Page 17: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 2022)

the replica in quotes since replicas can the hull and it will actually last forever. I doubt that a screw propelled ves- range from totally authentic to no more I had our high school intern Riley Fla- sel would have worked as well in this than evoking the spirit of the original. nagan generate a ? rst concept. It is not context, and what makes paddlewheels

Actual totally authentic replicas are optimized yet, but I like what I am seeing. viable here is the emergence of electric almost always disappointments. They It is cute and will look great on our and solar propulsion. What is old is now are of very limited use and very expen- river, but what is really cool is that I ran green. I suspect this is only the tip of the sive to build and maintain. Too many some cost numbers and it is actually a (global warming threatened) iceberg. authentic replicas rot away in some cor- viable commercial vessel. For example, Similar trends are occurring with sail and ner of the harbor soon after their main the cost of construction of articulated other old technologies and old concepts event because they serve no further pur- paddlewheel propulsors would barely be will re-emerge as they blend with new pose. As such, I was thinking in terms of higher than the cost of a screw propulsion technologies. As engineers we should evoking the past with new technologies system. As matter of fact, while this ves- never forget to mine the past for good and materials. sel would be somewhat more expensive ideas. I mean: “Why reinvent the wheel?”

And then things got interesting. In than a “conventional” dinner cruiser, its laying out a paddle wheeler, the ? rst life cycle cost would be much lower. question is what prime mover to use. Once the USA250 festivities are over,

For each column I write, MREN has

Diesel is loud and noisy, steam is very this boat would be a very attractive low agreed to make a small donation to expensive and dif? cult to operate. Why operating and maintenance cost passen- an organization of my choice. For this column I will make the donation to the not electric drive? Why not solar elec- ger cruise vessel for wildlife viewing, yet to be created USA 250 Navesink tric? And then things took off. excursions, dinner cruises, weddings or

River Steamer Foundation.

Side wheelers are relatively slender special event charters. vessels with lots of deck space. Lots of deck space mean lot of space for solar panels. Steam vessels were very quiet

We look forward to seeing you and so are electric drive vessels. during ovb7omb-ƒ?ƒƒ

One reason side wheelers fell out of atoo|_?l???

favor is because the centrally located engine ate up prime real estate, but elec- tric drive is very compact and the side wheel drive mechanism would barely intrude into the public spaces. Batteries are heavy and these boats need ballast, batteries make great ballast. And articu- lated paddlewheels allow shallow draft and are no less ef? cient than propel- lers in this application. A solar electric paddle wheeler would not only look like an early 1900’s paddle wheeler, it would feel and sound like one too.

So maybe I want to cheat a little and still ? t a standby generator for long runs, but that can be hidden anywhere below deck, and it will add to the ballast. Re- gardless, the boat will not carry a lot of fuel and therefore the boat will not change much in draft, so paddlewheel immersion is of little concern. The trade will be the Navesink River, Shrewsbury

River and NY Harbor and Raritan Bay in m|;um-?om-?!;]bv|ub;vkm1l good weather; perfectly ? ne for paddle- [email protected] bm-L?b-?om?b|_|_;-uv_-??v?-m7v -ub?l;sourou-|;7lbmbv|u-|ouv www.register-iri.com wheels. Build it out of aluminum and it will last nearly forever or use titanium for www.marinelink.com 17

MR #5 (1-17).indd 17 5/3/2022 4:08:20 PM