Extremly non-tradational (in the USA) water camper

[droid_ca]

I saw this and thought it just might work

http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/08/03/mys ... n-holland/

[Alfred]

Hi Gang,

Just an FYI, there is an interesting article in the November/December 2010 issue of "The Backwoodsman" about houseboats in general, and shantyboats in particular. It is about the houseboat/shantyboat lifestyle, historically and today. I saw it in the Barnes&Noble and also the Booksamillion stores over the past few days.

http://www.backwoodsmanmag.com/ is the link for the magazine, although the houseboat/shantyboat article isn't featured on the cover.

AL in Asheville

[dragon32a]

In the UK we call these a "Barge". They were originaly used for goods transport such as coal, various ores etc. When road transport became more cost effective, lots of them were bought by people looking for a place to live or as recreational craft. They go for big money in the UK, some of the large well appointed one sell for the price of a small house.

Don (UK)

[Ron Dickey]

Lately, I've been spending a lot of time on the Upper St Johns River, it is one of those "Old Florida" places. Lot's of wildlife and beautiful scenery. And, ever since I finished the gypsy trailer, I've been thinking about a new project. A marriage of camper and boat. What is commercially available just isn't what I would like to build or have. Houseboats really don't do it for me as they are kinda big and I would like to cruise at 65 or 70 mph with the boat on the trailer, behind my Ford Ranger, getting to the places far off the beaten waterway. So next logical step for me was a combination of several designs. The narrowboats of Europe and the houseboats of America and perhaps a little gypsy flair added in. Hey, a guy can dream, can't he?

It always fasinates me how those of us who live where no river flowing with losts of water, nor are there any large lakes near, we want a boat. After I lived in Albuquerque, I lived in Wisc. lakes and rivers everywhere. And now 5 miles from the ocean. where there is water... now I do not dream of having a boat as much.

Good luck with your project hope you find water

Ron

[Ron Dickey]

camping on the water. like this


but those are real Per-dy
go to google images and enter narrowboat

there seem to be lots of narrowboat building plans at google
some say hull

it would be cheeper just to park on the bank and get one of these to sleep in

[Ron Dickey]

and if you want to get into american house boats you best look at these there is a book on them
google
houseboats san francisco bay
modern to 3 story.

http://www.floatinghomes.com/

google" floating homes"

http://tinyhouseblog.com/floating-homes ... ing-homes/

you might look at putting a window under it
http://www.sub-find.com/trilobis65.htm

Ron

[Wimperdink]

[Perttu]

Hi

I try to combine boat and wan :
( I post this on another forum )

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[jabrobbins]

I know this thread kind of died, but there was a great article in the Sept/Oct 2011 issue of Wooden Boat by Christopher Cunningham called "Slow by Design." It's a biography of Philip Thiel, a marine architect. There are some great pictures of pedal powered house boats including the "Escargot." Here is a link to the online article: http://www.woodenboat-digital.com/woodenboat/20110910?pg=72#article_id=97757

[mezmo]

Hi jabrobbins,

Just by coincidence - My late Mom's maiden name was Thiel, and her
youngest brother was named Philip! He worked on the oil rigs in the
Gulf of Mexico and is now enjoying his retirement in Louisiana. We're
probably no relation to the the boat designer Phil Thiel though. He was
from NYC, and our Thiel ancestors were from South Western NY state and
North Western PA.

It was a very interesting and entertaining article. Thanks for the link.

Cheers,
Norm/mezmo