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Having come ashore as Superintendent Engineer for a fleet of tugs that the company owned in South Wales, I started building model engines, mainly Hot Air Engines. In 1988 I built an steam engine, 2 1/2"bore by 3" stroke suitable for a small boat and then a boiler for it. I then bought a suitable hull and fitted the engine and boiler.That eventually became my first steam launch, Rockabill.
Having designed and built four new boilers and an new engine, a 3 1/2"bore by 5" stroke Uniflow, the power and wieght were too much for Rockabill's 16 foot hull, so in 2001 I started designing Elpenor, named after a very happy ship that I had sailed on. Work started at Easter 2002 at C.H.Bailey's Dry Dock in Newport, South Wales, where I docked most of the tugs during my time as their Supertendent.
The engine and boiler from Rockabill were transfered to the new hull. Elpenor was launched in June 2003. After a seasons rallies, most of the problems were ironed out and a speed of 8 mph can be held all day at 150 psi boiler pressure and 320 rpm engine speed. The propeller is fabricated from stainless steel and is 19" dia by 27" pitch.