Although I had always liked riverboats in films and books, I had never seen one in person until one day, as a wee lad, on a trip with my folks to Florida, I saw a sternwheeler pushing a small barge on a river in some state long forgotten. What struck me was the paddlewheel. Churning along with a spray 10 - 15 feet in the air, that image has been with me for 50 odd years.
My interest in paddlewheelers took a turn toward 'Could I actually build one?' in the mid 70's while
stationed at Columbus AFB Ms.
I was cruising on the Tombigbee (pre-channeling) in a Rec Center rental jon boat when
I happened upon someone's hombuilt paddle barge partially sunken and embedded in the bank.
It had a steel hull with a sheet metal canopy and was about 8' x 10'. It was a sidewheeler
and had been powered by what appeared to be a 5hp lawnmower engine with a gokart slip clutch
chain drive affair to a single axle. From that time on, my own homebuit paddlewheeler was
never far from my mind.
For the next 10 years, I made several different sketches some actually kept in a notebook (barely above what I call 'Engineering Napkins' my boat evolved from something similar to that sunken paddle barge to a 25' oilbarrel pontoon affair (similar to John Bedeck's early efforts), to a full hulled 40 footer with with a small pilot house on the top sundeck. But never any real serious planning. In 1980 I separated from the service and moved to Camden Arkansas after being recruited bby General Dynamics Corporation. While house hunting, I met the gentleman who was building the only stern wheeler to tie up in Camden in over 60 years. Approximatley 30 ft long with a 6x6 wheel powered by a small Ford 6 cyl & transmission driving a conventional chain. Still afloat today but little used, it can be seen today below Camden's Ben Laney bridge (top Pic).
Fired up again, I pulled out the old drawings and sketches and put on my design cap in earnest. Eventually they started to form up into a faily consistant design.
A full sized 65'steel bottomed live aboard with
sleek modern lines with stairs on either side of the cabin and built into the structure.
One theme that has always stuck in my mind and my designs with the exception of the barrel-pontoon
sketch was ~ SIDEWHEELER
What with ballgames, band practice, competitions and all that accompanies parenthood, after a few months my enthusiasm started to wane yet again. Although I did tinker occasionally, for years my sleek, ultra modern, yacht/paddlewheeler sat mostly idle. By the late 90's I had manage to move from the 'engineering napkin' stage into something more permanent: AUTOCAD. Also firmed up the placement of some things like water and fuel storage etc. But nothing too serious and always the ever present problem of powering 2 wheels at a time.
Then in 2007, I had the opportunity to meet Kenney Arnold of Arnold Tool. We had been doing business together for several years, but I had only spoken with him by phone. Immediately I could tell that Kenny was one of those 'Good ol' Boys'. With the natural jawing two such people normally get into, the conversation eventually turned to the nearby river.
I don't remember who mentioned paddlewheelers first but suddenly Ken said, "Come with me", as he headed to the back where he proceeded to pull out the drawings for his sternwheeler, the Ouachita Belle. Next he showed me his power plant and drive in the rear of his shop and then outside to the initial frame for the hull which he was about to construct using his custom built, folklift powered, bender for the 20' steel sheeting he would be using. After about an hour - or so - of talking paddle wheelers, construction techniques, discussing how-to's on numerous related topics and dozens of questions on my part, I reluctantly forced myself to leave... I had been on the clock after-all and now it was well past time to head home :)
That evening, my wife Shirley, asked why I had seemed so distant or lost in thought since I had been home. Haha. Her reaction, when I fessed up was one I know many of you have witnessed before -
- which of course was
followed by what I call the 'Knowing Knod'. Undaunted, later that evening back in my office, I
started to work: Searching for my drawing backups(I had changed computers since I
had last tinkered) and scouring the web once more for anything to do with paddlewheelers both stern
and sidewheeled. This site is a collection of what I have done to date on this project. My thanks to the all the folks at
American Sternwheel Association and Gemort at
Sternwheel Riverboat Harbor where I have been garnering
information from for years. I have no idea how many times I have read every page and article
My interest in paddlewheelers took a turn toward 'Could I actually build one?' in the mid 70's while
stationed at Columbus AFB Ms.
I was cruising on the Tombigbee (pre-channeling) in a Rec Center rental jon boat when
I happened upon someone's hombuilt paddle barge partially sunken and embedded in the bank.
It had a steel hull with a sheet metal canopy and was about 8' x 10'. It was a sidewheeler
and had been powered by what appeared to be a 5hp lawnmower engine with a gokart slip clutch
chain drive affair to a single axle. From that time on, my own homebuit paddlewheeler was
never far from my mind.For the next 10 years, I made several different sketches some actually kept in a notebook (barely above what I call 'Engineering Napkins' my boat evolved from something similar to that sunken paddle barge to a 25' oilbarrel pontoon affair (similar to John Bedeck's early efforts), to a full hulled 40 footer with with a small pilot house on the top sundeck. But never any real serious planning. In 1980 I separated from the service and moved to Camden Arkansas after being recruited bby General Dynamics Corporation. While house hunting, I met the gentleman who was building the only stern wheeler to tie up in Camden in over 60 years. Approximatley 30 ft long with a 6x6 wheel powered by a small Ford 6 cyl & transmission driving a conventional chain. Still afloat today but little used, it can be seen today below Camden's Ben Laney bridge (top Pic).
Fired up again, I pulled out the old drawings and sketches and put on my design cap in earnest. Eventually they started to form up into a faily consistant design.
A full sized 65'steel bottomed live aboard with
sleek modern lines with stairs on either side of the cabin and built into the structure.
One theme that has always stuck in my mind and my designs with the exception of the barrel-pontoon
sketch was ~ SIDEWHEELERWhat with ballgames, band practice, competitions and all that accompanies parenthood, after a few months my enthusiasm started to wane yet again. Although I did tinker occasionally, for years my sleek, ultra modern, yacht/paddlewheeler sat mostly idle. By the late 90's I had manage to move from the 'engineering napkin' stage into something more permanent: AUTOCAD. Also firmed up the placement of some things like water and fuel storage etc. But nothing too serious and always the ever present problem of powering 2 wheels at a time.
Then in 2007, I had the opportunity to meet Kenney Arnold of Arnold Tool. We had been doing business together for several years, but I had only spoken with him by phone. Immediately I could tell that Kenny was one of those 'Good ol' Boys'. With the natural jawing two such people normally get into, the conversation eventually turned to the nearby river.
I don't remember who mentioned paddlewheelers first but suddenly Ken said, "Come with me", as he headed to the back where he proceeded to pull out the drawings for his sternwheeler, the Ouachita Belle. Next he showed me his power plant and drive in the rear of his shop and then outside to the initial frame for the hull which he was about to construct using his custom built, folklift powered, bender for the 20' steel sheeting he would be using. After about an hour - or so - of talking paddle wheelers, construction techniques, discussing how-to's on numerous related topics and dozens of questions on my part, I reluctantly forced myself to leave... I had been on the clock after-all and now it was well past time to head home :)
That evening, my wife Shirley, asked why I had seemed so distant or lost in thought since I had been home. Haha. Her reaction, when I fessed up was one I know many of you have witnessed before -
- which of course was
followed by what I call the 'Knowing Knod'. Undaunted, later that evening back in my office, I
started to work: Searching for my drawing backups(I had changed computers since I
had last tinkered) and scouring the web once more for anything to do with paddlewheelers both stern
and sidewheeled. This site is a collection of what I have done to date on this project. My thanks to the all the folks at
American Sternwheel Association and Gemort at
Sternwheel Riverboat Harbor where I have been garnering
information from for years. I have no idea how many times I have read every page and article
