Historical Summary:
Technically, IONA does not meet the Registry criteria, since I built this launch from 2010 to 2022. However, the appearance, machinery, and aspect are all 1894. The engine is one of thirty-one built by the Mills-Beaumaris company in Anglesey, UK. They are considered collector's items - most reside in English gentlemen's conservatories under glass. IONA's is one of the few running in the world. (The hull is the one concession to contemporary practice since I needed it to bear 1,500 lbs of machinery on the trailer. However, Mr. Parker did his best to reproduce the fan tail and look of a carvel-planked hull from the 1890's.) Very few North American steam launches have Scotch marine boilers, since this was more commonly British practice. The coloration of the launch is British (Royal Navy). IONA won Best of Show, Owner-Built Powerboat 2022 at the WoodenBoat Show in Mystic, CT.
Cold-molded marine ply (to Lloyds standard), covered with fiberglass cloth bedded in epoxy; sheer clamp, stem, keel deadwood of old-growth douglas fir; teak laid deck over marine ply; floors of douglas fir; seats of old-growth American chestnut; all deck fittings and the helm are antique; all of the steam and vacuum gauges are antique.
Propulsion:
Engine is a British antique Mills-Beaumaris marine compound of 15 BHP; boiler is a code reproduction of a Scotch marine boiler; all exposed piping is schedule 80 bronze with classic class 300 valves (no ball valves!); feedwater pump is from 1894; boiler can be fired with anthracite coal but most of the time I use hardwood; flank speed is six knots (displacement hull); range of bunkered wood is 30 nm; with coal, 60 nm; range of feedwater is limitless (closed surface condenser loop)