Boat Building

BOAT BUILDING 
Scroll to the middle of the section to view free videos on boat building
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Links reviewed 7/10/2015

Photo by Christoph Swoboda 29 July 2004 Wikipedia Commons License

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Photo by Christoph Swoboda 29 July 2004 Wikipedia Commons License

LINKS TO LEADING BOAT BUILDING AND REPAIR SITES:

http://www.boat-links.com/linklists/boatlink-01.html#building

BOAT BUILDING BOOK SHELF

 Looking for a professional custom boat builder? Scroll all way down for our slowly growing list of links to custom builders.

Visit our Marine Engineering (and Naval Architecture) Section as well
This section contains book suggestions, free hyper links to videos, and videos on both full size and model boat building. At the end of scroll is a small on line tool shop for both boat builders and model boat builders and another link to our on line shopping mall. 


 The profession of naval architect evolved out of, and separated from, the trade of ship wright about two hundred years ago. But the separation is still rather indistinct in the realm of small craft. Many a boat wright is also a designer, and amateur boat builders and designers abound. Since it is our function to review and report on all English language sources on all nautical subjects we will start our exploration of the arts and sciences of boat and ship building and design under the simple title of Boat Building. We will include at first some of the classics of naval architecture right along with some of the most popular back yard boat builder literature. When this virtual "shelf" starts to get full we'll create the necessary subdivisions. Meanwhile this is the place to look for whatever we have on the whole spectrum of interest to the back yard boat wright through to the professional naval architect. This is a work in progress so please keep checking back with us regularly.  

 The section operates on a scroll and it is starting to get long. At the top of the scroll, just below this introduction you will find our link to the general Amazon literature search engine for Boat Building Literature. Below that are a number of book cover icon links to specific books we thought would be of broad interest to a variety of professional and amateur boat wrights. Continue scrolling down and you will find book reviews and recommendations, free YouTube video links to boat building subjects, a section on model boats and then a comprehensive set of hyper-links to selected high quality boat building sites and blogs elsewhere on the Internet. We feel the links are very important. Certainly we don't cover every conceivable aspect of boat building yet. But we are easy to remember and we've tried to incorporate the best links here. So if you find a site of particular interest and then lose it, you can find it here. If you are looking for a site that supports your particular project in more detail than we can at this time, you can find that site here through our links. It's our intention to become the preferred starting point for any and all maritime research. If you would like to propose a high quality link please send us a comment. If you find us useful, please "like us" on Face Book. Finally at the end of the scroll we have a tool shop under construction where you can shop on line for tools.
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  Click here for a boat building literature search: BOAT BUILDING BOOK SHELF This link will take you to Amazon's complete boat building collection.

 We haven't completed reviews of many titles in boat building, or related subjects like naval architecture or stability. We also haven't fully staffed out this section yet with experts. But we wouldn't open a section if we weren't aware of many titles being available in English. The hyperlink above takes you to the "Boat Building" section of Amazon.com where you may browse many titles on the subject and at least read the publisher's dust jacket description of them. Of course American Admiralty Books wasn't created to just leave the nautical book seeker at the mercy of the dust jacket hype. We will be reviewing and reporting on everything in print, in English on the subject over time. In the mean time take a few minutes to consider the range of literature under this title as illustrated by some of the cover icons illustrated below. Click on the cover icon for a complete description of the book.   

NEW AND HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

             GREAT AMERICAN SCHOONER YACHTS 

by Rudolph Arp

ISBN 10 0764340891

ISBN 13 978-076434085

Hardcover 240 pages.

AMERICAN ADMIRALTY BOOKS: RECOMMENDED

 This isn't your your basic coffee table book of images of beautiful sailing vessels. Rudolph Arp is a sailor, scholar, and artist and while the book would grace the coffee table of any sailors home, the illustrations are that artistic, this is a serious work on a specific group of unique vessels.  We are also posting this book announcement in our boat building section because of its serious scholarly content about the history, uses, construction and  design of these yachts. The "illustrations" include not only beautiful images of the yachts under sail but also portions of many yacht's plans and drawings. This is probably the best looking reference work for boat wrights, yacht designers, and nautical historians assembled in at least the last half century. As usual we've included the ISBN numbers so you can clearly identify the book, believe me you do not want to accept any substitutes, but don't just borrow this at some library. Get one, keep it, display it, try not to drool over some of the images.

