Ever tempted to run away?

[Kermit]

http://www.frenchcreekboatsales.com/floathomes/bach.htm

Makes it about 7500 USD.

:confused: ;) :D

[Donn]

Never been that badly tempted. :D

[Shang]

With respect, that "Cute Floating Cottage" is about the second or third ugliest thing I've ever seen...

(...no, you don't want to know what the first-ugliest thing is...)

[jlapratt]

Where's the garage?

[Rocky]

They'll kill you on the mooring fees.

[Thaddeus J. Van Gilder]

There is a whole marina of them here in New Jersey.
They are just a few miles S.W. of Atlantic City.

I refer to the place as the "floating trailor park."

[Alan D. Hyde]

Here it is, in all its glory:

http://www.frenchcreekboatsales.com/floathomes/bach2.jpg

Alan

[Steve Paskey]

I like the basic idea of a small vacation "cottage" on the water, as epitomized by RETREAT, HERALD OF THE MORNING and other Wm. Atkins "shantyboat" designs. ( See http://euler.sfasu.edu/Shantyboats/ )

Marina fees aren't cheap, but it's cheaper than the mortgage and upkeep on a piece of waterfront property with a cottage. (At least where I live, it is.) And if the "neighborhood" goes downhill (or you move to another state), you can take the shantyboat elsewhere.

The scheme only makes sense, however, if you can actually USE the thing as a BOAT. Cast off Friday night, motor out to a secluded cove somewhere, anchor, fish, swim, hang out, motor to another spot where the fishing's better, and return to the marina on Sunday. Better still if the "shanty" is capable enough to do some real cruising under motor or sail, even if only in protected waters.

It's like the difference between owning a "mobile home" (which sits on blocks in a trailer park and isn't really "mobile") and owning an real travel trailer or RV.

Apart from the fact that this "cute" little cottage is ugly and ill-conceived, the major drawback is that it's designed to simply sit at the dock round the clock. There isn't even enough of a deck to pull up a chair and read or drop a line in the water. Might as well put wheels on it and park it on a mountaintop.

[ 02-19-2003, 04:34 PM: Message edited by: Steve Paskey ]

[Alan D. Hyde]

Here's Atkin's "Huckleberry Finn:"

http://euler.sfasu.edu/Shantyboats/Atkin/Atkin_HuckFinn.gif

Alan

[Kermit]

Thanks, Alan--now we got us a discussion. While a 7500 USD price is appealing, little else is other than the notion of escaping on to water somewhere. If'n I had my druthers, my escape would be on a scow schooner, Bill Garden's TILLICUM. Since I don't have a scanner to show that one to you, there's Reuel Parker's at http://www.parker-marine.com/45scshoonerpage.htm .

[TomFF]

Atkin designed that?! I hope none were ever built- it definately loooks like a RV without wheels

[Steve Redmond]

I like shanty boats. Harlan Hubbard's books are real reading. Drifting penniless down the Missippi in winter, husband and wife, raising food summers. More undiluted adventure than can be had in a Hinkley with radar.

Shanty boats are always more house than boat. They aren't houseboats, as most people understand them. And they ought to be shanty-like. So if you don't like shantys you won't like shantyboats.

Some think they're eyesores. Some others think that concrete basements surrounded by a row of chemically treated conical arborvitaes are uglier than a hull attached to the bottom of the same house. I incline toward that way of thinking.

Actually, seems like there's enough room in the world of boats for everybody's preferences to fit in complementary harmony. The pretty, the ugly, the temporary, all of them.

I lived off and on in my own houseboat for 12 years. It isn't a shantyboat, having cruised 1700 miles. But the best people I ever met on my travels were shantyboaters. Near Cape Romano, a town flattened by that big NC hurricane. Rebuilding. They lived in shantyboats while they built. They and their kids rowed over in skiffs and brought buckets full of redfish and trout. Everybody excited to see the boat from Vermont, sort of like their homes, passing through.

