How do you
build a houseboat?
Do complicated mathematical computations, research what everybody else has ever done, talk to lots of experts, hire a naval architect, draft an elegant and complete set of drawings, compile a lengthy list of parts, pieces, and potential purchases, draw up a detailed timeline, and within a few months of flawless construction, hang curtains in the windows, purchase a bottle of decent champagne, and launch the resulting yacht for its triumphant shakedown cruise.
- OR -
Plan B, the No-Plans Plan: Get a sheet of quarter-inch plywood, and cut-and-glue until you have something that looks like a 1:12 scale version of the boat you had in mind. Hang a little radio-controlled outboard motor on the back, and see if the thing can be steered in the backyard pond. If you like the way that goes, use it as a pattern, and scale it up. Well, how about that? It works! Tracks just beautifully, even with a stiff crosswind and choppy water. We hope the real thing will do as well.
The finished product will be 56 feet long, 16 feet wide, 14 feet from waterline to the top of the upper deck’s railing, and projected draft will be about 11 inches- just right for these shoally Carolina waters. The flat-bottomed catamaran pontoons should have a hull speed of about 9 knots, and according to the formula Rob is using, will require a couple of 4-stroke 40hp outboards, but we’ll probably spring for bigger ones to have some reserve power.
The no-plans plan is to build the hull in easily transported sections, which then can be fastened together in the water, and finally, build the ‘house’ part on top. We don’t suppose our dear neighbors would be very happy to have a project this size underway in the front yard, so we’re building the pontoons in the garage, one 8-foot-long segment at a time. Think of them as trapezoidal plywood barrels.
One of the joys of living in a town with top-flight boat builders is the ease of obtaining materials and the wealth of information available. The accommodating folk at Albemarle Boats just down the road are selling us the 4x8 sheets of Greenwood 3/4” CCA treated plywood. We’ve found expert and highly practical advice from a wooden boat builder in town, and lots of amused commentary from everybody who ever owned a pair of Topsiders.
There
will be fourteen segments in all, the first and last on each pontoon given, at
least some thought to hydrodynamics.
The plywood is assembled over a treated 2x6 frame with 3M 5200 marine
adhesive and stainless steel screws.
Any place that two pieces of plywood meet is reinforced with two-inch
stock.
Hoping to avoid the hassles and expense of annual hauling, scraping, and painting the bottom, we’ve decided to sheath the bottom and lower half of the pontoons in copper, which involves sticking the copper roofing material onto the wood with the 5200 then fastening it with copper nails (also glued in) just to be sure. Our wooden boat expert advises that the part of the hull that won’t be underwater can just as well be painted with oil-based porch paint. It does look good on the first segments.
As of 1 January 2005, the first two starboard pontoon segments have been painted, bolted together and are almost done. The first two port pontoon segments are cut out, assembled, and ready to have the copper glued on.
Topping the ‘to-do’ list: Think of a name for this craft, (so far ‘Amish Clipper’- a tribute to our years in NE Ohio, and ‘Leviathan’ which, as the psalmist wrote, “he has made for the sport of it,” are on the short list,) settle on a design for the interior, and figure out how to fit it all onto the platform available. Rob remains confident that it will all fall into place as the need arises.
On 5 January 2005 the first two segments were exposed to the light of day. It was an all day job for three of us to push the 1200 lb piece out of the garage, jack it up and onto a barely adequate boat trailer. It will wait there, under cover, until spring when we expect to have the opposite two connected segments done (plus, with luck, two more center segments) and our son, Bert, will be able to come help launch and bolt it all together.
The week of March 7, 2005 found us only a little behind schedule. With Bert’s help, we were ready to launch by that weekend. An invitation to come watch- or participate in- the spectacle lured Rob’s brother, Philip, north from Charleston. With Sunday noon departure deadlines looming for our out-of-towners, preparations went on well into Saturday night. The first four segments were launched and bolted together by midnight. In Sunday’s early morning calm, we towed the joined pieces from the marina to our home dock. Stronger winds and a stalled outboard motor lent a little excitement at the end, but a heroic lunge by Philip saved the boat from any damage. She floats just at the level calculated (a bit down at the bow, of course) and had no leaks at the seams.
