Steamboat Register

I.K.BRUNEL

Status: Active use

Owner: Rod and Shirl Martin

Area: Australia

Hull

Cabin/Saloon Launch. Construction: Strip plank (7/8.
Hull model: 18' Couta Boat designed by LACCO at Victoria, Australia
Built 2020 by SAMUEL W MARTIN at Victoria, Australia
Fit out 2020 by Samuel & Rodney Martin at Emerald, Victoria, Australia
LOA: 18' 0", LWL: 18' 0", Beam: 7' 0", Draft: 2' 6", Displacement: 3432 lbs.
Couta Boats were built in various lenghts up to about 28', traditionally sail with centre boards to allow landing their catch on the beach for forwarding on to markets. Today these boats are well sought after by the well heeled and competively raced at the lower stretches of Port Phillip Bay, Victoria. Our boat was purchased rough stripped from its previous owner/builder, still upside down on its building frame, and using original carvel construction drawings was going to be a centreboard sailboat. My son Samuel who is a consumate wooden boatbuilder finished the boat off to its present high standard using Celery Top Pine from Tasmania and reclaimed Redgum from fence posts and house stumps for the trim. The hull was also made from Celery Top, with Eucalyptus keel.

Boiler

Illingworth type WT Designed by Owner,
Built 2020 by THE ENGINEERIUM at Emerald, Victoria, Australia.
Fuel: Coal or wood., Pressure: 150 psi, Grate area: 1.6 sqft, Heating area: 16 sqft,
6" dia X 24" high Steel drum(s). 31 Copper tubes. Welded steel ,expanded tubes construction, Stainless Steel superheater,
condensing, engine driven pump, hand pump, steam feed pump, feed water heater, Windermere kettle, whistle,
The Economiser in the upper part of the boiler adds another 8.7 sq. ft. of heating surface along with 3.2 sq. ft. of Exhaust Steam Feedheater all .resulting in a pretty lively combination.

Engine

Double-acting single. 3" X 4"
Built 2019 by THE ENGINEERIUM at Emerald, Victoria, Australia.
Designed by: 0wner
Slide valve. Stephenson valve gear.
Power: 5 HP
Based on a design for a High Duty Marine Engine from K.N.Harris' book Model Stationary and Marine Steam Engines. The trunk guide/entablature assembly is fabricated from steel and bronze welded. All bearings and eccentric straps are split in the traditional manner. Eccentric driven feed pump mounted vertically in bottom entablature. Crankshaft machined from a piece of 2" x 4" black steel bar, turned oversize and then ground. Coincidentally after commencing construction of this engine I came across a 5'' x 6" unbranded engine of this style, complete with vertically mounted feed pump crudely bolted to the entablature, at Lake Goldsmith Traction Engine Rally, Victoria. The engine was owned by the late John Norris and now resides in the Mannum Dock Museum, South Australia. There is nothing new in engineering !

Propeller

Stainless Steel, 3 blades, Left Hand, 17" X 20"
Shaft: 1" duplex stainless ste

Added to the register: 2021.04.09. Last Modified: 2024.05.28.

First outing after escaping our 4 month Covid Lockdown at Blue Rock Lake, Willow Grove , Victoria, Australia. Yes I know there is only one L in Brunel, unfortunately the signwriter didn't.

Photos

Hull as initially purchased, strip planked Celery Top Pine from Tasmania.	Hand pump mounted on columns which support the shell and tube exhaust feedwater heater. Steam pump monted on boiler. All pumps can take their suction either from the hotwell or make-up tank and deliver either direct to boiler or through the economiser.	View from Stoker/Engineers seat.
Modified Illingsworth Boiler showing skewed tubes to encourage better heat transfer by slowing combustion gases down. The original design with vertical tubes has a large wege shaped space between each tube allowing the hot gases to rise without coming into contact with any heating surface.	Boiler mounted in casing which is lined with 1" of ceramic fibre blanket, held in place initially with refractory "glue" ( not very successful ), then in turn with coarse stainless steel mesh held in place with ss screws. Firebox has an additional layer 1 1/2" thick of castable refractory over inside of blanket.Steam drier/superheater can be seen above tubes.	Second stage of Economiser, approximately 39' of 1/2" copper tube.
First stage of Economiser in smokehood, approximatetly 27' of 1/2" copper tube.	Looking from forard seating aft. Windemere kettle (yet to be polished), hotwell and ashpan/damper door which is cable controlled from the helm.