Could a paddlewheel be placed at the front?

No, no, no - the stretch of navigable river near me is 10 miles long (I know it's short, but there you go). There is NO WAY I would go that far out to sea. There is a possibility of bringing it to a river further north (or south) - but coast hogging - so only about 1/4 to 1/2 a mile out to sea - but then, from the reply just above about bringing it to sea, I doubt that would be safe.

What I'm thinking now is two daggerboards - one on the port side and one on the starboard, but not sure if I'm just complicating things for no reason - how big would these have to do to at least somewhat prevent drift?

As for propulsion, I'm still debating the electric outboard. I know they're expensive, but are they powerful enough, in general?

And how much HP are we talking about for something like this.

Will upload the new model soon once I've finished. Am modelling the basic structure in Second Life so I can visualise the size better.

 

The 10hp outboard mentioned in a former post, would be about the minimum to propel such a house. That gives you a rough figure.
In el. propulsion that would translate into cost in the same ballpark your entire vessel (included the outboard) would come out.

And again I recommend to start the design spiral with a sensible SOR instead of pulling every rope in reach to come to a result you cannot achieve and do´nt want.

Regards
Ricahrd

 

Dude.

Seriously, forget the computer model and Second Life for now. Go rent a pedal powered paddle boat. Drive it around for a couple hours, and then imagine it being 100 times heavier and 100 times harder to control in wind. Even if you've already abandoned the idea of pedal power, this will give you some sort of idea about what it takes to work a real boat.

Water that has no currents pretty much does not exist in real life. Small lakes where you can rent paddle boats, maybe. A river, absolutely not. Now consider wind, which is a whole separate topic.

If you want green power, find a sailboat design that works for your scenario, and have a secondary power plant.

 

I second (and if necessary third) Ken's suggestion

 

Here's another interesting and informative research project:

Rent a canoe, and take it out on the actual body of water you intend to put this houseboat on. Put it in at the downstream end, and go up to the other end and then turn around and go back.

Keep in mind that all sorts of things happen with boats and bodies of water. You may intend to never get out in the middle, but sooner or later if you're out there, something will go wrong and you'll find yourself out in the middle in a lightning storm with high winds and waves you never anticipated, and there won't be anything you can do about it.

Edit: An advanced version of this would be to load about 200 lbs of extra junk in the canoe and repeat the exercise. This will give you a bit of practical data on what difference a lot of extra weight does to your boat, both in terms of water current and general handling. And the work involved in making it go. DO NOT do this the first time around.

Sorry I just can't help it. Editing again. This is a houseboat right, so you intend to live on it at least part of the time? That means that the sort of weather that the vast majority of inland boaters would avoid, you'll actually be out there on the boat. Even if it's tied to the dock. Time to start asking old-timers in the area what the worst weather they can remember on that body of water was, and what it did to that section of river.

 

This:



or this:




both from:

http://www.atkinboatplans.com/

could be the better solution, and the plans are nearly for free.

Regards
Richard

 

Have a look at post #859 here:
http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/boat-design/pedal-powered-boats-23345-58.html

That is a practical size for pedal power. Clem is planning to make a different deck and fit a larger tent. Right now a couple of them cruise his cat in sheltered water for a few days at a time. Two of them can hold 4 to 5 kts. If the hulls were longer it would be faster.

The tent idea allows windage to be reduced if you need to make way against a stiff breeze.

Once you start going to solar energy with electric drive it gets expensive and complicated.

Rick

 

This video clip gives a good perspective on human power:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C93cL_zDVIM

Rick W.

 

There is some real good advice on the limits of human power here - the big boxy houseboat would be a real problem to move safely in anthing but low wind and tide.

A couple of points -

Streamline the design - it means a bit more mucking around in sketch up, but radius all your corners, and make the superstructure walls lean in a bit. This has a dramatic effect on reducing windage, no matter what kind of power source you use. Same goes for the hulls - every sharp corner and boxy side adds a lot of resistance. Apexes hull examples are a great start.

yes to daggerboards - if you can place a few at strategic points, you can almost sail a big barge. Dudes in South America steer huge rafts of timber up the Pacific coasts with no sails - just relying on currents and windage. They steer by the judicuious use of "daggerboards". If nothing else, they may give you a bit more control over events when you accidentally get blown around or your propulsion fails.

The idea of petrol engines and motors may seem a bit non-natural, but just having them for safety and to use briefly on special occasions would make them worthwhile.

I guess the most "natural" form of propulsion is a wood burning steam engine. At least the power source is renewable, and if you plant as many trees as you burn .... environmentally friendly ?

 

and if you plant as many trees as you burn .... environmentally friendly ?

Most counties handle tons of "yard waste" that they are usually willing to deliver for FREE!

Free fuel ?

Steam tech is fairly simple , some folks have modified gas engines to use steam. Biggest hassle most places are federalies that want licenses to run the boiler.

FF

 

Hi,

I want to make the design simple - I know I haven't really said, but I have gone off the idea of human power for a vessel this size, which is a shame, but...tough

I'm starting to see normal (diesel/petrol) outboards as the only real option. In theory, steam is great, but that means a lot of fiddling around with fitting engines - I want it to be simple.

And thanks, everyone, for all of the advice - even if it sounds like I'm not listening, I am!

Will definately take the advice of leaning in the cabins.

 

Steam tech is so far away from being simple as the moon is from earth!

One cannot mod. a gas engine to a steam engine without sacrificing 85% of efficiency! (which is already in a lower ballpark)

Boiler ticket is mandatory in all civilized countries! Boilers and steam engines are not allowed in UMS!

A complete steam propulsion ends up at three times the weight and space requirement than a diesel propulsion! (incl. bunker space)

I am sure a fan of steam propulsion (if not THE fan), but on a recreational vessel, other than a launch, leave it.

Regards
Richard

 

You could stay with human power, you just need to scale it down and pack a some camping gear. Kayaks are brilliant for this...

-Tom

 

@Submarine Tom - yeah, but it needs to be a near-permanent dwelling, and a tent isn't really suitable for this.

 

Ok - here is an updated design with the recent considerations put into effect


One view


And another




Right - next question - one which I will REALLY get laughed out of the forums for

Would it be possible to fit the rudder by having a post that is above the hole on there, and have a hinge connected to this and the rudder? This allows for steering from the top of the cabin when rigged with some...err...ropes, meaning I can, you know, see.

I understand I would still need to have a way of controlling the throttle on the outboard somehow...but wouldn't want to rig that up for long distance steering because it would be fairly hard to move with it's weight, right?
Can that be done?