The work has only been out a short while and if you check around the Washington DC and Annapolis area you may still be able to pick one up at a book signing between now (October 2012) and Spring 2013. For those of you not in the Middle Atlantic area you can simply click on our book cover icon below and order directly from Amazon. Own this and keep it out where people can see it. If you are a serious sailor, designer, or boat wright study it! Get one before the first printing runs out!

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FOR SUBMARINERS AND FANS OF SUBMARINES:

 :Photo: U.S. Navy

 This collection of links came out of our Key Word Search reviews. We have no way of knowing if the searchers referred to our site were model builders, naval architects, submarine fans, or actual submariners but we noticed a number of searches of late for "submarine plans. We were very disappointed to realize that we had nothing posted at the time for such searches. We remedy that here and will post these to the naval interest section and other special interest pages to hopefully make these links easy to literally "stumble across".

1. http://www.heiszwolf.com/subs/plans/plans.html  HEISZWOLF.COM 45 technical plans of submarines are presented. The plans are organized in a chronological fashion so that a more or less historic overview of submarine technology should be obtained. 

2. http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=plans%20submarine&clk_rvr_id=600714036006&adpos=1o1&MT_ID=69&crlp=16500781234_2416792&device=c&geo_id=10232&keyword=plans+submarine&crdt=0   Submarine Plans on E-bay What is available on this site of course changes daily. However when we searched it we found everything from concept sketches to full blown plans and scaled model plans on everything from Japanese and German WWII submarine designs to Disney's version of the NAUTILUS. The price range was from $2.99 to about $29.00.

3. TEENAGER BUILDS SUBMARINE- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qET7_uqOE8c


4. Submarine 101 :  http://www.submarineboat.com/submarine_101.htm Descriptions of the various types of personal submarines available including those with potential for amateur construction.

5.AQUA SUB: A one man "snorkel submarine " plans originally featured in MECHANICS ILLUSTRATED

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FERROCEMENT BOATS HAVE BEEN AROUND A LONG TIME. A RECENT KEY WORD SEARCH REMINDED US THAT WE WEREN'T CARRYING ANY  INFORMATION ON THEM FOR OUR BOAT BUILDERS. THAT CHANGES TODAY. 

 Searches related to FERROCEMENT BOAT CONSTRUCTION

build ferrocement boat

ferro cement boats

repairing ferro cement boats

ferro cement hulls

ferro concrete boats

cement sailboat

ferro cement boat hulls

disadvantages of ferrocement

Ferrocement build boat, photo by Antonio Walter Guzman distribution via GNU Free Documentation License, and  Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

EDITOR'S NOTE: I have to take personal responsibility for the failure to include information about ferrocement building techniques in our BOAT BUILDING SECTION. How I let nearly two years slip by and not notice that glaring omission I don't know. I personally had a remarkable experience with a large charter sailing yacht about twenty years ago that was my introduction to this unique building material. I was serving as a pilot taking a 70 foot Alden designed ketch with an 8 ft. draft through some Gulf Coastal barrier islands with poorly charted water depths between 2 and 14 feet. The Yacht was under charter to a film crew. Originally constructed with pine planking over stout oak framing the ketch's hull had been clad in ferrocement when she was converted to commercial charter work. It was early April at the time, not quite time for the Bermuda Ridge to usher in the tropical pattern of the Gulf Coastal summer, but a little past the point where Continental fronts push through the area from the north. We had a most unexpected weather development however that all of the weather men failed to predict. 

 The area was over run by a continental front that did little to lower temperatures but sent 90 mph winds on a somewhat sustained basis across a 100 mile long front. We were caught in it. Eventually we had no choice but to take the rig down to bare poles and drop anchor in the hopes of riding it out. We were about 8 miles off the mainland, far enough out that the wind from shore had enough fetch to raise considerable seas. We had the semi shelter of an uninhabited and forest-less low barrier island, a bit better than a large sand bar.  We had shallows and oyster reefs all about us. Eventually we began dragging anchor and had to pay out more scope. Eventually the behavior of the hull and the crunching sounds coming from beneath the hull told me we had spanked aground on one of the oyster reefs. Had that old ketch still been Pine over Oak that pounding would have been the end of her and not real conducive to health of those embarked, or my career as a pilot if I survived to tell the tale. 

