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THE CONCEPT
The Drifter
36 design was created for permanent moorage and living aboard in Seattle's Lake Union. The available slip was quite narrow... but the requirement was to create adequate living space for a single person or couple.
THE CHALLENGE
The size of the slip was the most challenging restriction. Here is why...
In order to gain sufficient interior space for the requested accommodations, our only choice was to build vertically, which created weight up high as well as windage. Yet another requirement was that there be a garden area on the roof...!
The windage created by the height of the 'house' combined with the weight of the house combined with the potential weight of the planters on the roof combined with the extreme limitation on beam gave us quite an interesting puzzle to solve.
THE SOLUTION
After experimenting with several monohull
shapes, it became readily apparent that no
matter how deep we would make the hull it
would not add appreciably greater stability.
The reason for this is not so intuitively
realized: By adding depth we were also
adding volume, so yes we could add ballast and
yes it could be located lower down thus
lowering the center of gravity - both of which
are righting forces - but we also were adding
buoyancy low down - an upsetting force!
With a mono-hull type, we were chasing our
tail...!
Once we investigated a 'tunnel hull' or
semi-catamaran hull form, we quickly realized
that we could add considerable depth without
adding much volume. This allowed a deep
location for the ballast allowing us to lower
the center of gravity without adding too much
buoyancy where it was not wanted - i.e. low
down.
A further benefit of the 'tunnel hull' form
is that yet another requirement of the design
could be accommodated: That the house
boat be able to move around under its own
power. The 'tunnel' thus allowed us to
place two outboard motors aft and on center,
and still have reasonably good water flow to
the propellers.
Of course this is not a vessel that would
travel great distances, but the objective was
simply to allow the owner to move the vessel
without a tow boat when desired - basically in
order to have "portable waterfront property"
during the mild summer months - a really great
concept!
Thus, the houseboat has a steering station
on the roof with controls for the outboards,
running lights, anchor, and so forth - a
perfectly good motor home on the water.
Due to the combination of 'tunnel hull' and
deeply located ballast, we were able to design
to the IMO international stability
requirements - quite an achievement for such a
structure!
The images shown here were developed to
show the original concept to the owner.
Fully detailed plans have also been developed
for construction. If they are of
interest, please see our
Plans List web
page, and look in the Power Boats section for
a houseboat called the Drifter 36.
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THE LAYOUT
The interior is on two levels, and the entry is halfway between the two accommodation levels. A stairway is located at the bow end, which leads from the large stateroom below, to the saloon and galley above. A landing half-way up is located at the same level as the exterior 'fore-deck' entry porch. The entry porch is covered by a balcony above. A ladder leads from the fore deck to the balcony, and a second ladder leads from the balcony to the exterior top deck where the roof-garden is located.
The stateroom on the lower deck has a
walk-in closet, plus an ample head with a big
combination shower / tub. One of the
best features of the stateroom is the
fireplace at the bow-end, enclosed by the
wrap-around stairway. There are plenty
of windows in the stateroom for good sunlight
and views.
The saloon is intentionally quite open, and
also has plenty of good windows. The
galley is large - bigger even than many
house kitchens! A breakfast bar is at
one end of the galley.
The front entry has a small seat opposite
the ladder that leads up to the balcony.
The balcony above is large enough for two
chairs and a small table. It is a good
perch from which to keep an eye on the antics
of dockside neighbors...
The garden deck is really the crowning
luxury of the whole affair. Wildflowers,
green onions and cherry tomatoes if in
Seattle... In warmer areas, maybe a Sago
Palm or Pygmy Date Palm...
If it were my own little house boat, the
top deck would have a dining table and a few
comfortable chairs for nice weather, then
maybe a small potted tree or two. In all
likelihood, that would be my favorite spot
aboard.
THE STRUCTURE
The houseboat hull and exterior decks are intended for construction in fiberglass. Why fiberglass...? It offers the lightest overall structure weight, and given that the shape is all flat panels the construction would be very fast and easy. Scantlings are fully compliant with the ABS rules for fiberglass vessels.
In fact the hull structure is robust and very rigid. This is quite intentional, since one further request of the owner was that the houseboat be able to be beached during low tides - mainly just for fun, but also for periodically cleaning the hull.
WHY A HOUSEBOAT...?
We have an excellent story from the 'Cabin Boat Primer' - a guide to shanty boating during the late 1800's and early 1900's. It was written with drifting in mind - primarily drifting down rivers, and especially along the Mississippi River system.
The 'Cabin Boat Primer' describes a way of life in such a way as to put you already on the path to making it your own - a particular gift of the author. In that sense, the book is very much in the vein of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. It is also the spirit of Laubin, Whitman, Kazantzakis, Fletcher, Slocum, Moitessier.
Certainly prices have changed
since the beginning of the 1900's but the spirit of 'cabin boating' remains the same. There is much among the following brief words that can be equally well applied to all of our boating pursuits...
Shall we listen:
There is no reason why life on a cabin-boat should be lived in rags and tatters. They do not lead to comfort.
The boat will cost from $25 up, and a fit one for two persons $50 or more, in all probability.
One should look further before paying more than $100 for an ordinary river house boat, unless it is new, in first class condition, of good wood, and far up the stream.
The true cabin boater is also a philosopher. Troubles come to mean something in the way of a cause for congratulation rather than dismay.
Reasonable care should be taken to ward off trouble.
Always find a good
landing, as regards wind and water.
Never tie to a
wobbly stake.
Never let the wood
pile or oil can get low.
In one sense of
the word, shanty boating is simply
finding new lands to travel and a new
view-point from which to see the land.
To no-one does the mockingbird sing so beautifully, or the huge trees seem so majestic, or the geological formations appear so attractive as to the man in a cabin boat.
- Raymond
Spears, 1913
