On Tue, 30 Sep 2008 20:05:12 +0000, Larry wrote:

Brian Whatcott wrote in
:

Still, a useful tip...



It's time the boats went diesel-electric. Sure works great for the
trains...(c;

How about direct drive as used by the WWII German torpedo boats? You
stop the engine and restart it turning the other way. They didn't have
a compressor and only had enough air to start the engines once. Put a
premium on seamanship to say the least. All the biggest ships, tankers
and boxboats both, are that way. They avoid having a multimillion buck
gearbox. As for diesel-electric, all the Holland-America cruise ships
have it. One of the ones I was on had five engines for two shafts.
That way you can overhaul one and run on four easily. I saw them
loading cylinder heads at the start of a trip. All their ships have a
bar directly above the wheelhouse, with floor to ceiling glass on all
three outside walls. Great in a Norwegian or Alaskan fjord, or in a
harbor.

Casady