 But the ferrocement clad hull crunched right through the oyster shells with no appreciable damage to the hull. Eventually the hull's behavior told me we were in the deep water beyond the shoals and reefs of the barrier islands and that the wind would carry us, even on bare poles only out into the open Gulf of Mexico. We slipped the anchor and spent the rest of the night battened down and playing cork. Dawn found us about 12 miles off shore in deep water in sunny breezy weather conditions. We were able to hoist sail and get back to work. Today local boosters refer to New Orleans as "Hollywood South" due to all of the movie making activity in the region. Back in the 1980s things were just getting started and there was an occasional need for really big sailing vessels and low lying tropical looking islands. The problem is that the "Cajun Bahamas" also known as Gulf Islands National Seashore off of Louisiana and Mississippi are in very shallow waters with sandy shifting bottoms and large sailboats are usually relatively deep draft. After that ferrocement hull crunched through that oyster reef in a storm the owners had a lot of confidence in deliberately grounding her. This allowed us to take her down to bare poles run the booms out with deckhands in boatswain's chairs for counter weights and heel her over turning her keel at an angle and run under auxiliary motor in almost to the beach, kedging anchors behind us. By reversing the engine and hauling on the anchors we were always able to haul her off especially after lightening ship by off loading the film crew and equipment that wanted to get on the island. The ketch won quite a few film maker's charters and enjoyed at least five years of commercial service that she might not have been profitable for otherwise. So my first experiences with ferrocement in boat construction were pretty positive. Yet I never noticed that we hadn't provided information on the subject ion our BOAT BUILDING SECTION until we saw a key word search for the "ferro cement boat plans" on our dashboard. Below we will try to make amends for the lack of information that existed at the time of that request.  



FERROCEMENT: A Link to a general description and History

SHIPS MADE OF FERROCEMENT: Concrete Ships

THE SS SELMA FERROCEMENT TANKER  BUILT 1919:  HISTORY OF THE SELMA

COMPREHENSIVE SITE ON FERROCEMENT BOAT BUILDING: THE WORLD OF FERROBOATS

DINGY CONSTRUCTION IN FERROCEMENT VIDEO ON YOUTUBE:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MC7yjG3VP0

MOTHER EARTH NEWS : ( HOW TO ARTICLE WITH SOME INTERESTING ROUGH COSTS COMPARISONS)    HOW TO BUILD A CEMENT BOAT

COMMERCIAL FISHING BOAT CONSTRUCTION:

REQUIREMENTS SPECIFIC TO FERROCEMENT BOAT CONSTRUCTION AND FERROCEMENT/TIMBER FITTING OUT

   

Well, we hope that the above was sufficient to get your research into this unique form of boat, ship and barge construction jump started.-Johnas Presbyter, Editor

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Below are a couple of books for the amateur boat builder that we were able to review. Our reviews for a while may not follow any particular pattern in this section. Our staffing of both professional naval architects and boat builders is deficient at the moment. We hate to leave you with just the publisher's dust jacket description but there is a lot information out there and we don't want to keep you from it just because we haven't finished reviewing and organizing the literature yet. Here are some general links in the subject areas of boat building and naval architecture.

Boat Building:

BOAT BUILDING

Naval Architecture:

NAVAL ARCHITECTURE

A Massive List of Links to Amateur Boat Building and Repair Web Sites:

http://www.boat-links.com/linklists/boatlink-01.html#building

And here is a little introduction and link to a particular organization where skills related to historic boat recreation, restoration, and repair are taught as well as historic sailing re-enactments are staged.  One of our all time favorite organizations:

                                 THE LONG SHIP COMPANY

               The Longship Company's SAE HRAFIN interior view looking aft.  Photo from the website. 

