Some folks dream about owning a houseboat for years before they actually buy one. A lot of times, though, that first boat is then sold as the owners move up and on.
That couldn't be further from the way getting into houseboating worked out for Tom and Char Woodward of Dubuque, Iowa. In some respects, their houseboat ownership story goes all the way back to 1952. That is when Tom's great-grandfather commissioned Dubuque Boat and Boiler Works to build a steel houseboat he named Driftwood. At about 31 feet long and 14 feet wide, it was described as more of a floating barge.