House Boat and why I want one.

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Dan

Dan

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May 25, 2008
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eDJ, Looked to be about 10 feet. Wooden slat style row boat. Early 80's probably 1983. Sharp bow with no motor that I saw or at least remember.

The school bus/floating camper!!! I built a model yrs back! Man that would be cool. Built in 12V, drive shaft, wind shield wipers. Run rudder cables to the steering box shaft. I wanted to paint the bus like the Partridge Family bus. Instead of a stuffing box, I wanted to use 2 barges ridgedly connected leaving a valley for the drive shaft. Aside from the "funky" factor, I don't think this would be $ way to go unless you had a bus sitting in the yard. But man! would be cool. Without the wheels, would sit pretty low. Another thought along these lines would be a van or small RV. RV would be easiest I think. Designed to be energy efficient and independent with a head. (gonna google that, bet some one has done it)

LOL! Shoreham harbour house-boat-bus-washingmachine-austinallegro-artinstallation on Flickr - Photo Sharing! This fits the "funky" prereq.

Too unstable, but cool. Half RV, Half Houseboat, All Totally Awesome - Geekologie

I can't find much, dang. Marketing opp here? LOL

The self propelled barges with the giant out boards are pretty kool. But horrors for fuel. Handel amazingly well. Would be great for actually building a house on!
 
Ilikeabikea

Ilikeabikea

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I saw a motor home on an RV show one time that had potoons built under it. You just drive the sucker out into the water, engage the out drive and you got a houseboat. The basic model was about 800 grand. I don't think I could drive a million dollar motorhome out into a lake.......................
 
Dan

Dan

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Ilikeabikea said:
I saw a motor home on an RV show one time that had potoons built under it. You just drive the sucker out into the water, engage the out drive and you got a houseboat. The basic model was about 800 grand. I don't think I could drive a million dollar motorhome out into a lake.......................
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LOL, at that price.. Nope, ut-uh. No way. Not me cap. Sorry, nope.

(direct quot from a cadet on an outward bound ship. Funny kid. He escaped and when a teacher grabbed him in a store in town he screamed he was being molested. A crowd surrounded them, and by the time the cops got there he had escaped again)
 
Michigan Mike

Michigan Mike

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eDJ said:
Where I live on the river there used to be a site several miles down from here near the locks
and dam were an old relic of a "Shanty Boat" rested. It had washed up, way up from the
normal river pool stage during the 1937 flood. It seems people have always enjoyed living on
the water in floating homes. Even today people have these big River Queens, and Gibson's tied
up in marinas for their weekend home. They rarely take them out anymore, just on memorial day, july 4, and labor day. Sometimes if the fuel isn't too expensive they will do the fall folage excursion but all of them navigate upstream as far as they can and then just drift back to their slip.

Nearly 100 years ago the shanty boats could pay a riverboat captain to tow them back up towards
Pittsburgh from where ever they were. Many of the would buy items at the glass factories along
the river and float down stream from town to town selling the stuff till they ran out and repeat
the trip. Some boats were barber shops, some photographers, some did sewing etc.

Here is a painting of an old shanty boat like I saw when I was a little kid. It was being used for
storage when I saw it but looked about like the one in this painting. (only sitting on blocks in a field)

A book I enjoy looking at in the Public Library is titled "Floating Homes" by Ted Laturnus.



But there are bunches of such books.

Here is the painting of the old Shanty Boat like was common from the 1800's up to the 1940's.
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eDJ,
That's a cool painting of the shantyboat. Reminds me of the Waterlodge & Waterlodge Too on the Glen-L link that Dan sent me. If you're interested, here's the link:

20' & 24' Water Lodge - flat bottomed houseboats-Boat plans, kits, inboard hardware, Boat building supplies, epoxy store

I also notice you asked Dan about a big, flat bottom John Boat ... I've seen new aluminum ones that are 20 or 21 feet long and 7 or 8 feet wide. Very well built. I believe some of the better known boat makers offer these boats ... Lund for one. I hadn't thought of it before but this might well make a good hull for a small house or "camper" boat like the "covered wagon" one you mentioned in your post. Thanks for the idea/daydream ... lots of potential there!
.trk.
 
