View Full Version : HouseBoat Living
I've suddenly found an interest in houseboats. All my time on the kayak I've really been studying boats I pass by.
I know several people who live in them year round here on the lake, even in winter. Granted one doctor's houseboat home is probably a boat that cost over $300,000.00.
I'm thinking I may add this to my list of odd housing situations I'd like to have after the boys leave home. I'd have to give up the chickens and most gardening but oh well....
There are some really nice older ones for sell in the under $40,000 range. Even found one I really like for $22,000.
I checked and one of my favorite docks has slips available for $2,400.00 a year.
Have you or could you live in a house boat?
http://www.tinyhousetalk.com/tracy-metros-560-square-foot-houseboat/
I like how open and retro this gal's boat is...except her bedroom. I really don't want to crawl into my bedroom.
awakenedsoul
7-13-12, 12:47pm
I'm sure I could live on a houseboat. The price is certainly right. Especially since you do a lot of kayaking. Could you rent one and see how you like it?
I could live on a houseboat quite happily, but I'd probably have to gut it to make it the way I'd want it. I'm not sure about a canal boat barge, though...one of those long, low ones that are usually very dark and cramped. The floating houses they have in Amsterdam and Seattle, though, are the BOMB! :)
Looking at the bedroom suite, I immediately started having a hard time breathing. Too enclosed and confined. Aside from my claustrophobia, I could happily live on the water.
Wildflower
7-13-12, 2:54pm
I wouldn't like to live on the water. Now a tiny cottage overlooking the water would be my ideal, and really my dream for retirement living. I like gardening too much, and having a little land for my critters.
To add, as already mentioned, water-living (for me) would be a part-time adventure.
Mrs. Hermit
7-13-12, 8:43pm
I retain the unique ability to get sea-sick in a canoe, so no, houseboat living would not work for me at all! Did the RV thing for 3 years with hubby and 4 teens, though. Confined living space, lots of travel--it was fun. Much the same I'd imagine, as houseboating.
Tussiemussies
7-13-12, 9:17pm
Think it is really neat that some people live on houseboats. Have seen some interesting shows about this on TV, one where they gutted, insulated and redesigned the houseboat. And some others about the design of the houseboats.
Don't think I could do it, but do think that there are some really well-planned houseboats out there that could make for some great living space.
Look for a simple living book by Janet Luhrs (think it's called "The Simple Living Guide) that features our own Simplygib (who hasn't posted inawhile) and his experience living on a houseboat. I'll see if I can get him to post here about the pros and cons of houseboat living. I lived on a sailboat with ex-DH for awhile and found it to be a cramped but wonderful way to live. BUT... for myself I would prefer RV living instead of boat or house boat living because you can litterally drive off into the sunset to far more places (and with more ease) then on a boat. And boats of any sort can be big money pits. maintenance and dock fees alone can suck up alot of financial resources. An small RV you can park in your driveway and use whenever you want - to go where ever you want - seems more user-friendly to me.
Look for a simple living book by Janet Lures that features our own Simplygib (who hasn't posted inawhile) and his experience living on a houseboat. I'll see if I can get him to post here about the pros and cons of houseboat living. I lived on a sailboat with ex-DH for awhile and found it to be a cramped but wonderful way to live. BUT... for myself I would prefer RV living instead of boat or house boat living because you can litterally drive off into the sunset to far more places (and with more ease) then on a boat. And boats of any sort can be big money pits. maintenance and dock fees alone can suck up alot of financial resources. An small RV you can park in your driveway and use whenever you want - to go where ever you want - seems more user-friendly to me.
I think having a houseboat along with a tiny vintage camper hooked up to my truck in the dock parking lot would be perfect for me (but probably just me....not the husband or rest of the family).
