Houseboat Requirements

With the comment re: "It would make a nice project" I got to thinking about what folks have looked for in a houseboat - whether it was a project or turnkey. Each of us seems to have different views on what we expect to start with. It would be fun to compare the requirements of those of us who have purchased boats and even those who are looking…

Bill has given us a start with a post here

*  A real hull so I could do some coastal cruising and not worry (as much) about a summer thunderstorm on some lake.

*  Twin engines for maneuverability and redundancy.

*  Minimal wood used in construction.  I had read too many stories on this site about rotten frames

*  Equipped with a flybridge for better visibility and more fun on the water

When I started looking around, my search narrowed down to the LandNSea and I have not been disappointed.

Hopefully Bill will have more to add…

Here are some of the things I considered when looking for my current (house)boat.

It had to be trailerable. The expensive trawler I owned had all the comforts of home but it was a lot of responsibility/worry and provided almost zero adventure after the first few months - except in getting it tied up to the dock single handed. This was despite the fact that it was a moneymaker by being in charter service.

Sunshine - 35' Senator trawler

My houseboat to be would have to have accommodations that would make my life as easy as possible in dealing with my wife's lack of mobility. Easy on/off, nice head and shower and easy sleeping arrangements with at least one bunk always available that didn't need to be 'made'. I'm a microwave guy so a full galley wasn't important but I'm glad Big Duck has one; the oven even gets used regularly.

 

It would have to have air conditioning and a generator – this setup had to be workable both on the water and on the road. My houseboat came with a rooftop RV a/c and we were quick to put a Honda 3000i on the roof right in front of it.

Generator can be remote started from below and runs covered as shown.

We didn't consider additional sleeping arrangements for the houseboat even though we'd come from a 2-person cuddy. However, we are soooo delighted that the LNS has room for our two grandkids, their parents and the two dogs.

We absolutely had to have a flybridge. But you know what? I've been up there less than an hour in 4 years of boating. Being able to open the front door while motoring is all I need. Today, the flybridge with it’s wires and mechanics is more of a complication than asset.

Piloting from the flybridge

 I didn't want to have to do any major interior work. I didn’t want to have to touch bulkheads, cabinets, shelves etc. The LNS turned out to be great for this because all of its amenities are built-in fiberglass. I can easily live with obvious repairs from the removal of old equipment, fiberglass discoloring and a few non-critical cracks, as long as I’m not expected to replace rotted bulkheads, walls, cabinets, counters and ceilings.

I wanted an outboard. All the outboard mechanicals are in one easily replaceable unit. There’s no winterization and with a 2 stroke – no oil changes or valve adjustments. The outboard motor is accessible on all sides and some outboards tilt completely out of the water. I loved my Etec. The fallback here was to convert an I/O to an outboard if everything else fell into place with a potential houseboat. This was the absolute priority too, when my purchased houseboat’s outdrive turned out to be an unsupported 40 year old Volvo Penta with 95% of the parts unavailable from dealers, not to mention that it’s nearly impossible to find a mechanic to work on something that old. I was so worried. I looked into converting her to a modern Mercruiser I/O if it would be cheaper than the outboard conversion. Then I bought a complete running VP outdrive for $80 on eBay, but later learned it was for a 4 cylinder, not the 8 cylinder motor I had. So only 2/3 of this replacement drive would be useful. I needed to get the lower third for an 8 cylinder drive to have all the pieces for back-up unit. I then found a complete running 8 cylinder outdrive for $100 and it was 3 generations newer. I now have several hundred hours on the motor with no inspiration to do anything but to keep running the ancient but reliable 40-year-old drive – even though it has no power trim!

Unneeded spare oputdrives

Guess what else? The motor turns out to be a small block Chevy. What could simpler than that? So my outboard requirement was a non-issue.

How about twin engines? Not for me. We’d never be boating where redundancy would be a safety advantage so engine problems would likely just be an adventure. As for the additional control offered by twins – my boat isn’t so pretty that I’m afraid to bump the dock or slide along a piling to tie up, besides, I have only a given number of hours for maintenance. If I have twins, they’re each only going to get half of that time and I’m thinking I’ll be ahead if I spend all that time on my single.