On June 25, 2005 we were able to add two more sections,
making six in all. Not quite half of
the completed hull. The new segments
were towed from the marina as before and fit together in the water with no
trouble. We had one person in the water
guiding and another in the boat to lift, clamp and drive bolts. The connecting bolts were driven through
pre-drilled holes and matched perfectly.
The clamping did start a significant leak in the second segment but this
was easily patched. Each compartment
has its own bilge pump for just such an eventuality (and because they are still
open to rain). At present most of the
2x10 deck beams have been installed and the 2x12 gunwale boards fastened on the
sides with ½ inch lag screws. Some deck
plywood has been cut and fastened down but most is loose and moved where
needed.
Here it is, December 2005. Progress over the last few months has been …. subtle. You just have to know what you’re looking for. Despite steady picking away at it, the details make for very slow going. Deck hatches have been framed in on the first six pontoon sections, and electrical conduit now runs between each section. A second layer of plywood has been painstakingly cut, painted and fitted into place below the crosswise deck beams. This process involves paddling between the pontoons in a kayak, and screwing the plywood pieces in overhead. The most time-consuming task has been to fit a coaming between the underside of the deck and the top edges of the pontoons which protects the innards of the boat from splashing water. It requires measuring, cutting, trimming, trial and error, repeat as necessary, then sanding, and painting. Two more pontoon sections are now completed and were installed with the help of Bert and his friends over Christmas. That’s eight down, six to go. We’re not as far along as we thought we’d be by now, but this is a now-familiar refrain. It’s just as well. The joy, we hear, is in the journey.
Spring break for March ‘06 arrived, and all the kids made it down to help out. We installed the rest of the deck beams, fastened the plywood on top, and cut in the hatches. Two more segments are in the final stages, copper sheets nearly all glued on, and it’s almost time to paint. Even though there are two more middle sections left to build, we were ready for a change, and jumped ahead to begin a stern segment. This one is more of a challenge. The aftmost three feet of this section is upswept 12 inches to reduce drag, and must accommodate an engine and a fuel tank. Planning the shape of the transom required visits to outboard motor salesmen, lengthy explanations of why and wherefore, and much discussion about how much power is enough for a boat this size. Short answer: Nobody ever saw a boat like ours before, so they don’t rightly know, but they’ll all be happy to sell us whatever we think we need.
July 2006- Coastal NC temperature and humidity are both in the mid-90s, which makes for slow construction. We‘ve decided, looking at the expanse of deck so far, that a 50-foot boat should be enough for anybody. That means we’re now just two coats of paint away from launching the last two sections. Woohoo! Before long, it will be time to start on the house part. We’re planning to put the salon and galley aft, with easy access to a generous rear deck. The thought there is to shield ‘happy hour’ from the wind, while swinging on the hook in some peaceful backwater. The head and the only stateroom will be amidships, and the inside helm, forward–center, will have a convertible sofa/bed for keeping the skipper company on a rainy day, or accommodating whoever’s along for an overnight ride.
September 2006 – The hull is finally out to full length, progress is being made on the main deck structure and we actually have our garage back. There has been one snag. We were hit by a pretty good not-quite-hurricane (TS Ernesto) which showed up a previously suspected weak spot and there has been some minor separation between the sections. Time out while I run threaded rods the full length of the boat to snug things back up and then add some longitudinal stiffening. This will probably take all month.
December
2006 – OK, so two months. Everything is
now nice and solid and the main deck is finished except for a bit of
plywood. Now perhaps we can get serious
about the deck house. Here’s the proposed floor plan, laid out on the deck in
2x4s. The green squares are hatches into each pontoon section. The head is planned
to go in the bump-out to the right of the picture, with stairways up to the top
deck from the starboard walkway both fore and aft of it. Small boy and his
grandpa are in the space which will serve as both inside helm and second
bedroom. The recliner is where the master stateroom will most likely be, and
the salon/galley, with access to the rear deck and swim platform aft of that.