One of my online friends lives on a boat (http://www.zachaboard.blogspot.co.nz/) with her DH and two littles. She's a steiner/waldorf mom. :)
Oh, and our parenting coach has a little RV (no bathroom facilities, but a small kitchen, living/dining/sleeping area) and she travels the country teaching, working on her book, and coaching. She mostly stays in people's driveways. :)
Gardenarian
7-18-12, 6:57pm
I love the water, but I don't think I could live on a houseboat. I imagine that I would be chilly and slightly damp all the time.
I think having a houseboat along with a tiny vintage camper hooked up to my truck in the dock parking lot would be perfect for me (but probably just me....not the husband or rest of the family).
Yeah I love vintage campers - especially the little "Baked Potatoes" Airstreams. Looked at a tiny one recently (maybe 13 ft) and it was so adorable. I could even pull it behind my V-6 Ford Ranger. Of course the gas mileage would be terrible but ...well...it is SOOOO cute :-)!
While it's not an Airstream or even vintage, here's a photo of a "Houseboat-trailer" for the best of both worlds:
http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=845&d=1343094757
Sealander Amphibious RV is the most modern form of travel trailers. It is better known as houseboat-on-wheels since it can travel along the highways and cruise on the waters. Being convertible, it can transform itself easily into a boat and has special waterproof chasis that moves automatically in the water without having to worry about the switching mode. Sealander Amphibious RV is just the perfect travel trailer one can dream of and with this you can travel across islands and river at ease.
shadowmoss
7-24-12, 9:40am
Wow! Off to search for more info on this. I'm guessing having the best of both worlds doesn't come cheap, though.
That was my thought too shadowmoss, cool...but very expensive looking.
I paddled around a few that were for sale the other day. Sometimes daydreaming is the best therapy.
shadowmoss
7-24-12, 9:53am
Ok, no bathroom/shower. So, this is for sleeping only, which doesn't hold as much facination for me. The listed price is $20K, which is a bit pricey for what it is. Then again, if you have a family and do weekend sleepover camping at the lake with bathroom facilities in the campground, this could be fun.
Ok, no bathroom/shower. So, this is for sleeping only, which doesn't hold as much facination for me. The listed price is $20K, which is a bit pricey for what it is. Then again, if you have a family and do weekend sleepover camping at the lake with bathroom facilities in the campground, this could be fun.
Yeah I saw that on a website that had all sorts of custom-made trailers. Lots of crazy looking ones that were probably both very impracticle and very expensive. Don't know if this Sealand one even comes with it's own engine but it must, otherwise how would it function on the water?
For when we are all elderly:
http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=846&d=1343156805
You know you're a Redneck if this is your houseboat:
http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=847&d=1343156976
Have you heard of "Atchafalaya Houseboat"? A photographer named CC Lockwood did an article for National Geographic about a couple who lived on a houseboat in Louisiana many years ago. It was a beautiful article and led to books and DVDs about their life on the water. I believe it was back in the 70's so it was quite some time ago but the beauty of the Louisiana wetlands is still there. I live in Louisiana and love taking pictures in the wetlands.
I would also love to live on a houseboat. I spent some time during the summer as a child on houseboats and loved the lifestyle on the water. There are quite a few houseboat communities in Louisiana. I recently read a book by a writer who decided to buy a houseboat and move here for a period of time and wrote a memoir about it.
But the most unusual floating communities are the one where people have camps on the water is where people live in an area that floods regularly. I know of a community that faces the possibility of flooding every spring but they refuse to move so they have adapted very well. How have they done this? Some have lifted their camp 15 feet in the air while others have opted to put their camps on a very thick foundation of Styrofoam. I'm serious! They actually put huge blocks of Styrofoam and put them under their camps so the camps float when the water rises. The camps are tethered in place and the electricity is run with enough slack in the lines to adapt. They park their vehicles on the levee and take a small flatboat to get back and forth.
I thought it was a joke when I first heard it but in actuality, it works quite well. Amazing but true. I should go get some pictures of those camps to post.
iris lily
9-20-12, 11:19am
That's fascinating, a complex on Styrofoam. Humans have great ingenuity.
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