minimus

Minimus was built by Geoff walker,the design is based upon the Emmy lou.She was designed so she could be transported by trailer and her hull is all aluminium  with 3mm sheet used thru out, the basic dimensions are 20 foot long and 10 feet wide over the paddle wheels.The width can be reduced to 8 feet for transport (IF ANYONE KNOWS HOW THIS IS DONE PLEASE TELL ME) .I had a brief chat with the owner and forgot to ask.
she runs a strathsteam 5hp (500 rpm) single cylinder steam engine and vertical boiler 110 psi.

funny enough my wife and I were there when minimus was next to billy tea..

cheers anthony

mmmm, I know.. I would like to now how the reduce the width by 2' when transporting it..
And it honestly doesnt look that big, I mean when I picture my boat Minimus 6' longer and 4'5'' wider.. It really didnt look that big in Roderick's picture either. But dimensions are dimensions...
And I wouldn't mind something like F06.. But I dont think I would like it to look like POTM or Canberra, I think I would go more AA or Oscar W look if I had a choice..
Anyone know if the PS or PV Emma is still around?? Was once upon a time the smallest boat on the river.. Has it be renamned??
Cheers

While waiting for a close-range shot from Michael or from Anth, here is Michael's earlier photo treated a diffent way: cropped to focus on Minimus.

Small PV Emma was lengthened, and renamed PV Gemma (a tribute to much larger Gem).  It was gutted by fire in April or May 06, and is on the owner's property for sale as a package with the mooring right.

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

I have minimus next to Henry Charles. There is an article on her in Australian Amature Boat Builder (!?!?!?) where it discusses construction of the boat, it might have something about extension in that, however I'm not sure. I have that magazine at home, marion on the front cover.

The notes and photo formerly here have been transferred to the Research forum, APAM list thread.

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

Roderick, can you add this post onto APAM as I think it would be of great benefit to the paddle ducks section.

For such a small boat it sure has some towing power!

I remember seeing the Mosquito go through the lock at Mildura in, I think, 2000...
Mum said that it looked like her type of boat, nice and small.
I also remember it being bigger, but then I was smaller as well..
And yeah, if it can tow that much, geez... Little boat full of 'oomph'!!

Haha that was a funny day when I took that photo, Billy Tea came moored beside Minimus, then Barmah tied off him and then James Maiden came charging in pushing everyone into each other and ended up smashing up Minimu's back deck. You can see Luke trying his best to push her off

The James Maiden seems to do a lot of charging whenever I see the boat!!
And I was going to subsrcibe to the Australian Amature Boatbuilder, but it says that I have to put in an issue number to start from.. dont know anything about that one ?!?!?!?!?!
It would contain all the secrets and tips of boat building!!

It does seem that the majority of builders/owners of boats in the very-small class chose SL rather than PS: possibly because of ease of towing.
However, it does seem that the hulls could go either way, and there is a definite theme to the styling: very Edwardian, with curved canopies, which would look just as good as PV or MV.

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

We saw a few steam launches at the past couple of Wooden Boat Festivals in Goolwa.. Dad really likes them and want SJ to become a Steam Launch.. I would have to put paddles on them though...  :wink:

Two more from the Sat.15.5.04 Clayton - Goolwa stage of the celebration run from Renmark.

I have posted the Steam Boat Association of Australia site before:
www.steamboat.com.au
It will be a useful group for information on hull restoration.  Also, the group runs several rallies for boats of this size: you could have a lot of fun at them, and inspire more members to consider paddle propulsion.

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

Yes, I remember the SL Flaming Galah!! It is a good looking boat.. is the Website for the Steam Boat Association just www.steamboatassociation.com.au??
We could get people to become interested in paddlers eh... The more the merrier

Here are my last two relevant vessels at Goolwa on Sat.15.5.04 for the 150th anniversary of the railway.

I edited my earlier post to include the SBAA website address.

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

I have been scanning photos from this event for other parts of Paddleducks, and came across these two:

The first shows the stylish MV Lady B: lovely hull, with the Edwardian effect created by the fabric canopy with roll-down sides.  Of interest is the vessel rear right: this was the former Hindmarsh Island punt, superseded by a bridge.  It is kept at its former site as a museum piece, but is floated to the main dock for this event to provide extra docking space.

The second shows part of one of the four parades, revealing the variety of boats which attend.  The replica PS Mary Ann has a metal hull, but was an invited guest.  At the rear right is a Duck Flat Mundoo (IIRC MV Extempore), a later variant of my own Jessie II (from which the photograph was taken by my deckhand).  In the foreground is a small motor launch on which the cabin would be hard pressed to provide space for a stereo sound system and a double mattress.  My advice to Michael is to go for the Edwardian look (which is likely, his revised plans as at Tues.28.11 had the Edwardian look).

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor