Length:7.5m, Beam: 2.1m, Draft: 0.45m
Propulsion: Leake compound steam engine and wood fired vertical fire tube boiler Construction: Timber
Owner: Doug Gullickson, Paynesville, Vic.
Owner: Doug Gullickson, Paynesville, Vic.
The steam engine in this vessel is a Leake compound designed by Arthur Leake in the late 70s and built by David Payne at Rosevears, Tasmania in 2004. The boiler is a wood fired vertical fire tube that was retubed in 2017. Originally this plant was in a 1950s wooden hulled 21ft (6.4m) half cabin boat that was too heavy, so after a lot of planning this hull was started in 2014. It is 7.5 metres long and strip planked in foam with fibreglass and epoxy covering and has produced a very rigid but light hull which we have named SL Ariel.