S/S Puhois. Steamer from 1925

Fuel! Birch from Russia. One cubikmeter will last for three hours at full speed. Not cheap really!

Hull made of pinetree. Most of it is still original.

Just about to leave. Just tie up the rear to the pier. Put in reverse and stern will turn out. 

Here are som photos of a really nice boat i use to work on summertime. S/S Puhois is one of two remaining steamers in Finland, with the hull built of wood. She had a duty at times when logs were transported on water; she has a crane, crew lifted up bunches of 25 logs and wrapped a steelwire around it, for easier handling for the towboats. She is now on museumregistration. That means she has to remain original, atleast externaly. She has about 25 beds so there is plenty of space on her. There is a sauna too, wich adds some luxury to it. 

24 meter long, 5.1 m wide makes her a big vessel. She has a 65 hp engine. Not many horsepowers, but the torque is massive. She will cruise at 6 knots, with 8 as topspeed. With tailwind of course:-) I am lucky to have been on S/S Puhois for some summers now. I'm a stearmen and deckhand on her plus just be around and do this and that kind of sources. There is also a set of downriggers to use, so i can use this pearl to go fishing ;-) Quite unique trollingboat, eh?

I have hundreds of photos of her and i will add some more later. The photos didn't appear in order here, of some reason. Last photo should have been first. Well, well.../ Jussi

New Battery for the Warrior.

I bought a new battery for my boat. It's an Deka Seamate AGM (AbsorbedGlassMat). Completely sealed, no acid or explosive fumes coming out from this battery. The speifications are the same as for an ordinary battery, weight, size aso. 

Amp.hours are 79. Prize is the double compared with an ordinary acidbattery but an battery with AGM will last longer and with the advantages it have, it is well worth the money. This type of battery also has better ability to last longer even if t is completely drawn out and recharged more times than an ordinary battery. I bought it from Svenska Batterilagret in Borås. Deka in made in USA. 

I have had my recent battery for more than five years and thought it was time to update it. It works, but i don't know for how long. A battery in a boat lives a hard life. They can work well, start the engine and get the instruments working. But once you leave the harbour and give gas, it could be good to have in mind that an fuelinjected outboarder needs 11.9 Volts to have enough power for the ignition. Lover voltage in battery than that, and engine will stop. The more gas you give, the more power the engine  takes out for the ignition. If you have an old battery it will be a hard work for it to do that job, especially with lights, GPS, fishfinder and all other things that is running at the same time. Wintertime it will be even harder for it. If a fuelinjected engine stops while running, due to an bad battery; stop and turn off all consumers. Wait some minutes and then start up the engine again. But DO NOT try to give gas. Engine will stop again. There is not enough voltage for the ignition, so just let it run on idle for a long time. Hopefully you are not outside Omberg, Lake Vättern in an hard westerly wind as i was when my engine did just what i described above. I managed to get back to Hästholmen, one experince richer what fishing from a boat wintertime can be like when it's cold. My battery in the boat, at that time was just low on water and voltage. Just a little but enough that day to almost make my day really bad. A battery, the best you can get is a cheap ensurance for safety. A double set up of batterys is a good way to add safety too, but heavier and more expensive. A small kicker next to the big engine is good aswell. / Jussi

This is the way how to put a warrior in the water!

Problems with your trailer?

Look at this. Perfekt to prevent problems with brakes or wheelbearings. When i imported my trailer from England it had something like this mounted to protect and grease the bearings. The idea is simple.  Just pump in the grease and the spring system will make sure there is enough of it to keep water away. The bearing get new grease all the time. I have had my trailer for five years and this far i have done nothing to it. Just the ordinary things, adjusting brakes aso.  These bearingprotecters doesn't mean that you can leave the ordinary service, maintenance undone, but they do make things a lot easier. 

I have found this maker in US: www.bearingbuddies.com

There is one in UK:  www.trailertek.co.uk/ acatalog/BB101.jpg 

Looks a little bit different, but works just the same.

I have copied the photos from the webpages. Well aware that i'm not allowed to do that. I let the photos be here till someone tells me to remove them! I think theese bearingsavers are good things. Making it more safe to drive around in bad conditions with our boattrailers, especially now, wintertime. I have seen what happens when bearings get jammed due to bad grease or none at all. The friction will make the brakepads and the drum even hotter. This will be to much for the bearing. Finally, It's not a pretty sight when a wheel leaves the rest of the trailer. No horrorstorryies to be told here! It's a lot more fun to be home in time, safe and sound. 

There are a lot of places to order on the net. If you order them, measure the diameter on your hubs, so you get the right ones. Safe ride and Tight lines.