Pontoon to Houseboat Conversion

[ldmills]

I'm planning to build a light weight cabin on a 28' pontoon deck this winter. I would appreciate any experience you'd care to share, and any advice you can offer:

IRV builder, a am an experienced nd have resources available to me, such as roof and wall construction materials, including fiberglass composites for walls, windows, tanks, bedding, etc.

I plan to sail seven people (four adults and three children) on a journey from Columbus, Ohio to Memphis, TN. I assume I'll need a third pontoon, or something to handle the extra weight I'll add with the cabin, a generator, fuel, gear, food and water.

Secondarily, I would like to know how long such a trip will take, and what engine I will need. I presently have a 9.9 hp motor, and would like to use it if possible.

Lastly, is there anything I need to know about locks, tolls, dams or other things I might not know about having never made this trip?

Feel free to e-mail me directly as well.

Sincerely,
Larry in North Central Ohio

[messabout]

I think you would be better advised to start from scratch. Abandon the pontoon boat idea and build a houseboat from one of the many plans that are available. There is every possibility that you will have a better boat, a safer boat, a better all around experience, if you do it the traditional way.

The 9.9 will probably push the heavy boat but only slowly. You will be happier with a four stroke, big prop motor of 20 or 30 HP.

Do some serious studying about the ways of the river systems. There will be commercial traffic out there, you need to know something about expectations from the tow boaters and communication methods, as well as safety rules and regs. If there are locks, you'll need to know a little about the way they work and what to do.

[Busman1965]

I converted a 24ft Landau pontoon boat into a houseboat about 10 years ago, and it was a great sucess. The trick is to keep everything very light, on the cabin. I used 1/4" ply for the rood and sides, and 3/4" for the decking. All the interior was doorskin, except the bunk bottoms, which were particle board. These type of conversions are not very good for rough water, as they can be very wet, but if used with care, you can make good, long trips, with no problem. I regularly ran mine from Palm Beach to Miami, and across the Okeechobee waterway, to Ft Meyers. I rigged mine with controls in the cabin, so the boat could be run in bad, or cold weather. I used no 'glass on the cabin, just elastomeric sealer, and paint, with 5200 on the joints. The total cost was very minimal for the whole rig, and I had alot more fun with it, than many very expensive boats I have owned. I used an old Evinrude 15hp, 2stroke to power it, with a high thrust propeller, which gave me about 6kts in calm water. Normal cruising speed was about 4.5-5knts. The best part was being able to trailer it somewhere, and dunk it in, and have a floating cottage to live in. I did several summers in the Florida Keys this way. I ususally carred a motorized canoe, to uses for fishing, and as a dingy. My girlfriend and I lived on it for 2 months last summer in Key Largo, and it was great! I even put in a small A/C unit, which ran on a 1400watt generator. A couple of things you should make sure and do, if you decide to build a boat like this
1 Make sure the hulls will support the weight, without floating to deep.
2 Keep the weight as low as possible.
3 INSULATE the cabin well, I learned this the hard way, thin cabins
get really hot inside on sunny days, even with good ventilation, and
become frigid on cool windy days!!!
4 If you add a 3rd pontoon, in the center, you can use it for water and fuel
storage, which frees up the cabin room.
5 Keep the weight aft, as pontoon boats will go through waves if they are
too heavy forward, which makes the boat really wet.

These kind of boats offer alot of room for the money, and if care is taken in their layout and construction, they can be loads of fun, for little outlay. Good luck with your project!!!

[ldmills]

That's exactly what I was looking to do. I'm planning to install a 30-gallon fresh water tank with a toilet and holding tanks under the floor. My walls with be framed with 1" X 1" aluminum tubing, packed with 1" bead board (styrofoam) with fiberglass skin on the outside and paneling on the inside. Same idea for the roof, but I may try to make it strong enough to support people walking on it.

I've decided to take a few guys down the Scioto River in canoes/kayaks next month to scout out the trip before putting the houseboat on it next spring. I may change my mind about the whole idea.

Thanks for the pictures.

[Busman1965]

I would be careful about making the roof to heavy, to support people up there. I did it on mine, in a small area, which I reinforced to carry weight, which worked well, but it really makes the boat unstable, even with 2 people up there, probably not enought to capsize it, but still not much fun. If you do opt to do this, confine it to a certin area, otherwise the roof will be very heavy. My boat was framed with 2x3's (sides and roof) on 2ft centers. The roof was 1/4 ply nailed down on the frames, and using the frames for butt blocks. It would hold my weight, but flexed alot. I reinforced a 6ft square section for a roof pattio, with 3/4 ply, and it held fine, but we never used it, as it was rolly up there. You will find the front deck to be much more confortable, most times. I made a mistake cutting the roof off flush to the sides, I would put in a drip edge next time, to keep the rain from sheeting down the sides. I used styrofoam for insulation, and it worked fine, but the ants love the stuff, so make sure it is sealed in well. Another thought was to raise the cabin a few inches off the deck, I mounted the cabin right on the plywood deck of the pontoons, and it was always getting the carpet wet, in rough water, I finally put a coat of elastomeric sealer over the whole floor.

[SamSam]

Cacafuego, that's good. You need to paint some flames somewhere.

Did you use elastomeric sealer on the roof? Do you have some kind of access to the back and the motor?