Small Tug and Barge (Houseboat)

It's that time in life to start thinking about how I want to retire. I spent a good time of my earlier years on Barnegat Bay (NJ) and I miss the water. I've been researching small tug boats and houseboats.

My question is:

Can a shallow draft, single chine, single screw Tug (I like Mal Lowe - Pouch)
safely push/pull a small houseboat/barge (George Buehler - Riverwalk)?

My objective is to design a combination that is practical safe and reasonably economical. Design is to be used on the Intracoastal - Great Loop and other protected waters.

 

Crazy???

Hmmm:

From reading some the other posts, we have some highly trained engineers here.

My questions were much too vague.

How shall I proceed: (just a guess)

1. Calculate the displacement of the barge

2. Determine the design hull speed of each vessel.

3. Determine the necessary HP to push/stop the combined vessels at design hull speed (assuming they are nearly equal - I guess).

4. Study proper pushing and tie up techniques


Am I getting warmer?:idea:

 

Greyhat,

It seems to me that you'd be better off with a combination of both those vessels. Then you'd only have one boat to manage, instead of two.

Why do you want to tow a barge? It sounds like a lot of unnecessary complication.
Curtis

 

My reasoning

As I'm considering this idea for retirement (long term) My idea was to have the small tug (economical) to cruise around and the houseboat would effectively become "home base".

I haven't done any estimates yet (long time construction estimator) so I'm clueless as to the costs of building and/or operation.

What's your take on the idea?

 

Hi I am Giuliano, new to this forum and this is my first input.

Personally I think that a self propelled barge "Houseboat" and hawing a regular boat to go boating and either towed behind or lifted on the houseboat will be more practical and also more economical.
A tug when is not towing is a big waste of energy (That means money).
Furthermore, I think that towing such barge with a small tug/boat with a modest towing capability will be a little bit dangerous while navigating in the intracostal canal around big tugs pushing several big barges and with very limited space.
I am assuming you are thinking to pull the barge and this will make the navigation even more difficult. While if you are going for a push boat, the size will be bigher and also you need an elevated bridge and in such case this will not be a suitable boat just to go around for pleasure.

Giuliano

 

Im with Giuliano on this one.Im sure there is a thread on Dutch Barges they might be the answer

 

Some time ago I say a design that had a bass boat, or
something like that in a well at the back of the house
boat for propulsion and the smaller boat could be unlatched
and used for running around!

I had no idea where I saw it??

 

Small Tug & Barge (Houseboat)

Hi greyhat! I'm new to this forum, and this is my first post. In a word, yes, your idea would work. Let me give you some of my background, and you'll see why "yes" is an accurate answer.

First, I used to operate a boat with the 1099th Medium Boat Company, in Vietnam............a US Army riverine unit. We cobbled together almost every imaginable form of boat/tow combination. Using LCM 8's, we built shacks onboard, and lived on these boats 24-7-365 (unlike USN units). Often, we were used as tugboats to move artillery barges, fitted with two 105mm howitzers and ammo, to move through shallow canal systems. Although essentially a flat bottom, twin screw landing craft, the job was accomplished pretty good. Our screws would "ventilate" in reverse, unless we were easy on the throttles, but we routinely handled barges much bigger than our "mikeboats".

I'm retired, and enjoy poking into shallow, snag infested waters near us, in eastern Virginia and North Carolina. These areas offer the most wildlife, the best fishing, and the most pristine scenery, not to mention eliminating most high speed boats running to close to us.

Currently, we have a 24 foot Carolina Skiff..........basically a flat bottom fiberglass scow or johnboat. We had a CS J-16, powered by a 9.9 HP four stroke Evinrude (Suzuki with Evinrude logo), but it wasn't big enough for our needs.

We sold the J-16, and got the bigger boat, USCG rated to carry 3000 pounds or 18 people. We planned on using the 9.9 until funds for a 70-100 HP outboard were available, then using the 9.9 as a back up, or "kicker" to troll with. We also kept our tiny 36 pound thrust Minn Kota electric motor, which was plenty of power for the local lakes that prohibit gas engines.

For the waters we frequent, we soon realized that 9.9 HP was PLENTY of power for the speeds we need. On the first trip out, it was found that the stock propeller was not the right one (had almost zero power in reverse), so we got a wide blade, shallow pitch prop, and that corrected the problem. After 50 years of paddling canoes and kayaks, 3 MPH is plenty, and the 9.9 HP gives us 8-1/2 MPH top speed (GPS) with six adults, two large dogs, and a boat full of gear. For what we were used to with kayaks, 8.5 MPH is blistering speed! Fast idle gives 3MPH and very little noise, and sips gasoline.........16 MPG our last time out.

I would recommend getting the Yamaha 9.9 high thrust outboard, designed from the beginning as an auxilliary to push sailboats 25-30 feet in length. If this Evinrude/Suzuki ever dies, (built like a tank, I do not see it needing to be replaced for a long time) the Yamaha with lower geared lower unit, and bigger prop than what I currently have, is what I would replace it with.

As far as "towing" your houseboat, if in smooth water, I'd tow alongside, with good fenders & fender board out, and only tow on a long line in rough water. If you do tow on a long line, have someone on board that can drop an anchor previously prepared with faked down rode, for "brakes" in an emergency situation, if needed.

