Now this is a House boat!

A couple of weeks ago I was cruising the local harbors and spotted this monster lashed to the dock. My only regret was not taking a picture of the beast at the time, but that situation has been solved because the proud owner has done it for me.

MM

PS. Here's the link if you're interested in some interior shots.

http://juneau.craigslist.org/boa/3071157427.html

 

I doubt it is self propelled. We call those floating houses. They have to be towed from place to place and are treated differently from boats in most places. Taxed and registered differently.

 

That is wild. Who wouldn't love that. Kind of sucks that you would get the same taxing as another house on land.

 

The tax and registration situation is probably different from State to State and certainly different in Countries other than the US. Here in Florida these are typically registered as vessels and the owners then pay the annual registration fee. Some owners try and document, but there seems to be some problem with that.

Steve

 

Apart from the obvious reasons why one might remember seeing this thing lashed to the dock I knew the original owner (who has since passed away), and was a bit taken aback by it's transformation. I'm pretty sure that if Norm could see what was once his pride and joy the air would be filled with more deleted explatives then I have characters on my keyboard. Salty old fishermen are good for that kind colorful language...

I don't know if it still has the old 454 Chevy Mercruiser package, and I'm not sure it matters because you'd have to be foolhardy to even think about letting the lines loose. Heck that might be the only thing keeping it right side up....lol.

This boat started life as a documented vessel, so who knows if that might have carried over to the new owners. I can't see any advantage that might accrue to them, just lots of disadvantages especially where the Coast Guard is concerned.

Anyway it's just fun to look at...especially knowing that my $82,000 is safe for another day.

MM

 

In Puget Sound, you'll see hundreds of those things.

 

Interesting, since the US Coast Guard Warrant Officers Association has their headquarters in a very similar houseboat docked at the James Creek Marina in Washington DC, next door to USCG HQ.

And yes, in the Pac NW there are hundreds of those, especially on Lzke Union in Seattle.

 

It's all about zoning. Some places don't have an issue with them, while others can't stand the sight of any boat on the waterfront.

 

That isn't extraordinarily large. I have seen many much larger than that in Louisiana. Starting with a small 120' x 30' deck barge is not uncommon.

 

I have spent many a weekend 'camping' on someone's 5000sq foot 'house boat' in the marshes of La. Phil's got this one right. Recently the move has been to start with self power barges and build a new superstructure on them.


Apparently a good radar will also follow ducks.

 

Just proactive about global warming...

 

I suppose if you start out with a barge building a houseboat isn't such a radical departure from it's intended use. This one however was built on a old fishing boat, so I doubt the original designer ever contemplated that someday one of his hulls might be asked to perform in quite this way.

http://www.radonboats.com/

MM