Retirement Houseboat or Floating Home

These appeared to be 'aux tanks' that attached alongside the steel tubes. They appear to be constructed of a heavy plastic material.
...perhaps for sanitation. etc

 

A Case for Cylindrical Tube Floats

I believe a number of these Thai vessels are utilizing gas pipeline tubing that is being installed all over that country. Perhaps they can get 'second grade' pipe that doesn't meet high standards. I just don't know of all their 'sources' at the moment.

These steel tubes offer a rigidity factor to the sub-frame structure that eliminates much of the additional beam structure that might have been required,... had the floatation been provided for with discontinuous items such as 'barrels', blocks of foam, etc.

And these steel tubes require the least amount of additional 'fabrication' by the end user. There are no long welded seams as might be require by a rectangular float shape, or a barge shape. We simply need to add end caps (perhaps faired shaped ones), and preferably some internal bulkheads to divide the long tubes into multiple chambers to control any accidental flooding.

I would suggest that the bulkheads could be simply 'flat plate' affairs made of steel, or even a heavy plastic material. I would also suggest that these bulkheads could be 'glued' into place with any number of super adhesive products we have on the market these days,....rather than welded in. These bulkheads are not going to experience any great pressure forces, as they are not operating at any depth,...simply dividing up chambers on a surface floating tube.

I'm sure this gas pipeline is coated with some anti corrosive coating, and it would be preferable not to disturb this coating by the welding process, so adhesive installation via a caulking gun sounds real attractive. There are some hints that if these 'chambers within the floatation tubes' are water and air tight, then an anti- corrosive coating may not be needed.
http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/boat-design/preventing-rust-inside-steel-pipe-tubing-50666.html#post692044

These floatation tubes could be replaced on an individual bases should the need arise, and additional floatation for the structure as a whole could be accounted for adding another one or two

 

Trailerable Option

Another attraction I have for the cylindrical tube floatation configuration arises from the possibility of moving these floating homes/cottages to a launching site that might not have a crane to off-load them from a delivery trailer. I'm thinking the tubular sub-structure could be provided with some sort of 'dolly wheel arrangement' such that the tubes themselves become the trailer structure to get the cottage/house to the waterfront location,... then slid off into the water.

This might be particularly applicable in Thailand where crane surfaces are much fewer in availability.

 

Brian,

Your idea is almost exactly what I had in mind for my Modular Catamaran Houseboat idea. You've probably seen it, but I did a presentation at IBEX a few years ago, and afterward made it into a downloadable video. If you (or anyone else) clicks the following link, it will open automatically. It runs about 7 minutes. Pay attention to how houseboats can be serviced using a third pontoon under the middle of the house, between the catamaran pontoons.

The various houseboat discussions on this forum talk a lot about building houses on the cheap with readily available devices, usually centered around a pontoon configuration. That's all well and good, but often missed in the discussion is how do you get the houseboat to the water, and once there and launched, how do you get it out again for servicing??? Roads are only so wide, so assembly must be done by the water. And once assembled, are they strong enough and rigid enough to get back out of the water??? Remember, marine organisms like to grow on boat hulls, and so I think the houseboats have to be cleaned every now and then--otherwise they'll grow right to the bottom. That could pose more problems for the community as a whole, and for the individual owner who may have a bona-fide houseboat (with propulsion and steering) but who never goes anywhere.

At any rate, enjoy the video:

www.sponbergyachtdesign.com/MODCATHOUSEBOAT.wmv

Eric

 

Eric,
I believe I watched that video presentation before, but I need to re-watch it again as my memory isn't what it use to be. Thanks for your contribution.
Brian

I just watched it again,....GOOD presentation,.short and covers a lot of points. I liked your 'drydock' maintenance scheme.

 

One of these:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEMQmWbNveY

But put a little camper on it. Done. lol.

 

that's cool

 

A completely random thought: in Texas a human powered vehicle incurs no registration fee no matter its length -- a point the statute expressly makes.

Now, that's got me thinking that an unpowered houseboat which was technically human propelled because you had an exercise bike attached to a prop ... hey, the law doesn't specify "effective propulsion".

 

Good idea!
Attach a set of pedals to a paddle wheel, effectively acting as a decoration, yet still functional if needed to prove a point.

 

If you can move under human power from one dock to another with no external help it's arguably "human powered".

Actually, I believe that on some rivers there is a long history of even large house boats being managed by men with poles, not just small shanties.

 

Thailand Tow / Push Boats

Most all of these floating rafts/houseboats that I mentioned before were 'unpowered',...no propulsion units installed.
Instead they depended on very neat combination tow/push boats. These were quite innovative little craft born of necessity and fabricated with steel and old diesel truck parts.

 

BTW, they might seem a bit over-powered, but I think that was a combination of
a) what was available in the used commercial truck yards,
b) the considerable currents in that portion of the river Kwai,
c) the big loads represented by some of those sizable entertainment rafts (particularly when loaded with lots of patrons),
d) ...and then just the plain fun they have with who can outdo who with engine sizes

 

...and one with a bit more 'color'

 

e) fans of Home Improvement and the Tim "the Toolman" Taylor character.

 

This concept of a large barge towed or pushed by a tug was very popular in the Uk. On the Thames in London the barge was called a ' lighter' or dumb barge, about 80' in length and 18' beam. On an incoming tide the tidal race goes for miles up the river helping boats make headway.

A very interesting spin off oif this concept is the coal barge located on the Isle of Man, an Island in the middle of the Irish Sea 50 miles offshore. They tow a lighter across to the mainland with a large tug boat in all conditions; the Irish Sea is a very rough stretch of water and rarely calm. This happens every week winter and summer whatever the conditions.

So a totally unseaworthy shaped barge can 'under tow' become very seaworthy; the tow rope stopping broaching.......So designing a live board barge for maximum volume with no regard for seaworthiness makes perfect sense if it is designed to tow.

Another plus is tug boats are lovely things....

A different take on a tow barge.....