Posted by Laurence Monkhouse on November 23, 2006 at 13:13:47 from 80.3.128.6 user Laurence_.
In Reply to: Re: Holiday Tasks, more on posted by JOhn Wilson on November 23, 2006 at 03:39:21:
did the Beckfoot launch (no name apart from Beckfoot?) have an oil or diesel engine?
I doubt whether it would have been diesel. Small marine diesel engines were to the best of my knowledge a fairly late development. In 1930 I suspect that the only relatively small marine diesels in use were hot-bulb, and I can't imagine anybody putting one of these into a Windermere style launch as described in SD - it would have been "Bang Bang" rather than "Chug Chug"
I would have thought by far the most likely option would have been a motor car petrol (gasoline) engine adapted for marine use.