January 2007 - Here goes the last bit of underdeck plywood. A little awkward to install from this position, lying crosswise on the little fishing boat, especially when it’s choppy. Rob thinks this space between the hulls would serve as a fine en-route ‘garage’ for the dinghy if it could be hoisted up snug against the underdeck somehow, but hasn’t yet worked out the details.
For those who are more interested in the details, here is a shot of the interior structure of the main deck with the PVC pipes which will contain the engine controls.
February 2007 – Well, friends, we have reached a significant milestone. Here is the completed hull and main deck.
March 2007 finally sees a start on the deck house. We made a trip to the Houseboat Show in Louisville to learn of many things we didn’t want and to find out that some people were doing things we had worried about and were making them work – Plus a few good ideas and information on where to buy them.
April 2007 – This month has been pretty well used up by spring yard work and an excess of paying jobs. I expect more serious boat progress in May.
July 2007 – Lately our progress has actually become visible to the naked eye! Framing is gratifyingly dramatic, with all the walls up, and a start on the exterior plywood. A stalwart crew showed up for the week of July 4, hoisting roof beams and toting heavy stuff. “I’ll be satisfied if we get enough of a top deck on to sit up there and watch the town’s fireworks,” said Bert, our #1 son and assistant boatwright. So he did, and had the best seat of all. Now that the water is warm, it’s time to install 2x6 stiffening rails along the top of the copper hull sheathing just above the waterline.
September 2007
Despite way too much time spent at non-nautical day jobs, the ostensibly-‘retired’ boat-builder has managed to get a fair amount accomplished. The framing, rafters and exterior walls are mostly up, the rub rails at the waterline are on, and now we’re working on the roof. Then, of course, there’s lots of painting to be done. We’ll put more dark blue trim along the gunwale and roof band, and vast quantities of cream-colored industrial enamel on the outside walls and railings. Now we need to order windows, unrealistically hoping to have the boat dried-in enough by Christmas to serve as a rustic guesthouse for our rapidly expanding family. (Or a quiet retreat for Grandma and Grandpa!)
November 2007
Slow progress this fall, but the rough carpentry on the deckhouse, including the aft deck, is done and we are well started on the roof . This has been built up of 2x8 rafters, a series of longitudinal stringers of decreasing thickness so as to create a two inch crown to the roof, then topped with the same ¾ treated plywood used almost everywhere else on the boat. There is a 2x10 roof band, here seen installed and painted blue. All the roof joints will be bedded in 5200, then everything will be sealed with non-skid paint.
February 2008
Winter has not seen much photogenic progress, but the roof stringers and joint supports are all in place. The roof plywood has been trimmed, and just over half of it has been glued down. This has been slow, because each sheet needs to be glued down on a warm day that follows a dry day. Needless to say, warm dry days are in short supply around here this time of year. To see the upper deck all laid out is sort of impressive – looks like a lot of square feet of party deck.
March
2008
Spring’s here—we think. The birds are courting like crazy, the flowers are putting on quite a show, and a young man’s thoughts turn to…. Painting. We’ve begun to coat the exterior walls with the same industrial enamel we used on the hull, this a sort of cream color, which we hope will help keep us a bit cooler in our long summers. By doing that job now, we hope to avoid having to mask and do picky trim painting after the windows go in. The next job is to finish gluing the roof down, and build the second set of stairs aft of the bump-out. Conversations with various local marine suppliers about powering this craft go well, until we mention our hope that they’ll install the hydraulic steering apparatus as well as those heavy outboard motors, and do the whole job with the boat in the water. Then, they back away warily, promising to “get back to us.” We’re sure it’s possible, but once again, “ain’t nobody ever done it that way before.” That seems to worry some folk.