                                                          http://www.longshipco.org/

The Longship company is a non profit educational association with no government support that helps train young people  in the skills associated with the boat wright's art. Of particular value is the fact that constructing and maintaining vessels like the SAE HRAFIN involve skills applicable to historic vessel replication, reconstruction, repair. These skills are sought out by maritime museums , classic wooden boat builders and repair yards. Boat Wrights with high levels of these skills not only command the top of the pay scale but enjoy professor like status within the trade and its patrons. Donations are sought to support the educational aspects of the Longship company. In kind donations of wood working tools applicable to boat building, and the rent free use of large under cover spaces within a day's cruise under sail or oars from the general area of Annapolis area are sought. Such a covered or enclosed large space is specifically sought for winter storage for the winter of 2013-14. Click on    http://www.longshipco.org/ to get information on how to join or donate. Keep Maryland's Vikings sailing!

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NOW IF BEFORE YOU START READING ABOUT BOAT BUILDING YOU'D LIKE TO SEE WHATS INVOLVED WE'VE HYPERLINKED YOU TO SOME RECREATIONAL BOAT BUILDING VIDEOS: 

BASIC BOAT BUILDING A SHORT INTRODUCTION
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5iCzI9TbIw This first hyperlink will give you an easy to follow illustration of what's involved in building a simple boat and provide you with a web site where you can down load a free E-Boat titled "Everything You Ever Wanted To know About Boat Building'  We seriously doubt that this is the last book you;ll ever need on the subject if you get into it but the price is right and the author, at least in the video seems to know what he' is doing.

BUILDING A FLAT BOTTOMED BOAT OUT OF PLYWOOD:This 22 minute video is a very detailed description of how to build one of the simplest boat designs around.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHvyUkTTsLM&feature=related

 OK, SO YOU HAVE A FEW SKILLS AND YOU FIND 22 MINUTES LONG: The"John Boat" is a simple plywood design with a mostly flat bottom joining a gentle curved entry at the bow. These guys will show how to build one in under two minutes. That is the video lasts less than two minutes, you better allow a week end for the boat- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DB2TRfnCIVA&feature=related

HERE IS AN INTRODUCTION TO A NEW ALUMINIUM BOAT BUILDING TECHNIQUE THAT CAN CUT THE LABOR HOURS ON A 40 FOOT HULL FROM 1,000  TEAM HOURS TO ABOUT 40 TEAM HOURS. These folks have produced 40 ft. yachts in from plans to finished product in two week at prices competitive with fiberglass.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ju4cxryx7k8

THE CHOPPED AND BLOWN METHOD OF FIBERGLASS BOAT BUILDING: The other method is called "hand laid" and involves woven fiber glass cloth. Chopped and blown is the cheaper and most common method. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEhSaFfaSKg

HERE IS A HOME BUILT "HAND LAID" FIBER GLASS BOAT NOTE THE EXTENSIVE WOODEN FRAMING AND THE OVERLAYING WITH WOVEN FIBER GLASS CLOTH. OBVIOUSLY THIS PROCESS TAKES LESS SOPHISTICATED TOOLS FOR THE HOME BUILDER THAN CHOPPED AND BLOWN. BUT IT DOES MAKE A STRONGER BOAT. DONE COMMERCIALLY IT IS MORE LABOR INTENSIVE, SO MORE EXPENSIVE. ALSO THE WOVEN FIBER GLASS CLOTH AND EXTENSIVE WOOD FRAMING RUNS UP THE COAST OF MATERIALS. BUT A FEW COMMERCIAL BUILDERS MOST NOTABLY BOSTON WHALER STILL MAKE SOME MODELS THIS WAY. THEY COME OFF THE MANUFACTURING LINE WITH THE BEST WARRANTIES IN THE BUSINESS.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FpZr8MwsWQ&feature=related 



AND YOU THOUGHT THERE WAS SOME LIMIT TO WHAT 
YOU CAN DO WITH DUCT TAPEhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78sXbc85sLk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=fvwp&v=GcgBUYZaYWM

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BOAT PLANS :  This little beauty is the PELICAN plans come in sizes from 12' to 14' Go To http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/boat-design/back-basics-boat-simply-built-huge-volume-14574.html for a closer look and information on how to get plans. We really like this design as it incorporates a lot of the same type of thought that we see in the L. Francis Herreshoff's classic mini cruisers like the Prudence sloop but consist of an easy to build plywood hull, a very pretty and practical boat that we think th eold master would approve of.

