Houseboat - is it possible to produce 2br/2bath for US$ 100,000?

[Furryboy]

Hi everyone!

I would like to know if it is possible to produce a houseboat (low-mid level specs interior) for about US$ 100,000.

Power to be outboard motors (supplied by me later, minimum fuel tank required).

Need to supply air conditioning units (high capacity, about 1 ton/ 500 sq foot of internal space) plus internal lighting plus fridge/washing machine/ cooker. Will run on landside power 99% of the time, if not 100%.

Will need gray water tank plus black water tank.
Interior- 2 bedrooms with en-suite toilets plus 2 showers.

[Submarine Tom]

Yes, easily.

-Tom

[marshmat]

Simple design, simple finishes, simple systems, you can easily beat that price point.

Complex design, luxurious hardwood interior, the best of cutting-edge electronics, you could run up to ten times your specified budget.

A boat will always cost as much as you can spend. If you set a hard cap on the budget, and enforce it (that means shooting down a lot of requests for "but wouldn't it be nice if"), you should be able to pull it off...

[Frog4]

http://www.berkeley-engineering.com/CapeCodder.html

[CatBuilder]

Very easily possible.

Barges and shipping containers would make it as low cost as can be.

[Man Overboard]

Frog4 - http://www.berkeley-engineering.com/CapeCodder.html

Ha,HA...Now Iv'e seen everything! I've got to tell you though; if a storm kicks up I'd be sleeping in my cape cod style sleigh bed with a life vest for a pillow.

[Furryboy]

My difficulty would be insulation (I live in an area of high humidity and heat).
As well as keeping it cool obviously.

Has anyone tried pumping water around in order to cool a boat, kinda like a radiator system , but using water from below the thermocline to cool down the air?

Or would that require massive amounts of water in the pipes inside the cabin, and consequently , weight?

[Furryboy]

oh yeah, and shipping the boat out here (UAE)
I definitely don't want top-end finishing. Durable and practical stuff is what I need.

[Saildude]

You would want to run the water through coils and use a fan to force air through the coils - which is what Air Conditioning does - there have been some applications I saw in the past - some Air Conditioners sink their extra heat by dumping it into the water (heat exchanger tubes are underwater) - how well it works depends on how cold your water is - you could also use some sort of keel cooling for your A/C as the water your boat is in should be cooler than the air during the summer.

[Frog4]

Originally Posted by Furryboy

My difficulty would be insulation (I live in an area of high humidity and heat).
As well as keeping it cool obviously.

Has anyone tried pumping water around in order to cool a boat, kinda like a radiator system , but using water from below the thermocline to cool down the air?

Or would that require massive amounts of water in the pipes inside the cabin, and consequently , weight?

Your problem with the pumping water thru pipes idea is going to be the high humidity ... how are you going to solve the condensation problems associated with chilled water and high humidity on the pipes? A/C units have built in condensation pans etc which drain outside ... if you have the whole house "piped" with cold water you will have major issues, mold, rot etc ...

[Submarine Tom]

Just provide drainage for the condensation...

-Tom

[Furryboy]

Wow I didn't think about that...