And then there was Joe Coggins. Peace River. West coast of Florida. Aboard the "Happy Camper". Up the river away from the marinas and golf courses and bulldozers and blackened Mahi sandwiches and 24 hour Jimmy Buffet. Netting mullet. Smoking them in a stove full of leaves. Explaining the world beneath the stars if you asked him to and he figured you meant it. . . because he actually knew. His boat wasn't pretty. Didn't make any difference. Downstream they were serving 20,000 slices of key lime pie.

[Wild Dingo]

Must admit Im with Steve here... theyre good things... anythin that gets yer on the water fishin swimmin and cruisin is a good thing in my book... different strokes for different folks is an expression Ive heard from somewhere... some of them houseboats shantyboats riverboats sternwheelers look pretty good to my eye... not that Im sayin I know much just that I kinda like em as an alternative

And if you can whack em on a trailer and just avoid the marina fees altogether what better? although that top one is a bit ahem shall we say not to my taste. :rolleyes:

[brian.cunningham]

New meaning to the term "House Boat" :eek:

[ion barnes]

If you want a home thats a boat, you should be looking for a 'Cruise-a-home'. I think that Chris-Craft built them and Ken hankson and Glen-L drew up homebuilt plans for much the same.

[Alan D. Hyde]

Here's a simple one:

http://euler.sfasu.edu/Shantyboats/SearsRoebuckShanty/SR_shanty1.jpg

Alan

[Randy Leo]

Don't know about your neck-o-the-woods but, here the lakes are darned near deserted during the week. Weekends are another matter all together...

If you had a houseboat on the lake, you'd probably want an 'in-town' weekend cottage getaway to escape the droning of PWCs and cigarette boats.

But, what about an ATB (Articulated Tug Barge)? Admittedly, this isn't wood but the concept building the barge with accomodations is rather interesting. The long waterline created by the combination wouldn't hurt efficiency either.

Pelagic ATB Info (http://www.westindico.com/pelagic.htm)

Best to all!

[Rocky]

http://members.aol.com/red1001802/yacht.jpg

[John Bell]

Alan,

Is that a Reuben Trane illustration? Where's it from?

[Alan D. Hyde]

It's from Steve's link above:

http://euler.sfasu.edu/Shantyboats/

A more direct link to this portion (author David Stiles):

http://euler.sfasu.edu/Shantyboats/SearsRoebuckShanty/Sears-Roebucks.html

The artist's name doesn't seem to be there...

Alan

[Jamie Hascall]

A Kennedy house barge from Eastsound WA was what started me on this road. I ended up deciding that if I was going to go to the trouble of living on the water I really wanted something that could go somewhere. That's how I ended up with a 30'sloop instead of a 28' barge. Still, there's something very appealing about a little abode that floats. I'll try to find a pic of a Kennedy. They're pretty cute and I've seen them scooting around on a balmy summer evening.

Jamie

[Terry Etapa]

Floating homes were once quite common in BC. I've seen a few still around. Often a logging or fishing "camp" would be set up in some bay. With mountains dropping straight into the water, one couldn't easily have a cabin on land. So, you lashed together a few logs, and built a cabin on top.

If there are any of the BC oldtimers on this forum, I'm sure they could add a few interesting stories about towing the homes up and down the inside passage.

[ 02-20-2003, 02:41 PM: Message edited by: Terry Etapa ]

[seafox61]

Alan
alas the most atractive thing about the poor mans house boat is the pretty lass of few cloths... I an a build the boat but not had luck with the lass
jeffery

[Alan D. Hyde]

Yes, Jeffrey, that's always a nice touch (so to speak).

Alan

[N. Scheuer]

Woods Hole, MA has a whole fleet of houseboat barges similar to that (not the one with the second-story travel trailer), though they all exhibit more imagination in their architecture.

Some years ago when we had our Dovekie anchored there overnight we chatted with a fellow building one nearby. It was to replace one that had been lost in a hurricane. When he left for the evening, he invited us to row over and take a self-guided tour before we departed the next morning. We did so, and enjoyed the owner's hospitality very much.

Moby Nick