here are some information about my first ORION. I built it in 1996 and solt in 2003.
The design drawings are from the american steamlaunch PANATELLA, a steam launch from 1962 with a wooden hull. The designer was Will Hardy. I found some pictures and many drawings from Panatella in the book "Steamboats and modern steam launches" a reproduction of a magazine published from 1961 till 1963 in the USA.
The first ORION was new built from steel plates (very heavy built, too heavy...) on a shipyard. It measures 6,0 m x 1,5 m x 0,5 m. I self have built in the installation, the steering gear and the seats.
The steel welded vertical coal fired steam boiler and the Stuart 5A engine whas comming out of an other older steam launch I baught in 1996. The boiler has two firetube plates from 20 mm steel! Total boiler was build from 200 kg steel. I dit heat more steel than water!
Whe got a couple of years a lot of steam plessure whit ORION and made many miles in the waters around Amsterdam, but ORION whas to small for the familie and too havy built.
Greetings
Frenk