To see some of the designs of the great master from the early part of the last century click here:
http://sailboatdata.com/view_designer.asp?designer_id=153

You could build this pocket cruiser yourself with plans from: SELWAY FISHER DESIGN

http://www.selway-fisher.com/PC1620.htm#TARM

    

The "Pocket Cruiser depicted above is also from the design collection of Selway Fisher  http://www.selway-fisher.com/PC1620.htm#TARM  Its called THE WHITE SWAN and measures about 19 and half feet overall. Just one of the many designs of "Pocket Cruisers" in the 16' to 20' range from Selway Fisher.

GOT A REALLY SMALL BUILDING SPACE? Try the SIMPLICITY 14:

 Again by Selway Fisher  http://www.selway-fisher.com/PCup16.htm which has a nice collection of designs for the home 

builder under 16 feet. And finally from Selway Fisher for those who have a really big building shed they have some "Pocket Cruiser" designs over 20 feet for example:

                                                                           The HIGHLANDER 23 from Selway Fisher http://www.selway-fisher.com/PCover20.htm

These have been just a few of the wonderful designs we found at Selway Fisher. study plans run as low as $17 and full building plans run in the neighborhood of +/- $300. This is a British company so you'll you'll probably need a currency calculator to figure the exact price of plans and maybe some bank assistance in arranging payment but its worth the effort in our opinion.



Here is one sample from an American vendor of small craft plans which is also a boat construction school  and offers many other boat building related services and products.

 The 15 foot POCKET SHIP by Chesapeake Light Craft
http://www.clcboats.com/shop/boats/boat-plans/sailboat-plans/pocketship-sailing-pocket-cruiser-kit.html

 This is the DRAGON, just one of the many classic small craft plans available for purchase at ATKIN & COM{PANY
http://www.atkinboatplans.com/Photos/Dragon/index.html

NOT ALL "BOAT PLANS" ARE COMPLETE FOR BUILDING:

  The PELICAN above frequently graces our weekend edition covers. It shares space with other images of designs that the backyard boat builder can build. All come with links to the plans vendor. If you have priced boat building plans you know they are generally not cheap. We have many links to plan vendors in our Boat Building Section. However we are aware that some advanced boat builders don't need all of the details in these commercially available plans. We have been a bit remiss in not describing the plans and manuals available through our sponsor Amazon. But there is a reason why Amazon allows independent portals. We know the subject matter and will try to steer you away from an unsatisfactory purchase, even if it means linking you to vendors from whom we don't receive commissions. If you can get solid information here our readership increases. If you are happy with your purchases from Amazon purchased through our "portal", you will probably shop our portal again. We'd rather lose a sale and insure that you actually obtained the information that you need, then sell you something that won't do. So with that in mind we've linked our boat building readers below with something we call the BOAT BUILDING BOOK SHELF .  This is a link to pages of Amazon sold boat plans and boat building manuals. We urge those of you in the market for inexpensive boat building plans to select carefully. The first cover illustration features "50 Wooden Boats", but you have to know your own shop and math skills and should carefully review such books of plans before purchase. Many books of plans present issues of scale the plans in the book may be shrunk down from the original scale if you aren't prepared to deal with that you may want to consider full sized (and priced) plans from plan vendors. Another element that is often problematic in books pf plans is completeness, what you may be getting are more of concept drawings than actually detailed building plans.  Below we link you to our  BOAT BUILDING BOOK SHELF. The book cover illustrations below the link are just images of a very few of the available publications that you will find "on the shelf", they aren't individual icon links. Basically once you arrive at the "shelf" you will find various titles and minor descriptions that you may click on and go to a more detailed description, in some cases reviews, ISBN numbers, if you want to try a library loan instead, and in some cases a book cover icon where you really can "look inside". We have found Amazon's collection of boat building "How To" manuals useful, rather complete compared with other shop on line sites, but we have not found much in the way of complete building plans but there are some interesting books of plans. We do however recommend that you consider these books of plans carefully unless you are a very skilled and experienced boat wright capable of evolving a boat out of a concept drawing or less than complete plans. Where ever it is offered, and these are the majority of publications on the shelf use the "look inside feature". If you can;t find what you need come on back to our  Boat Building Section. for links to traditional plans vendors. Thank you Boat builders you remain our most active special interest section.



