Anyone here have real-world experience with a small steam-powered boat in the 2020s? I’m daydreaming about a quiet little lake cruiser and wondering if a modern twist on steam is actually practical, safe, and marina-friendly. I’m a beginner, so I’m trying to separate romance from reality before going down the rabbit hole.
Things I’m curious about:
- Steam-electric hybrid: Could a compact reciprocating engine or microturbine drive a generator, with a small battery buffer powering an electric shaft motor? Would this smooth out throttle response and make docking easier, or is the added complexity not worth it on a 16-22 ft boat?
- Fuel and firing: Is anyone running wood pellets with an automatic feeder on a boat? How do you deal with ash, ember control, and spark arrestors at marinas? Are diesel-fired monotube/flash boilers a better fit for quick steam-up times?
- Hull and weight: What hull sizes and types handle the boiler/engine weight without getting tender? Any rules of thumb for placing the boiler, condenser, and fuel to keep CG and trim sane on a trailerable hull?
- Water and treatment: Closed-loop with a keel condenser vs. open system-how do you manage scaling, oxygen, and chlorides if you ever venture into brackish water? What’s a realistic maintenance routine for water chemistry on a small plant?
- Noise, smoke, and heat: How stealthy can you make the plume/exhaust in calm weather? Any clever heat recovery for cabin hot water or space heating that doesn’t mess up the plant?
- Safety and compliance: What inspections or certifications are typically required for pressure vessels afloat? Do marinas and insurers actually accept small steam plants, and what documentation do they ask for?
- Operations: Honest numbers on warm-up time from cold, hourly fuel consumption, and range. How often are you cleaning tubes, testing safeties, and checking injectors/feed pumps?
If you’ve built, bought, or regularly ride on a modern steam launch, I’d love to hear what you’d do differently, and whether you’d recommend steam to a newbie over a simple electric setup.