The Small Power Houseboat
NO ONE wants a craft as seedy-looking as a typical river
shanty-boat, nor can many of us afford anything as palatial as a
custom-designed shoal-draft river cruiser. Still, in between these extremes
are many models of houseboats shoal draft enough to navigate our shallow
rivers, inlets, and bays, roomy and with more real living conveniences
aboard than the average cruiser, and, when powered with an outboard motor,
mobile enough to at least satisfy the urge most of us feel to see what lies
beyond the next point of land.
To look well, behave properly and last satisfactorily
thought must be given to the design of a houseboat. Effort should be made to
guard against excessive top hamper, not because of any effect on stability
but that the completed boat will not appear boxlike; likewise, final trim
and painting should further the effect of length. Weights and their
distribution must be considered because these wide shallow hulls are easily
thrown out of trim. And, all important, the hull especially, must be put
together properly and with some knowledge of the stresses and strains thrown
on such beamy structures by grounding, swells, and hauling out. All this is
in direct contrast to the building of the usual houseboat which "just grows"
and too often looks it.
In considering the size of the boat to be built remember
houseboats run large for their length. For instance, a thirty-foot long boat
with a waterline length of say twenty-two feet and a beam of twelve feet
could be laid out to give a full-width seven-foot long main cabin, a
six-foot double stateroom and a large toilet room and galley in addition to
wide decks fore and aft. By laying the cabin flooring atop the bottom frames
full headroom can be secured without carrying the house unduly high and long
ends would add to the effect of length. At the other extreme even the cabin
of a small sixteen-foot outboard powered cruising scow might provide berths
each side, stove space in one corner and a work table and food stowage in
the other. Canvas curtains to roll up each end would afford clear vision as
well as make for a cool boat when used on our inland rivers or wherever
summer weather is very hot.
In between these limits something around twenty-five feet
would have most of the merits of both, being fairly easily moved about,
still give good living accommodations for two or four persons.
Nothing adds to the appearance of a houseboat more than
having the sheer raised at the bow and tucked up a little at the stern. This
is not difficult, being done by shaping the top strakes of side planking.
Deck planking can then follow this sheer or be run level so the sides form a
rail or coaming.
Side guards may be necessary if the house sides come
flush with the planking. These are merely slatted runways, eighteen inches
or so wide, to enable the crew to get fore and aft without passing through
the house. If the house rests on top of the hull the deck beams may be
carried out to support these guards but if it sets down In the hull, angles
or some arrangement must be used often making the guards weak. One loses a
little cabin space by keeping the house in a foot from the sides but the
boat looks better and there are no guards to consider in canals and when
docking.
Make some effort to blend the house in with the hull. The
roof or cabin top camber may be made excessive and rounded into the sides,
house corners may be curved pleasingly or sides even slightly streamed out
to give the effect of length. Hatches should be fitted in forward and stern
decks for bilge ventilation and examination and for stowage. Houseboats are
usually used in warmer than average sections of the country and if an effort
is not made to air the hull thoroughly it will not last long.
Quarter bitts both fore and aft should be on the heavy
side as these boats are notoriously hard to hold on a mooring or anchor. A
thirty-foot houseboat requires equal ground tackle to a sixty-foot cruiser,
even bearing in mind the fact that the latter will be bringing up often in
open waters. The easiest way to fasten bitts is to carry them down to the
bottom planking inside the side planking and through bolt to the latter.
Roller chocks should be fitted in the rail ahead of the bitts. If you intend
using a winch fit quarter bitts too because the large house will be in the
way of carrying spring lines aft.
Some designs feature a sunken deck or well forward, often
the full size of the deck. This should be kept above the waterline and
fitted with scuppers to carry off rain, also the door threshold should be
well raised to keep deck water out of the cabin.
Awnings or canopies should preferably be of a type which
can be taken completely down for winter or made so canvas alone can be taken
off for lengthy cruising. Purely houseboat designs are apt to extend the
house top fore and aft to form porches; these may be comfortable but they
hold wind badly under way and at anchor. Keeping the house well down in the
hull adds to the appearance of any houseboat, lowers weights and improves
the craft's behaviour both under power and moored. Possible objections are
that it makes for a warmer cabin, the hull may lack strength in the way of
the house because of the absence of crossbeams, also bilge water may rise
above the cabin floor.
Properly locating windows, and if necessary arranging
some system of forced ventilation, overcomes the first failing. Older boats
used to carry their houses out to the extreme ends; newer designs favor
shorter houses and more deck space doing away with the second objection.
Finally, bilge water has no place in a houseboat; it rushes to one side and
throws the boat badly out of trim. It is not difficult to keep these scow
hulls from leaking; their heavy planking either holds caulking well or
swells tight while weaving and working can be guarded against by proper
construction.
Even in the cabin layout one must keep the principles of
good designing in mind. In houseboats heavy weights, such as tanks, stoves,
and toilet fixtures are invariably located well outboard towards the sides
of the hull, although having narrow decks alongside the house tends to
prevent this. In arriving at your layout figure weights to balance one
another, also consider the effect of tanks both empty and filled. Aboard
smaller boats one-room layouts make for coolness. Berths may be curtained
for privacy nights or stateroom partitions formed of wire mesh panels.
Curtains lower over these at night to give privacy while during the daytime
the air has a full sweep through the cabin.