BOAT BUILDING BOOK SHELF








AMAZON'S WOOD WORKING TOOLS                   AMAZON'S POWER TOOLS 

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MODEL BOAT BUILDING:
 A few boat wrights who enjoy our great respect have suggested that a boat wright "wanna be" might be well advised to start out by constructing a few model boats first. For some folks being a model boat wright is the goal. We thought you might like to see some boat model building videos.

Photo by Vince Mig

Here is what a commercial model boat building, and model boat kit operation looks like. Think of it as a model ship yard. You'll notice in this operation the ship model is not the work of the hands of a single artisan as it will be when you build your own 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7Rtle5CGpk&feature=related.  
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Here is a video of about 8 minutes that is a sort of trailer for a three hour "how to video" on building a model from one of the kits made in a commercial facility similar to the one in the video above. It gives you a bit of a look into an advanced model maker's basement "Shipyard".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GulqnmgkPpQ
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Here is a video of the British idea of the range of radio controlled model boats that have evolved since the "Pond Yacht"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pR3AWNyVyb8
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Take a look at a classic "Pond Yacht" with the innovation of an "auxiliary engine"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16H55ZkNhfI&feature=related
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The Brits are so serious about their pond yachting that they hold races, some even draw media attention.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTvdK4KRKqQ&feature=related

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Now here is some seriously "Over the top" boat model activity. "Manned models combine real boat building skills with scale model skills and basic boat handling. Watch this !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJjFNdJbmKw&feature=related

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Only The Brits would think of putting a boat model to this use- the scaled down sinking of the TITANIC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T16GciY7Uo0&feature=related
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Given all of the care and skill that goes into building a scale ship model why anyone would build in BB guns and then stage battles where the models are actually damaged and sunk is a little beyond us. However as you will see in the video the sunken models are retrieved, we presumed repaired and fought again on another day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvugEmj3pO0
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CHECK OUT RC FISHING WORLD .COM

Radio Controlled Boat by Darren Lewis

 Wow here was a really unexpected new wrinkle to me on fishing; fishing by using radio controlled model boats. I was first tuned into the idea via a link to someone through my g circle https://plus.google.com/u/0/100165001677844813061/posts  Phil Gribble @ https://plus.google.com/u/0/118229272147046435683/posts?cfem=1.  He had a fantastic video of catching pan fish with a remote radio controlled model boat. He demonstrated that that these little radio controlled models could both troll lures and and position bait. In one instance he had the fishing line which was deployed by the remote controlled boat rigged to pop free of the boat and he reeled the fish in on a rod and reel. In another instance he demonstrated that the RC boat could also tow the pan fish to him. I really got curious and started searching the internet. Soon I discovered that people routinely caught trout and bass with these remote controlled model boats and again both transferred the landing operation to rod and reels but in some cases actually towed these larger fish into the fisherman. I am now tracking down a video rumored to show one these little remote controlled boats at least setting the hook on a tuna, I believe this would have been a transfer to rod and reel landing. This is a whole new dimension to fishing. YouTube has a bunch of videos on this unique fishing technique and and there is a site called WWW.RCFISHING WORLD .COM. to watch the free YouTube action click here: http://www.youtube.com/user/ARLINBENZ  We will be building links to information on this unique fishing technique both in our fishing section and our model boat building section.

Johnas Presbyter

Editor in Chief

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BOAT BUILDING VIDEOS FOR SALE

We haven't found a lot on the market. It seems like more amateur boat builders video what they do and put it on YouTube than professionals commission professional cinematographers to produce "how to videos".

