Footy rescue vessel paddle steamer.

We often sail as a group on ponds where a rescue boat isn't on hand and idealy a dingy of some sort but in the event of getting stuck in the reeds/ radio failure or a sail malfuction just a push from a powered model would suffice. Also I've always wanted a paddle "steamer" and this is an excuse to build one!

A Murray River Paddle Steamer.

The idea is to build a simple electric paddle driven boat which apart from being a model in it’s own right had a secondary duty of rounding stranded or wayward Footys and pushing them back on course or back to the bank.
I came across in the bottom shed a discarded toy aircraft carrier whose 24” long hull was just too good to pass by (No matter what my teenage son thought! You can’t use that Dad, it’s a toy!) I looked on the web for a suitable boat to build with it
I stumbled on the Aussie Murray river steamers and love there simple no nonsense design and it should look right at home on our muddy ponds!

So far my parts list consists of; one afore mentioned one long plastic toy aircraft carrier, a Soviet made windscreen washer motor from a Russian car, a battery from a cheap pistol drill, a cut down planetary gearbox from an electric screwdriver and a hand brace!

I’ve cut the hull down to about half it’s height, cutting off all the odd aircraft carrier deck extensions, this leaves a shallow hull that is approximately right for my paddle steamer. A floating hull in half an hour can’t be bad!
The motor looks tough and very well made I’m not sure how it’ll stand up to continuous running though it doesn’t appear to get hot. I’ll put it on a power supply tomorrow to see exactly how much current it is drawing. With the cut down screwdriver gearbox clamped in the jaws of the hand drill’s chuck propels the handle around at about 60 RPM. These gears will turn the power 90 degrees onto the paddle shaft. I’ll keep you updated!