Houseboat Forums

What premium is a clean boat worth?

stp012 — 2012-07-26T19:09:22 -07.00

That's the question I'm asking myself. I've found a very clean 1980's Holiday Mansion that I'm considering buying. I've negotiated the selling price to a couple grand less than I think it's worth. So what's the problem you say? The problem is it's going to cost ten grand to ship it. This equates to me paying a premium of about $8k on a boat that is valued in the neighborhood of thirty some thousand dollars.

I have been on the market for a couple months now and no matter what I think I'm going to have to pay at least some freight charges to get a boat to my waters because there are very few houseboats in my immediate area. Best case scenario I find something a couple hours away and have to eat a $2k freight bill. So considering this we're now talking a $6k premium and the delta is decreased.

I've found a lot of junk so far. There are a lot of houseboats out there that are beautiful in the cabin but have been neglected in the engine room and bilges, and this is at the top of my list. I can deal with an ugly cabin; I can't deal with neglected systems.

The boat I've found is immaculate. The engine room looks new. It's a 1980's model and you'd never know it because of the care it's received.

So, am I out of my mind to fork over an additional $6k? Perhaps I should take a step back and watch the market into the fall as there might be more boats popping up soon closer to me?

any wheelchair bound houseboaters?

capnmorgan — 2012-07-20T22:22:36 -07.00

I have been in a wheelchair for 16 years and I plan to sale my house and live on a houseboat within the next few years. Is anyone else doing this from a wheelchair and what are your experiences good or bad?

Care of Our exterior fabric

DaleHollow — 2012-07-13T06:49:02 -07.00

The info we need before we use certain cleaning solutions & procedures, for our enclousers, & boat seats.

Looking for advice, on those solutions that clean, protect an wont harm your seams, an clear panels.

Also any tips, on the above on do's an don'ts when we take on the cleaning process.

Looked at a Gibson today, have some questions

stp012 — 2012-07-09T18:26:29 -07.00

I looked at a Gibson today for the first time; a 2003 41 Classic. It has been kept in saltwater all its life but I'm not too concerned about that since it appears to have been very well maintained. The broker didn't know much about the boat and wasn't much help so I walked away with a lot of unanswered questions I was hoping you guys could help me on.

There appears to only be two access hatches to the bilges inside the cabin; one in the aft stateroom and one just oustide the door to the forward head at the bottom of the stairs. Both of these bilge areas had standing water in them. Is this something to be concerned about? Where could the water have come from? I can understand a little water in the engine room but why in these areas?

It looked like the waste and freshwater tanks were near the aft access hatch. How in the heck do you service these tanks with them being buried under the floor with no access hatches directly above them?

Does the forward head have its own waste tank? I didn't see any plubming that lead to the aft holding tank, however I could not find a forward holding tank so I'm puzzled as to where the waste from the forward toilet ends up.

The fridge appeared to be AC only... is this typical? The boat has an 8.5kw genset so running isn't an issue however I was expecting a dual voltage fridge so we wouldn't have to run the genset when we're anchored at the beach all weekend.

There's a round port inside, and on the bottom of, the forward anchor locker. I unscrewed it and there appeared to be water down there. How is this water pumped out? Is it connected to the bilge near the forward head inside the cabin? If so that might explain the standing water in this area inside the cabin that I mentioned earlier.

As you can see I am very puzzled by the layout under the floor. I'm having visions of tearing out the floor to access something, not to mention I can't monitor much of the dark damp bilge, and this scares the hell out of me.

Any insight to my above concerns would be GREATLY appreciated!

New Forum

HBjocelyn — 2012-07-09T10:04:05 -07.00

Hello all!

Hope everyone is well. We have had some problems with the forum so we are starting a new Houseboat Forum. If you want to be a member of the new Houseboat Forum you are going to need to register at http://www.houseboatmagazine.com/forum/

Hurry and get registered.

Jocelyn

Need Gauage For Plastic Tank

Kartracer — 2012-07-07T05:28:53 -07.00

Is there a type of gauage that I put on the side of a plastic tank with out having to drill a hole. I have seen this type of gauage on propane bottles
Thanks

Used houseboat prices

zilpo55 — 2012-07-06T12:48:04 -07.00

Ok, the wife and I have decided to pull our houseboat dream off the back burner and have just started shopping for a used boat again. We spent an afternoon with a broker a few weeks ago who was trying to convince us that prices are starting to head back up again. The supposed reason was that manufacters weren't making many new ones under $500K and the supply was starting to dry up for people wanting to move up to better boats. To be clear, we have only seen boats with one broker and plan to see others on the other end of the lake. We are planning to buy in the $100K - $200K range, but haven't fully decided how high in that range we want to go.

What have you folks observed around your marina? Are the prices sliding back up? There sure seem to be a lot of vessels for sale out there.

Siblings electrocuted while swimming at Lake of Ozarks

Bamby — 2012-07-05T15:55:08 -07.00

In what authorities are calling a rare situation, two Missouri children died of electrical shock Wednesday while swimming off a private dock at Lake of the Ozarks.

Nearby adults tried to quickly rescue the children but pulled back when they felt electrical current in the water, said Sgt. Paul Reinsch, spokesman for the Missouri Highway Patrol's Troop F. After someone shut off power to the dock, the adults retrieved the children and began cardiopulmonary resuscitation, Reinsch said.

He identified the victims as Alexandra Anderson, 13, and her brother, Brayden Anderson, 8, of Ashland, Mo.

The incident happened about noon near the 6.5 mile marker in the lake's Gravois Arm.

Authorities were investigating the source of the electrical current. The dock's electricity powered lights and other items, including a pump that fed water down a slide the children had been using, Reinsch said.

He called the electrocutions "very unusual."

"We have heard of occurrences of individuals shocked while in the water," he said, "but this is very rare."

And yet a similar incident was reported Wednesday at a Tennessee lake, he said. In that case, one boy died but another was revived after being shocked while swimming between houseboats.

Source: http://www.kansascity.com/2012..._popular#storylink=cpy

1974 Drift n cruz cruise houseboat PLEASE HELP

vet67coupe — 2012-07-03T15:36:12 -07.00

Anyone know the height of a Gibson 41 Classic?

stp012 — 2012-06-29T14:18:32 -07.00

I'm looking at a 2003 41 Classic and it needs to be no taller than 13'- 4" from bottom of the keel to the tippy top, otherwise the bridge needs to be removed which I REALLY REALLY want to avoid. The owner isn't around to measure the boat himself and before I make the trip to view the boat I just want to get an idea of exactly how tall this thing is. No radar arch etc. Was hoping some of you guys have been down this path before and can shed some light.