when a steam line broke and he couldn't see the steam. He was back to work 28 days later a wiser and more carefull sailor. My apologies as not at the time knowing your experience I was concerned safety wise. I'm retired now and still get involved in steam as a volunteer.mostly on railroads. May your days be smooth, your steam be up there and you always have 2 cocks of water at all times and never run shy of fuel or fresh water. James Shanks

James Shanks I really appreciate it. I love reading and hearing stories like yours. We'd love to have you on board if you ever find yourself out in these parts. I'd love to hear more stories from your experience and gleam any knowledge you'd be willing to volunteer.

Thank you so much! The engine is a compound 5+10x6" We try to go out almost every week, if you're interested. What was the name of the steamboat you owned and where did you own her?

About 8kts at the moment. We need to change the prop for something with a lot more pitch.

It certainly seemed like days haha. It was the first time she'd been wet since all the superstructure and machinery was installed. We were uncertain how she was going to sit.

It's a long story, but the reader's digest version is my father went through some old steam publications and cold called a couple small ads to find the engine. The boiler was one a friend of ours made for one of his projects in the '90's. There are a few sources for used and antique engines online and sometimes large marine engines pop up. Here are some links. I also included a link for an online steamboat discussion forum. discoverlivesteam.com/discoverforsale/marine.html www.northweststeamsociety.org/classifieds prestonservices.co.uk/category/steam-engines/steam-boats/ thesteamboatingforum.net/forum/

@@WesleyHarcourtSTEAMandMORE that is great stuff thank you for the links!

@@MrTurboTurkey you are very welcome! Where do you hail from?

@@WesleyHarcourtSTEAMandMORE Im in Puget Sound in Washington state in the USA. Its a good spot forvsteam since it cold half the year here:)

@@MrTurboTurkey that's a perfect spot! Lots of steamboaters up there.

Molb0rg top speed measured by GPS has been 6.5 knots

Oil was manually added to the engine via handheld oil can until the oilers were properly adjusted. Funny thing about editing video... Not everything makes it to the final cut.

Thank you. No problem with the engine, just bearing clearances that needed tightening. We were running them loose to wear them in. We were manually oiling with a handheld can. Thanks for watching.

Haha it's actually "Belmont, NV" A lovely little mining town in Nevada about as far away from water as one can get in Nevada. It's been a running family joke about retiring out there and running a line shaft from the boat to cut firewood. My dad thought it was appropriate to make it her home port.

@@WesleyHarcourtSTEAMandMORE Thanks for the reply. I was getting dizzy picturing a trip up the Genessee to Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence. One hell of a portage. Not to mention the Panama Canal or the Straights of Magellan!

@@ozzietadziu it would be a trip for the ages! Almost as good as when they steamed the Eppleton Hall from England to San Francisco.

Wrong Way Corrigan was the navigator?

@@s.leemccauley7302 If you can remember "Wrong Way Corrigan", you're younger with your hat on!

I'll have to throw together a video. COVID definitely slowed us down, but still have managed over 500 miles of steaming a year since her maiden voyage.

I know it was a typo, but I get what you're saying. Definitely should have! Haha

The hull was built in the 50's as a log drive tug. My father purchased it as a empty rusted hulk. He replaced most of the stern plating added the superstructure and the machinery of course. I supposed one sould call it her maiden voyage with he asterisk *in this iteration. There are before and after pictures at the end of the video. Thank you for watching. I hope you enjoyed it.

Actually it only takes us 20 minutes now to get steam up and ready to go. A bit faster and more refined. There definitely are benefits and nostalgia to all forms of motive power on the waves.

Hahaha

now that I look at this, it cannot be 4k. I'm such an idiot XD

@@calvincanada4723the 4k is referring to the film quality. it's ok... Honest mistake.

Her name is "Persistance" which is the French spelling of persistence.

I believe there are model steam engine suppliers on ebay, amazon, and banggood

@@WesleyHarcourtSTEAMandMORE I couldn't find any that are like the steam engine you used for the steamboat (my cardboard houseboat is the length of the steamboat)

@@doctorofminecraft2078 are you attempting to build a full size 40ft boat from cardboard?

@@WesleyHarcourtSTEAMandMORE the cardboard will have flex seal and have a coat of mold resentment paint with wood skeleton the skin is nailed to the skeleton (the nail's are made of bronze) using live steam will bring people back to when ship's were steam powered

@@doctorofminecraft2078that sounds very interesting!

It is a shame they have all gone away. Sometimes big steam tugs come up for sale out in that part of the world. Where do you live?

​@@WesleyHarcourtSTEAMandMORE Novosibirsk/Russia. We have one of the longest river - Ob river. Before 1917 there were 12 different ship companies with big (3-4 deck) sternwheel steam ships. Non of them exist now. Stream ships didn't saved and cut fro metal for revolution needs I think. Soviet time, Ob river was one big path to deliver good and supplies to North. There were a lot of oil tankers, dry cargo vessel, barges, 4 deck passenger cruisers, big passenger hydrofoil speed boats. I was a kid at 80s , but I remember. We travel down Ob river each summer. It was possible to get to Nizhnevartovsk and other north cities more than 4000 miles far from Novosibirsk. It was high traffic river! Nowadays, there are some ships and barges tom deliver gravel and sand up and dawn river...But river looks void - 1 passenger .entertaining cruise 2 deck ship, 1-2 barges with sand and few little private motorboats. It is so sad to such beautiful river void. I have not see any big passenger hydrofoil vessel ("Raketa", "Meteor", "Zarya", etc) for 20 years!!! I haven't seen and NEW vessel for 20+ years (except some private ones). All big commercial cargo or passenger vessels build at Soviet time! I do kayaking sometime down river Big ships does not bother me on the fairway.... I'm 42... I never see working steam engine! They all gone.

Many places to learn. you can start here: www.thesteamboatingforum.net

Oil was manually added to the engine via handheld oil can until the oilers were properly adjusted. Funny thing about editing video... Not everything makes it to the final cut.

Dimwas _Sapiens I agree! Stow your tools. Can't imagine what could happen if that wrench were to fall into a running engine.