Office of Steam Forum for Model & Toy Steam Gas & Hot Air Engines

Builds, Repairs, Show Your Machines! => Boats, Pond Yachts => Topic started by: St Paul Steam on March 17, 2023, 07:19:23 pm

Title: Re: Bowman "Swallow" live steam powered boat W/ wood box
Post by: St Paul Steam on April 17, 2024, 05:45:42 pm
I'm dizzy just watching that rumble bee
Title: Re: Bowman "Swallow" live steam powered boat W/ wood box
Post by: Woe is me on April 17, 2024, 04:49:21 pm
You could tether it like the old cars. You stand in the middle and have the rudder set to turn
away from you. It will keep the line tight and away from the prop. It's not going to go so fast
that you get dizzy. I would say run your line to the front nose of the boat. It won't be as bad
as this, I hope. I don't think it touches the water when it winds up.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtdQRxeZWps
Title: Re: Bowman "Swallow" live steam powered boat W/ wood box
Post by: txlabman on April 17, 2024, 09:21:48 am
Below are a couple of videos of boats running in pools:

Danny:

https://youtu.be/5_hKvsN50Nw?feature=shared

Charlie:

https://youtu.be/siBgtmZ5EHs?si=MUfPrzISwsbMfSq5

https://youtu.be/OPX5HXz8AXo?si=eDX5cQ3AKJTaiGkr

Title: Re: Bowman "Swallow" live steam powered boat W/ wood box
Post by: St Paul Steam on March 28, 2024, 10:34:14 pm
I'm going to get this little vessel out for a pond run soon....(thanks for the reminder)
Title: Re: Bowman "Swallow" live steam powered boat W/ wood box
Post by: Stoker on March 28, 2024, 11:34:12 am
Don't have any great ideas how to tether the Swallow Bruce but I do have an inexpensive radio controlled  Vac-U-Boat tug with about ten foot of fishing line and a bobber that I use as a rescue boat (Jim Dandy to the rescue!). Do a couple of circles around the errant boat and you're ready for the pull back to safety.

I've used a similar technique to Larry's with some success, but also a couple of notable failures due to situations specific to the pond I was "stuck" in. It also can be damaging to the boat to sail it in a swimming pool, if it rams the far wall before you get there to ward it off, and not everybody is going to be friendly to having a trace of steam oil show up in the pool, so you may wish to be extra careful about that possibility.

Perhaps the best situation is to run it in a smallish pond that you can easily walk around within the time it would take for your Swallow to reach the other side when straight running, but still running in a circle along a shore parallel to the wind in a small pond is likely your best scenario.
Title: Re: Bowman "Swallow" live steam powered boat W/ wood box
Post by: txlabman on March 28, 2024, 10:01:01 am
Don't have any great ideas how to tether the Swallow Bruce but I do have an inexpensive radio controlled  Vac-U-Boat tug with about ten foot of fishing line and a bobber that I use as a rescue boat (Jim Dandy to the rescue!). Do a couple of circles around the errant boat and you're ready for the pull back to safety.

A better idea Larry.
Title: Re: Bowman "Swallow" live steam powered boat W/ wood box
Post by: jkbixby on March 28, 2024, 09:56:46 am
Don't have any great ideas how to tether the Swallow Bruce but I do have an inexpensive radio controlled  Vac-U-Boat tug with about ten foot of fishing line and a bobber that I use as a rescue boat (Jim Dandy to the rescue!). Do a couple of circles around the errant boat and you're ready for the pull back to safety.
Title: Re: Bowman "Swallow" live steam powered boat W/ wood box
Post by: txlabman on March 28, 2024, 07:54:00 am
Bruce:

You could add a steering servo to the rudder.

I did this with my Bowman boat.

I used industrial velcro to mount the servo to avoid drilling into the boat.

It works ok at best; but you are much more handy than me.

Charlie
Title: Re: Bowman "Swallow" live steam powered boat W/ wood box
Post by: St Paul Steam on March 25, 2023, 02:35:36 pm
"Tethering the boat is a possibility, but looks, ah, a bit odd. And do not underestimate the sheer weight of a normal, wet line while a fishing line  might get entangled easily in the rudder/screw..."
my thoughts exactly, I'll wait until its warmer & put it in a swimming pool somewhere.
Title: Re: Bowman "Swallow" live steam powered boat W/ wood box
Post by: yussufhippo on March 25, 2023, 07:09:51 am
Actually, lacking a smaller boating pond somewhere near, the very same question has kept me from trying out my "snipe" on Lake Constance, German/Swiss border, from here to the end of the lake at Bregenz, Austria, it's a mere 46km ... ;)

Perhaps one should have larger boat around. Well, now that I have my sailing boat in the water, just come around and we try them both with my sailor as rescue ship... Kidding aside, I see an additional problem: have some wind on the water and I fear that small waves will pose another threat for these open hulls.
I would like to have a proper boating pond, like the fabulous one in the Gardins de Tuileries, Paris, France. But that's again a bit far away...

Tethering the boat is a possibility, but looks, ah, a bit odd. And do not underestimate the sheer weight of a normal, wet line while a fishing line  might get entangled easily in the rudder/screw...
But perhaps I am simply a scaredy-cat.
Title: Re: Bowman "Swallow" live steam powered boat W/ wood box
Post by: Stoker on March 17, 2023, 09:01:57 pm
Well okay now Bruce. Lovely craft!

First you must know that that little beauty will NOT spin up to anywhere near those RPMs when the propeller is in the water. Next I would suggest that someone has bent the tiller up some as it is supposed to drag on the aft deck so that the rudder can take and hold a set to either go straight or in a circle. You may even want to put some tubing over the tiller ball to make for more friction to set your rudder, with less marring of the after deck. Next thing you'll want to understand is that you want to be sure not to have the wind at your back, blowing out into the lake or pond, as if you put the rudder so the boat goes in a circle, that circle will just keep getting further out from shore. So you either want to have the wind in your face blowing ashore, or you want to have the wind blowing parallel to the shore so the boat will either keep coming in or stay about the same distance out! If you want to tether it, a fishing pole can come in handy and may also work for recovery if the boat ends up out of reach.

Hope any of that helps and is understandable!?!?
Title: Bowman "Swallow" live steam powered boat W/ wood box
Post by: St Paul Steam on March 17, 2023, 07:19:23 pm
Hello fellows boatsman, I'm posting this here as well because I really need some advice on how to go about running this Bowman swallow boat out in the open water ? it seems to rev pretty fast & I don't want it heading out to Sea's far away, how would you suggest I tether this so as I can control it somewhat ? if anyone has any experience with something like this I would sure like to hear your input. thank you.

https://youtu.be/kOaMkYgDsf0