Michigan Mike

Michigan Mike

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NEAT TIMES said:
A MAN TOLD ME, IF YOU NEED SOMETHING, GO TO 10 YARD SALES, YOU WILL FIND IT BY #10 OR BEFORE. THIS FORUM IS THE SAME, AMAZING, IT COVERS EVERTHING. THIS THREAD DAN STARTED AND MICHIGAN MIKE`S "MINI-HOME, REALLY HIT HOME FOR ME. ALL MAB`ERS LOVE THE OUTDOORS, AND SO MANY OF US ENJOY THE SAME THINGS. WHEN WE WERE KIDS WE RENTED THE WOODEN FLATBOTTOM ROW BOATS. WOULD ROW UPSTREAM TO FISH, IF YOU STOPPED ROWING THE CURRENT WOULD STEAL A LOT OF YARDAGE IN A HEARTBEAT. AND DRIFT DOWN AT THE END OF THE DAY. MY WIFE, 4 CHILDREN AND ME CAMPED OUT AND FISHED A LOT. HAD 2 SCHOOL BUS CAMPERS. BUILT THE LAST BUS CAMPER IN 1980, ITS STILL HERE. ANYHOW, I GOT MY DREAM BOAT IN MARCH OF 2006. ITS BEEN IN MY FRONT YARD ON BLOCKS, STILL IS, BUT I HAD TO SELL IT 60 DAYS AGO.:-||:-|| THE NEW OWNER REDID THE BOTTOM PAINT. HE IS MOVING IT SOON TO REPOWER IT. HE ALREADY HAS A SLIP LEASED IN KEY WEST FL. FOR IT. I HAVE A 28 FOOT BOAT THAT I TRAILER, ITS SELF SUFFICIENT. I CAN CAMP OR LIVE ON IT, IF I DON`T GET A LARGE GIRL FRIEND. I HOPE THIS IS NOT TO BORING. I SOLD THE BOAT FOR 6,500. HAD 11,000 IN IT. YOU CAN`T BUILD MUCH FOR THAT. 48 FT X 13FT. IT HAD MINOR FIBERGLASS DAMAGE FROM HURRICANE IVAN. THINK THE INS CO. PD OFF 55,000. DAN PUT A LINK TO IT ON MICHIGAN MIKES THREAD "MINI-HOME". OH WELL, LIFE IS FULL OF COMPROMISE`S. ITS JUST NICE TO READ THE POSTS AND ALL THE INTEREST IN HOUSEBOATS. RON.trk
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NEAT TIMES,
Real sorry you had to sell your boat ... especially at a loss. From the pic's it looks like a beauty! Years ago we had a wood 1950's 21-foot Owens outboard cabin cruiser on Michigan's Lake St. Clair. We could sleep right where we fished! Had lots of fun on that boat. Use to take a while to get your landlegs back though after spending a weekend "bobbing" around. Glad you still have the 28-footer.
.trk.
 
NEAT TIMES

NEAT TIMES

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THE HOUSE BOAT PLANS BRING TO MIND A LARGE ONE LIKE THAT, I WOULD GUESS 16 FT BY 40 FT. THE WATER SWELL FROM HURRICANE IVAN CARRIED IT INTO SWAMP OVER 100 YDS FROM NEAREST RIVER CHANNEL. THIS WAS INLAND CLOSE TO 20 MILES. 10 MILES INLAND THE 50 FT WAVES OR SURGE TOOK OUT ABOUT 35 SECTIONS OF I-10 BAY BRIDGE. WE WADED OUT TO IT. IT HAD A FULL SIZE BATH TUB AND APLIANCES. THE KITCHEN CABINETS WERE FULL SIZE. THE HULL LOOKED LIKE IN THE BLUE PRINT. ABOUT 4 FT DEEP BELOW THE DECK. NO POSSIBLE RETRIEVE BUT A MONSTER HELICOPTER OR FLOAT IT OUT DURING ANOTHER HURICANE. ITS ROTTEN BY NOW, BUT IT WAS A HOME FOR SURE. HAS TAKEN ABOUT 5 YRS TO BUILD 2 NEW 4 LANE I-10 BRIDGES, ABOUT 3 MILES LONG. THE HOUSEBOAT WAS 5 MILES INTO THE SWAMP. THE SMALL RIVER CHANNEL WAS NORTH EAST FARTHER YET. .bt.
 
NEAT TIMES

NEAT TIMES

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Hi Mike, Thanks For The Reply. The New Owner Stopped Today, He Is Thinking Of Installing Engines Here. I Told Him That Was Not The Agreement. It Was That They Could Redo The Bottom Paint Here. He Had A Place To Install Motors But No Painting. I Dont Need To Watch Someone Else To Complete My Dream. It Was Sold Almost 3 Months Ago. To Many People Running Around Here. He Is A Nice Fellow, But His Painters Have Been Fueding A Bit. The Bottom Paint Is Full Of Bubbles. You Can Rub It Off With Your Finger, Red Primer Underneath Seems Ok.
I Like To Help My Fellow Man, But 3 Mo Is A Stretch. If Someone Gets Your Girl, Its No Fun Watching Them Kiss!:-||:-|| RON
 
Michigan Mike

Michigan Mike

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I hear you Ron ... I hope he decides to stick to the original deal without grumbling.

Painting boat hulls can be a real bear. I remember all the work trying to keep the old wood Owens sea worthy ... washing ... sanding ... red paint ... gold paint ... swabbing out ... heavy canvas covers ... man I loved that boat!
.trk.
 
Dan

Dan

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May 25, 2008
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It is cold here, really really cold. While replacing Carol's car battery for the second time in 2 months I brought up the joys of living on a boat. Made some headway!!!!
 
Dan

Dan

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May 25, 2008
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OH Man Mike!! #2 is just about what I want to build!!! Thanks for the pic. I think I have the good half of we talked into this!

LOL, until summer. sort of have to strike wile the iron is hot and the feet are cold
 
L

Large Filipino

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Jul 22, 2008
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Man. You can be on your computer and have a stand next to it with a fishing pole. This is beyond epic win.
It would be like "Oh yea,typing this up to tell you this new house boat is fan-wait! I have a bite!"
 
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