La Melinite
Status: Steaming
Owner: John Jewsbury
Area: UK-South East
Hull
Cabin/Saloon Launch.
Construction: Clinker plywood and epoxy.
Hull model: Elegance designed by Glyn Lancaster Jones at Port Dinorwic in 1992
Built 1993 by Glyn Lancaster Jones at Port Dinorwic
Fit out at Port Dinorwic
LOA: 24' 0", Beam: 5' 6", Draft: 1' 9",
Hull number 25.
Straight stem, canoe stern, aft saloon, midships canopy, white, traditionally varnished deck & saloon. Wheel steering.
Boiler
Lune Valley type 2-drum WT Designed by Glyn Lancaster Jones,
Built 1993 by Glyn Lancaster Jones at Port Dinorwic
Fuel: Coal, Pressure: 145 psi, Heating area: 18 sqft,
Steel drum(s). 0 Steel tubes. Expanded construction, Steel superheater,
condensing, engine driven pump, hand pump, injector, steam feed pump, feed water heater, Windermere kettle, whistle,
No.1020, enlarged version of Lune Valley 2 drum WT with a feedwater heater and a steam drier. Re tubed May 2021.
Engine
Compound. + 4" X 3"Built 1992 by Sam Wilkinson at Kemerton
Design: 6A by: Stuart Turner
Balanced slide valve. SLRG valve gear.
Alex Richie multi point pressure lube system. Wilkinson modified SLRG. Feed and condensate pumps designed and built by Sam Wilkinson and belt driven from the prop shaft via a reduction gearbox. Keel condenser. Additional auxiliary steam driven feed pump by Sam Wilkinson.
Propeller
Bronze, 3 blades, 17" X 27"
History
Designed and built for Adian Birtles in 1992. Commissioned at Port Dinorwic 28th August 1993, then regularly steamed every year till laid up in 2001. Acquired by John Jewsbury in August 2008 and extensively re-furbished. Bare wood restoration to topsides and varnished in traditional varnish. All interior furnishings replaced and professionally re upholstered to a very high standard. New boiler chassis and floor fabricated together with new feedwater heater and steam dryer elements by Glyn Lancaster Jones who made the original boiler. Extensively re-plumbed in copper to replace an assortment of stainless additions which had appeared after Adrian sold the boat in April 1999. The new owner, Bill Hattersley, used the boat regularly for a year before laying her up for some 9 years! She was sold to the current owner in 2008. After La Melinite was renovated she has been steamed and used every year since re commissioning in June 2010. Her boiler was retubed early in 2021. Her boiler log is complete and up to date.
Last Modified: 2024.01.27.
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la Melinite at Allington Lock on the river Medway
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