Houseboat question

I have some small amount of expertise with riverboat design and construction. There's lots to consider, but you should take stock of the less than obvious stuff first, like how big is your work space, local launching ramp grades, how big is the tow vehicle, what accommodation are absolutely necessary and what are simply on the wish list. Additionally, as you mentioned, how will it be berthed, will it stay berthed or simply trailered about, general sea state condisions that you'd expect to encounter, budget, skill set(s) tools available, etc. As a rule the fold up/apart, popup, swing out arrangements are usually convoluted, add considerably to weight and complication and setup and typically are weaker compaired to more conventional setups.

To directly answer you questions, I think 20' on deck is about as small as practical with a riverboat, without it looking like a floating Winnebago. Most use 6' 2" or 6' 4" as standard full headroom, though raising a roof is a fairly common modification to make. My Respite design is 20' on deck with 6' 2" of headroom, though (again) this could be raised 6" with few worries. Of course I'd raise the sheer as well as the roof line, to help hide the extra windage visually. Some designs have tried to make these type of boats shorter in length, but not with any serious headroom or ones that only offer a mother's love aesthetically.

 

Very good information. I am located in NH at the moment but I think for less than five years. I'm but 23 so this is a very long way off, I am just trying to get started with the planning. If I were to build something right now it would be a 10-15 foot fishing/lounging boat.

I am not even the biggest fan of house boats, I think a lot of the time they end up very boxy and loose what to me personally makes something a boat. I also don't have the length really to make anything less than a floating box with a 4x8 deck platform.
my favorite style honestly is a trawler, my grandfather has owned this exact style boat which I have spent a lot of time on in my life and it is my absolute favorite http://www.hshyachts.com/1985_monk_36_trawler_1.jpg
I have found some plans very similar to that in shorter sizes so lil more to my taste.

also I thank you for all that information, I will defenitly raise the roof on these if possible. I understand that having a split propulsion system will be rather expensive and I think the expense is worth getting everyone out of the cabin and up onto the top decks. Id rather sit up top outside with everyone than be cooped up inside, or be driving inside by myself while everyone sits up top.

I imagine it wouldn't be too difficult to reinforce the ceilings to support human weight but please correct me if I am wrong.

I am more of a lake goer as far as boats go. Not a huge fan of the ocean and rivers round me are tiny. The one place I very would want to bring anything I make is lake George in NY, it is one of my all time favorite spots to go, redrock bay is fantastic. What I like a lot about lake George is that there are state docks everywhere, not many lakes do that these days as far as I can tell.

 

At this point the best advice you can receive, is to get out onboard as many different boats as you can. Trawlers are nice, but often costly to own, as everything about them is big and heavy, which you have to pay for installing and maintaining. Talk to owners about the expenses involved in ownership, upkeep, etc. You're not going to drag around a 35' trawler with a F-150, from boat ramp to boat ramp, so slip fees, winterizing fees, bottom painting, etc. need to be considered.

As far as a small boat to cut your teeth on (a really good idea BTW), there's lots of choices, so look around and see what rings your bell. Try to pick one with a build method that is similar to the "mothership" you eventually plan on tackling, so you can get a feel for the process. All bigger boats will need a tender (dinghy) to ferry stuff to and from, like big Al your well fed brother in law or Fedel the wonder dog and a cooler full of beer. You'll find your ideas and concepts about the perfect boat will change, likely dramatically as you gain experence, on the water and talking with folks. What you think is cool now, will not even be close to the same 5 years from now. This is normal and typical of most owners/builders.

 

so I understand the plight of owning a trawler, I know a few people who do and have spent quite a bit of time on it and can guess to some of the other complications that follow. There are many plans in the 20-25 ft range, which are long for trailering but not impossible. I'm not really in it for speed either, I just like to mozy round the lake having a grand ole time. I have been looking at and staying on that trawler since the day I was born and it is pretty much what I want to go for. Again the large boat is way down the road so I just may be able to get that dock slip on lake George, but very doubtful. Cruisers are great but for some reason the don't quite do it for me, little too bouncy with minimal outside space, I'm very tall so sitting in the back of a cruiser my legs take up the space of three people. I wouldn't want to put all the time and effort into something I'm only 90%happy with.

The home made dingy mounted on back would bring the whole thing together I think.

I had just been thinking houseboats as they seemed easier to get more space out of but that was definitely the wrong impression after I did some research.

as far as smaller boats go, I am a sucker for runabouts, but doubt I want to start with that, so kinda of a utility motor row boat style is what I have I my head right now.

 

A simple skiff, flat bottom for an easy build, V bottom for a better ride quality, will do. They can be gussied up to your liking or left painted for easier maintenance.

 

Side question: earlier I'd mentioned Cylinder Mold construction, which as you know (but I mention for any possible peanut gallery) is a relatively quick way to make fair if high length to beam ratio hulls, and one thing I've wondered is ...

... what about using CM with a central section to produce a wider hull, kinda like a Garvey with arc profile to the sides rather than flat. Have you come across anyone doing this and if so what did the boat look like?

My own interest would be to have a simply built boat that looked like more effort had been made than was really the case.

 

To be honest, I've seen very few real CM types of builds and though I can envision, likely what you are, I'm not sure of the shape compromises I could live with, without considerably more research on them.