Soundings

TIME MACHINE

A wobbly 14-second video shows part of the giant diesel engine, as tall as a man at 6 feet and as long as two at 12 feet. Three cylinders sit in line, the rocker arms and tappets frivolously exposed like fuel and oil lines. The whole assembly sounds like a loud sewing machine that’s playing a waltz as intake and exhaust valve springs do their thing: compress and release.

If you are into old boats and engines, there’s nothing quite like this Washington Iron Works three-cylinder diesel from 1929, with all its key parts fully uncovered and easily accessible. This magnificent machinery appears to have

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Soundings

Soundings2 min read
Limestone 24
If the words “Fast, Handsome and Durable” weren’t written in the design brief, they were uppermost in the mind of Mark Ellis when he began to draw the lines of the Limestone 24 in the mid-1980s. Although it was the first powerboat design from his own
Soundings2 min read
Making For Home
Underneath an ominous sky and heavy rain, a red, Downeast-style lobster boat charges through high seas in the painting Storm on Machias Bay, Maine by Robert B. Dance. Dance’s ability to capture atmospheric effects is evident in the dark greens of the
Soundings2 min read
Sirena 48
The Sirena 48 is the smallest vessel in a four-model line that runs to 88 feet from the Turkish shipyard. Like her sisterships, the 48 is drawn by the Argentinian yacht designer Germán Frers. Her profile is defined by an elegant plumb bow, copious hu

Related Books & Audiobooks