The only specialised marine publication in Oceania that focuses on the maritime industry, from super yachts to small craft to large commercial ships, including coastal shipping, tugs, tow boats, barges, ferries, tourist, sport-fishing craft, je
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VIP.WB13 Specialising in Aluminium Boats & Barges 4-20 metres Commercial or Private We can build to your specifications or ours. See our web site at http://www.phoenixboats.co.nz Built By Phoenix Boats Ltd 29 Hewlett Street, PO Box 1191, Whangarei Ph/Fax: 09 438 4480, Email: phoenixboats@xtra.co.nz VIP.S88 13.4 knots on trials and if her bottom is clean, she still does over 13 knots. A tug's towing power is measured in bollard pull, and the William C Daldy was conservatively measured at 17 tons on trials in 1935. The new motor tugs in Auckland in the 1960's were less than this, but her replacement, the 1977 Daldy, came in at 24 tons bollard pull at half her size, while the newer tractor tugs, known as the terrible twins, can pull 50 tonnes apiece. Her construction was very quick, only seven months building before being launched on October 1, 1935 before final fit out, where the boilers and engines were craned in, and the build was completed by October 28, when the tug was ready for sea trials. It was a massive task even by today's standards. Once completed, she was handed over to the contracted delivery crew for safe delivery to Auckland, a voyage of 82 days. With a crew of 15 and a bunker of 130 tons of coal, William C Daldy departed the Clyde on November 7, 1935 bound for Auckland via Algiers, Port Said, Aden, Columbo, Djakarta, Bowen and finally across the Tasman Sea to her new home in Auckland. During the 12 week voyage she maintained an average speed of 7.2 knots, burning some 840 tons of coal and arrived in Auckland with less than five tons of coal in her bunkers. Having set the background, the heart of all steam vessels is down below where most of the action occurs, so lets take a quick look below in William C Daldy. With 13 separate steam engines in one compartment the William C Daldy's engine room can get to be quite a busy place. For'ard in the boiler room the tug has her two original Scotch hand fired boilers constructed by Messrs Barclay, Curle & Co Ltd of Glasgow. They are cylindrical, 13 feet 6 inches in diameter by 11 feet 6 inches long, holding 20 tons of water each. They have three furnaces designed for coal-burning and are fed by forced draught, supplied by a Howden's Patent steam-powered fan. The firemen, or stokers as we know them, have six fires to tend, and if the tug is working at steaming pressure the boilers will have an appetite to burn over a ton of coking coal an hour. On an average day, there will be four stokers on board, two down two up, swapping over every 30 minutes. The coal is in bunkers on each side of the vessel, alongside the boilers, and hold up to 50 tons aside. If the bunkers are full the coal finds its way by gravity to the stokehole and out onto the plates without effort. If the bunkers are low, then the youngest stoker gets delegated to go into the bunkers to shovel the coal into the doorway first, a process known as trimming. It is dirty dusty work and these days just part of a stokers job. There is also a cross bunker which can hold a further 30 tons of bagged coal for longer voyages. The maximum boiler pressure is 180 psi. If they are stone cold a fire would be lit in each centre furnace two days before a sailing. It would be fired during the day and banked at night. About two hours before sailing, there should be 100 psi on the clock, and the wing fires can then be laid and lit with hot coals from the centre fires. There will of course be some ash under the centre fires by now, and this is normally put ashore by shovelling into steel drums and hoisting up on deck with the one manpower winch. Steam from the boilers is fed aft to the engine CREW VOLUNTEERS WANTED Help keep the call of the by-gone era of steam alive. We are looking for enthusiastic volunteers, men and women, to join our crew so the old hands may pass the skills of yesteryear to the next generation of guardians of our heritage steam tug William C Daldy. No experience necessary. Are you interested in working boilers, steam engines or just being on deck to learn new skills or refresh the old, be it steam, engineering or seamanship? Do you enjoy making new friends and the camaraderie of the sea? If you answer yes, then please contact: Alex Franklin, 027 568 8623 or Richard Parmee, 021 659 800 www.daldy.com NZ WORKBOAT REVIEW 2013 7