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Bud Leutza in a contemplative mood aboard his magnificent steam launch. Note the steeple compound in the background: it was built using castings intended for the Burleigh (fore-and-aft) Compound engine.
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Judy poses on the bow , while I steam us up the Mokelumne River aboard my own launch, Pegasus.
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Todd Guldenbrein dockside, at the helm of Pegasus, preparing to get under way.
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Jim Tangeman enjoys the scenery from the helm of his Stirling powered 14-ft. side-wheeler. This incredible craft needed a calm, glassy river with no winds, due to its low power, but it ran superbly every time. Next year Jim expects to improve the engine by making it a twin-cylinder, with reversing gear.
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The Saturday night pot-luck brings 'em out in droves! We steamed around so much that we didn't get to cooking until it was almost time to eat. In haste, Judy and I made a batch of Spaghetti a la Edwardo, but we had to leave out the anchovies (no, really!).
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Overall layout of Jim's boat. The engine is geared down 5-to-1 and the paddles have 5 blades apiece. Twin propane burners enter opposite sides of the combustion space tangentially. Jim says this one tank of fuel has lasted for two steamboat regattas and he will go home with enough for another one: pretty good fuel economy, yes?
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Close-up of the paddlewheel feathering mechanism on Jim's boat. A simple dog clutch that looks like the metal halves of a Lovejoy coupling, is moved in or out of mesh. The slow rotation of the paddlewheels makes it easy to accomplish even while under way.
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The paddlewheel is but one of several experimental powerplants Jim has installed in this adaptable little Weston Farmer-designed 14-ft. flat-bottomed boat. Although a little tender with the relatively light-weight of the Stirling engine, she's rock steady with a steam engine and boiler aboard. I've got a yen to build one of my own...
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L to R: Howard Pickersgill, Dick Vennerbeck, Todd Guldenbrein and John Woodson are among the many who helped to get Howard's massive City of Lakeport onto its transporter after the meet. Since it was low tide at the time, a bunch of us had to stand in the stern in order to pop the bow up high enough to slide up the carrier's rollers.
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A better shot of the sternwheeler before hauling her out.
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