If you decide to fit your boat out with house furniture
buy something suitable, do not make shift with castoffs from home. Maple
looks well, is popular and fairly low priced. Built-in fixtures always look
more shippy, though. Berths and settees can be built to take stock size
mattresses, wardrobes and lockers can be worked into corners, although
chests of drawers are more difficult. I would suggest buying the latter,
also ice box, medicine cabinet, and desk, then building in about them even
covering doors and drawer fronts with the same wood as used for interior
trim. Houseboat cabins are shaped to take these pieces, cruiser hulls are
not.
So many good insulating materials are available at
reasonable prices one should use them in order to have a cooler boat summers
and a warmer one in cold weather; this, aside from any matter of inside
appearance. By all means plan the layout, figure on a heating arrangement
and build your boat with the idea of being aboard a good deal during early
spring and late fall. You will always be glad to get afloat early after a
long winter and during the fall an easily heated houseboat makes the best
possible base for duck shooting and all kinds of hunting, its draft
permitting navigating shallow inlets and winding rivers in search of good
sport.
A houseboat, as claimed, can be built by a carpenter or
one without knowledge of boat building, but if it is, it should be only from
a stock or custom design prepared by a competent architect showing the exact
method of construction and giving full timber specifications. Far better
have such a boat built by a professional and if you cannot afford that have
him at least put the hull together and go ahead from there on yourself or
have a carpenter complete the decks, house, and interior.
These wide shallow hulls are subject to more wracking
strains than a narrower, deeper hull and having no vertical girder for
strength are apt to sag at the corners when hauled out for winter or repairs
unless properly framed and cross braced, also to leak and generally be a
nuisance. Planking is always on the heavy side, at least two inches in large
boats, but they should not depend on this alone for strength, as many do,
but be knit together with keelsons and diagonals. The bottom may be either
cross planked or strakes run fore and aft.
Athwartship planking is more usual but should be backed
by keelsons and side keelsons shaped to fit on up the rakes fore and aft.
Full length planking must necessarily stop where the bottom rakes up at the
bow and stern because it will not take the sharp bends. Ends may then be
cross planked or rabbeted pieces fitted to take the ends of bottom and rake
planks. Fore and aft Planking also requires bottom frames which should be
let into chine pieces for strength. Heavy cross planking is simply fastened
to backing chines spiked or bolted to sides. Many simply drift bolt side
planks atop one another using wide widths and depending on their thickness
to keep the sides in line. It is better to use narrower strakes, not only
spiked together but backed with side frames.
The present tendency is towards lighter material but
better fastening. Some builders caulk houseboat hulls, others rely on the
wood swelling to make all tight, merely laying glue or lead soaked strips of
oakum atop overturned side edges before fastening bottom planks. One must
know their wood and guard not only against possible leaks but also avoid
forcing planks so closely together they will buckle when the wood swells.
Decks and cabin top should be of well-seasoned lumber,
always canvas covered. Deck beams should be closely spaced, you will likely
use 2 x 4 stock, and cambered slightly, say 3/4-inch in their length, to
prevent water lodging about the house or deck fixtures. House construction
should be of waterproof plywood or composition board, tongue-and-groove or
other light weight material with every effort made to have a tight joint
where the sides join the deck possibly bringing up deck canvas there under a
flashing piece.
There is now absolutely no reason why a houseboat should
stay moored in one spot. These heavy hulls cannot be driven fast but an
outboard motor will permit moving from place to place, even allow lengthy
vacation cruises if you confine yourself to sheltered waters. Small boats
shove easily with a five horsepower motor because there is so little of them
in the water; larger boats require double this, either one motor or two. A
hatch may be cut in the after deck to allow the motor to be clamped to the
stern with the latter cut down a bit, if necessary, to give the wheel a
better grip on the water. A special bracket may be bought to fasten astern
to take the motor or most models can now be bought with extra length shafts,
even with larger than ordinary wheels which turn up slower but are more
efficient for such use. Steering lines and a control to kill the motor are
easily led to the forward deck for navigating. A fair-sized skiff with an
outboard will not do, much out on a towline ahead but it will take the boat
along at a fair clip if you lash it against bumpers alongside, steering from
the skiff or taking steering lines aboard the houseboat. You will need a
small boat anyway for side trips and that is one reason for using two small
outboards astern instead of a larger one; one can always be used on the
small boat whereas it would be too much trouble to shift a larger one. Metal
or wooden hoods can be made to lower over the running motor in bad weather
also to lock down when leaving the boat.
The cost of a houseboat is pretty much what you make it.
A good design, honestly built of first-grade material by a professional will
run about the same as a cruiser of equal length, less the engine. For
instance a thirty-foot boat may cost up to $1,500 complete. Rather than
attempt to reduce this price by using inferior lumber or used stuff build a
smaller boat or have only the hull built now and go ahead with the decks and
house when able. Good used houseboats are always hard to pick up. Check
closely anything considered. Hulls are apt to be rotted, particularly where
side planks featheredge out at their ends, also watch where house sides join
the hull and decking about hatches and bitts. Wonders can be worked with the
appearance of an old boat by fitting false sheer planks or rails to take
away the boxlike appearance.
Powered with an outboard motor or used in conjunction
with an inboard powered runabout a houseboat has many good features. They
fit in nicely with amateur building efforts and do give more room foot for
foot than other types. To many who live where the water is plentiful but
spread thinly they offer all the advantages of living aboard week-ends and
vacations while the outboard motor has removed the old objection of those of
us who would rather cruise than lay at moorings.