You can actually raft three boats up, if needed (two houseboats? his & hers open fishing boats?). Sometimes we rafted three mikeboats in the open rivers, and let 17 men sleep, while one man operated the rafted boats from the center vessel.........slower steering, but OK for open waters, and an easy way to keep your crew rested.

With the extra weight and windage from the houseboat, you might consider twin 9.9 outboards on the pusher boat, to gain some extra control when docking, and redundancy if one stops running. Or, if for some reason, you had to have the fishing/tug boat go one place, and the houseboat go another place at the same time, pull one outboard off of the "tug", and mount on the houseboat. Weighing around 100 pounds, this would be easy if you put a loading boom on your houseboat.

If you go with an articulated tug/tow set up, you'll have your vision seriously compromised, sitting in a open fishing/tow boat, behind the larger houseboat, as well as more expense setting it up properly. KISS is always a better route to follow.

One last thought. We have our boat set up with a removeable frame to support a full length top, and also to hang a full length mosquito net from. The whole thing breaks down, to clear low hanging trees, and when towing on the highway, to reduce windage. It is also much cheaper than three 8 foot bimini tops.

Lately, I've considered getting a second CS 24, and building a permanent cabin on it, and towing it like you are planning to do. For cold, wet Virginia winters, a real cabin would be more comfortable than a sunbrella enclosure.

We have enough space that I'm thinking about building a wood storage rack for the houseboat. Tow the open boat to the river, launch and leave my wife with the boat, then drive back home, back up to the rack, and winch the second boat on, then back to the river to launch #2 boat. Like you, I'm retired, so one trailer, one set of trailer license plates, and one insurance policy would save money.

One last comment: if you want to save a lot of time, you might consider getting one or two Carolina Skiff "kit boats"............bare hulls, with no cleats, decks or center consoles...........and fitting them out yourself. I got our boat dirt cheap, then bought the pieces I needed, as I could afford them. I won't list the dealers name or price, because it would probably be construed as SPAM, but E-mail me for particulars, if you are interested. I'm as tight as bark on a tree, and nobody sells these boats any cheaper...........I shopped around for a year before buying our boat.

 

Greyhat,

I have run a 25 foot, 10 000 pound, barge style, home built houseboat on the south west coast of Canada for ten years without much in the way of problems. I've used a 8, 15, 20, and 25 Hp outboard. It's not very comfortable in more than a two foot chop but I've motored through five foot seas in 30 knot winds in the middle of winter (once) and survived, but I wouldn't recommend it. I think the key is experience. Do you have any? The 6 1/2 knot hull was a marine engineer design and the cabin a replica of a 1930's railroad caboose. It's definately a fair weather sailor but on a calm day or evening, you can't beat it.

Tom,
Victoria BC

 

Greyhat,

Definitely consider a self propelled barge and just tow a run-about/life boat.

Tom.

 

Greyhat,

I would echo Riverrat's recommendation to use two 9.9Hp outboards.

You just can't beat directable thrust, twin screw for close-quarters manueovring, and the redundancy of a second engine (provided you use two fuel tanks that is). I'd recommend the Mercury line but that's only from personal experience. My beam is 10 feet with two skeggs on six foot centres. It would be a no-brainer to place them right behind these tapered skeggs providing not only some impact protection but good leverage having six feet between them.

Tom.

 

Answer for both small tug and houseboat

Go to www.Berkeley-Engineering.com. They have a great little tug that is inexpesive to build as well as the "Cape Codder" Houseboats that would make great retirement homes. The CANDU-EZ tug can be powered with a 20 to 30 HP diesel. I hope this information is useful

 

House boat for retirement

Back to the Berkeley engineering "Cape Codder" house boat that is as much house as it is boat. For a retiree in Barnegat Bay, I think the 24 foot version of the Cape Codder would be ideal, although I might consider raising the bulkheads a bit. I kept my schooner Sequoia at Forked River marina and brought the tugs up from Florida for the dredging in Barnegat. Also have often crossed the bay to swim in the shallows on the other side on the island. If you consider the cape Codder, It would be wise to also install 2" styrofoam sheet for insulation between the uprights and in the ceilings. The boat could be easily heated in the winter with one of the nice brass boat heaters.

The Berkely Candu EZ tug was also the baseline boat for our work on the dutch barge design. The tug is easy and rapidly built and will last for many years. It would be the ideal cruising solution also for either day or overnight trips. I don't envision anyone towing a houseboat in anything but ideal conditions, so you don't need something to take 4 foot seas.

 

I absolutely love your idea and think the simple answer to the original question is YES.

Atkin designed some great "home base" type barges. They can be expanded and scaled to fit your needs.

I've considered just such a plan. One favorite idea was an aluminum scow with a container on deck. The container is insulated and tricked out inside, can be offloaded at any port facility, and replaced with a cargo container.

Such a scow can also be easily set up for sailing as a deck barge. Somewhere I have pictures of a sailing ferry set up just so.

Small tugs can move big loads with modest horsepower if you're not fighting wind and seas, and in fact properly towed will handle more weather than the average guy wants by the time he's retired. Talking about myself again.

I think your core concept has enormous merit and I hope you make it happen. I for one applaud your dream and want to see the pictures....

Regards,

Grizz

 

I agree that it would easier to manage, but would it be as much fun???? I'd like to be able to move about and see the lesser traveled back bays, small rivers and such.