As mentioned, it had to be trailerable…and I do a lot of trailering, so this was a very important consideration. I’m mechanically inclined, but I had to have a trailer under the boat that was sound. I could do tires, bearings, brakes, lights etc, but the frame and axles had to be in excellent condition. My preference is for a factory trailer built for the specific model boat so the boat fits the trailer and the trailer fits the boat. The ad for my boat said that it’s original trailer had been certified road ready which was a big plus.

I didn’t want to have to tow a big honkus, heavy giant boat. We’d been cross-country regularly with other boats and trailers, even to Alaska a couple times. I didn’t want to get into something that would limit my ability to get out and go. Well, this too was an eye opener. The boat turned out to be 28’ long, 12’ high and 8’ wide on the trailer and I’d be towing about 12,000 lbs. Somehow I’d manage?

My winning bid on eBay on a boat I’d never seen meant I’d need to bring her home to SC from Lake Mead, some 2,000 miles. This would be interesting with my aging high mileage van that delivers a conservative 300 horses. I hadn’t done my homework on the weight of the boat/trailer prior to winning her; I just knew I’d need to find a way to get her home.

I loaded some basic tools and a weight-equalizing hitch into the van and with a buddy headed to Lake Mead to see about getting Big Duck 2,000 miles home to SC. There was no drama (after pumping up the trailer tires) for the entire trip home by just dropping the trailer coupler on the 2 5/8 ball on the back of the van – we didn’t even use the equalizing hitch. We have since been back to Powell twice as well as too many trips to count between SC, GA, NC, TN and FL; so much for the worries about towing a big boat. 

Taking Big Duck Off-Road

My previous powerboats had all been walkarounds. I could go down either side of the boat to get from the bow to stern while docking or anchoring. I was worried that the houseboat didn’t have this convenience. But it became apparent the first time to the dock that it was much quicker getting to the stern via the cabin than tiptoeing down the narrow walkways outside the boat. An even bigger advantage is the extra room inside the boat now that the cabin has full beam.

Walkaround with narrow cabin

 Hull shape/form, deadrise, cruising speed and stability were non-issues for us. We’d just get out on the water, stay safe and we’d take what she offered. And we were unbelievably surprised to find that the LNS is an extremely comfortable boat. In all our other boats we’d need to yell every time we approached a wake to make sure no unsuspecting crewmember would get upended and folks below would be able to prevent fixens from getting thrown off the table or stove. Then we’d throttle back to about idle and change course to hit the wake at about 45°. We quickly found that Big Duck’s hull is such that we can totally ignore even the largest wake – all we experience is a gentle up and down no matter how we cross it.

ECONOMY! What about economy? This is a big thing with boaters, even those with $300,000 trawlers get serious about economy. Wasn’t I concerned about an economical hull form and economical propulsion? Nope! Not in the slightest. And I can honestly admit that I’ve never heard a houseboater say, “I’d go out more often if my boat got better mileage”. You go or you don’t – period.

I guess the last thing is price? What is your budget? I knew I had to get into a houseboat to continue boating so my budget was likely a bit higher than yours. I’m also retired, kind of handy and have a decent set of tools so I didn’t mind if I’d need to spend time getting things safe, reliable and comfortable. I thought I might go $10k for the right boat and maybe even for the wrong boat if I couldn’t find one soon enough. You’ll likely spend extra if she has a deadline for getting used.  I guess it all depends on what you’re comfortable doing yourself.

Big Duck showed my requirement for a decent original interior. Nice original head, shower & galley. Flybridge. Updated motor w/ 10 hours. Certified road ready trailer. Currently in the water. OK, 15k max knowing she’d need work but it was stuff I could and wanted to do myself. I got anxious, then placed my maximum bid @ a foolish 16k.

She came to me at $11,000 – I’m guessing I’ve put half that much into her and have been happy as a clam ever since. 

 Insurance survey

More here about getting her ready for her Powell.

Getting The Duck ready for Lake Powell 

Second trip to Powell