Retirement Houseboat or Floating Home

Discussion in 'Boat Design' started by Greenseas2, Aug 25, 2008.

  1. tugboat

    tugboat Previous Member

    have you priced marine ply lately??? its stupid expensive. HC is not...
     
  2. SamSam
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    SamSam Senior Member

    I wonder how much compressive load that would handle on the edge. I'm thinking of your typical house boat roof that is also an open deck that might sometimes hold a bunch of people, where the roof loads would be transferred to the walls and the edges of those panels.
     
  3. rwatson
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    rwatson Senior Member

    Of course. Its the best way. For example, http://www.bateau.com/proddetail.php?prod=GT27#.Uh_fkX-N8ls houseboat offers either method. You can glue the thinner ply over high density foam..

    The reason its not as popular as traditional methods is the problem of engineering calcs.

    The scantlings for traditional stud/skin are easier to calculate, its just a routine extrapolation. For monocoque structures, using core material, its a whole new technique.

    If you are 'making it up as you go' on a small boat, you will probably over or under engineer to blazes. For a commercial designer, both results are potentially a problem - it either fails under pressure, or it weighs/costs too much.

    The question is - where do you find an engineer for a design that
    1) Can do the calcs
    2) Doesn't cost half the boat
    3) has the experience to produce a workable, cost effective solution.

    You can design it yourself - that has insurance and liability implications.

    Where to now ?
     
  4. brian eiland
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    brian eiland Senior Member

    Any competent engr can do these calculations, and the core people themselves often have staff on hand that can help with applications of their materials for different projects. Between those two sources you can build this simply 'box structure' with applicable 'roof loading'.
     
  5. brian eiland
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    brian eiland Senior Member

    Floating Tug-Barge Home

    Another fellow over on another forum was kind enough to 'photo-shop' this Pilgrim cabin onto a barge arrangement.....ha...ha
    Pilgrim 'houseboat' barge.jpg

    Didn't turn out looking too bad :idea:. What do you think?

    The city officials might have trouble defining whether this is a 'working barge' or a floating home.??:p

    http://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s3/redesigning-pilgrim-40-trawler-canal-boat-11212-6.html#post176315
     
  6. rwatson
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    rwatson Senior Member

    But not a lot of them will. Its a matter of business preference for starters, and may impact their liability insurance in many other cases.


    In fact, many of them can do the entire calculations using their products, which then brings me to those final two points

    2) how much do they charge for the project ( and can you get an accurate estimate beforehand ), especially if it is for a one off, small budget project.

    3) is the resulting material list and construction methods suitable for the project. That will often depend on how lucky you in choosing a brand.
     
  7. FAST FRED
    Joined: Oct 2002
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    FAST FRED Senior Member

    For many folks that dont have the hull building talent or skill set , BUT could assemble a house structure on a hull a look in Boats & Harbors will show loads of used equippment , and at least a dozen builders that would be delighted to quote on a product they have built many times.

    With many decades of creating working hulls and barges , no cash outlay would be required from the new owner for engineering.

    The service of just being a floating house boat is far less difficult than any work boat service..
     
  8. brian eiland
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    brian eiland Senior Member

    Attached Files:

  9. rwatson
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    rwatson Senior Member

    I dont know why you think i need to be converted - i agree that its the better way - thats what i said !!


    If you compared the TOTAL number of cored constructions with the TOTAL number of rib and skin constructions - you would see a whole LOT more rib and skin.

    .... for the reasons I gave. Its that simple.
     
  10. brian eiland
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    brian eiland Senior Member

    You do realize that this is NOT a real vessel....just a photo-shop one.

    He did a couple of others as well....ha...ha
     

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  11. brian eiland
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    brian eiland Senior Member

    I didn't understand that from the tone of your postings.


    That's like saying perhaps we shouldn't be building sandwich-cored vessels as there are many more single skinned glass ones or single skinned metal ones. Sandwich-cored ones are too difficult to engineer :rolleyes:




    Want to here an even crazier idea than my 'all-honeycomb superstructure' ?....How about composite and/or pultruded glass framing members in a metal hull. Just thinking 'out-side-the-box.

    http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/boat-building/steel-hulls-composite-superstructure-topsides-47349-6.html#post638907

    http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/boat-building/steel-hulls-composite-superstructure-topsides-47349-11.html#post640845

    http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/boat-design/bulkhead-tabbing-now-redundant-47578-5.html#post639254


    http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/boat-design/bulkhead-tabbing-now-redundant-47578-10.html#post640396
     
  12. dskira

    dskira Previous Member

    Brian thank you. What a fool I am, I didn't see it!
    I deleted my post, I fee too stupid.
     
  13. brian eiland
    Joined: Jun 2002
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    brian eiland Senior Member

    Well I'm in the same 'boat' as you. When he first posted one of those other 'look-alikes' on this other forum, I got fooled also until someone on that other forum told me he was 'famous' for posting PhotoShop renditions' ...its sort of a hobby of his as well as good participating on that forum:D:D:D

    BTW, when I ask him if he could give me such a Photoshop image, I was actually thinking of placing it on a flat barge shape similar to what Eric Sponberg posted back at item #3.

    I guess I didn't spell that out, just asked for it to be put on a 'barge'. He went to the 'wild-side' and put the whole thing on a trailer....so funny :D:D:D
     
  14. brian eiland
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    brian eiland Senior Member

    Just looking back thru this subject thread, and noticed you only made a single posting? Did you ever proceed forward with your project??

    Your original dwg had a nice combination of canal barge and houseboat.
     

  15. brian eiland
    Joined: Jun 2002
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    Location: St Augustine Fl, Thailand

    brian eiland Senior Member

    Richard Branson's houseboat

    Don't recall if these photos were ever posted
     

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