We'll keep looking. However while we were looking we found a must have DVD about the greatest yacht and small sailboat designers and builders of all time. The dynamic American duo of brothers Herreshoff, Nathaniel and John. If you get into boat building for any length of time you will come to know the designs and hopefully the writings of Nat Herreshoff. This video isn't about how to build a Herreshoff design, but about the life of the two brothers who during the"Golden Age of Yachting came to not only dominate the field in their day but to create designs and boats for the ages still being built, sailed, reinterpreted in fiberglass, and restored today. Below we link you to a vendor for the video and suggest some related books on the Herreshoff legacy. Here is the DVD Of Boats and Brothers, starring Tom Garber Editor's note: 6/15/2015 YouTube appears to have pulled the video. We are looking for another free source. 

L. FRANCIS HERRESHOFF 'S CLASSIC SMALL CRAFT DESIGNS

We Correct Another Key Word Search Deficiency

 Capt. L. Francis Herreshoff was a yacht and small craft designer who lived between 1890 and 1972 and whose designs are popular around the world. Since his death some of his designs have been modified for production in fiberglass or adapted with modifications by other designers to incorporate some modern features. His smaller craft are still very popular with the amatuer boat builders. Many of our regular readers are amatuer boat and boat model builders and many more start research here.

 We were very disappointed to note a recent visitor who entered on the key word search "L.Francis Herreshoff dingy design". The google search engine directed the researcher to our site by apparently while we make mention of the books by Herreshoff at different places within the blog our visitor did not find the type of comprehensive information that was needed. We were mortified because Herreshoff is the major name in American yacht design and we want to be the place to start any type of maritime research. So we are herewith beefing up and centralizing our information of Capt. Herreshoff, his father "Capt.Nat", his brother Sidney, his uncle JB, and the Herreshoff  Manufacturing Company;  Books, links, etc.., every thing that we have on Herreshoff and his works will be condensed in this post and the post permanently installed in our BOAT BUILDING SECTION.

L. Francis Herreshoff wrote the following books, some of which contain simple study plans and drawings of his designs. COMMON SENSE OF YACHT DESIGN, THE COMPLETE CRUISER, LINK REPAIRS BELOW THIS POINT STILL IN PROGRESS Sensible Cruising Designs . He also published many "how to Build articles in Rudder Magazine. The following titles are about L. Francis Herreshoff or compile certain of his writings:  The Writings of L. Francis Herreshoff,  An L. Francis Herreshoff Reader. The Mystic Seaport Index to Rudder Magazine indicates that between October 1914 and March 1953  RUDDER published 9 designs by the Herreshoff manufacturing company ranging in size from 128 ' to 12.5 '. BOAT BUILDING BOOK SHELF

 The father of L. Francis "Captain Nat" Herreshoff .

The Herreshoff Manufacturing company was founded by two brothers , one was  Nathanael G. Herreshoff known as "Captain Nat" and the father of L.Frances. There is at least one book on the extraordinary and somewhat tragic life of "Captain Nat":  Capt. Nat Herreshoff: The Wizard of Bristol,: Capt.Nat is sometimes confused with his son L. Francis and like L. Francis was a naval architect and boat designer. However he started out designing commercial steam vessels but lost his steam engineer's license as a result of an accident during a sea trial of one of his designs where he served aboard as engineer . The boiler blew and one crewman was killed. Afterward "Capt. Nat' did turn quite a bit to yacht designs and some of his are considered classics that people still like to build and designers like to study, but many people are unaware that "Captain Nat" isn't L. Francis. Capt. Nat died in the 1930s and L. Francis was still designing in the 1950s so for two decades there was only L. Francis sharing the spot light with his far lesser known half or step brother A Sidney Dewolf Herreshofff  , which probably partially explains the confusion. "Capt. Nat" is credited with revolutionizing yacht design and designed several successful America's Cup defenders. 

Nat Herreshoff's RELIANCE AND SHAMROCK at the start of the 1903 America's Cup Race.  Photo: Library of Congress

 As mentioned, L. Francis also had either a half brother or step brother who was an accomplished yacht designer A Sidney Dewolf Herreshoff. A list of his designs may be found here:Designs of A Sidney Dewolf Herreshoff  Anyone visiting the site may notice that the site credits Sidney with the design of the GEMINI, a sailboat design often credited to L. Francis. In fact we couldn't tell you which of the two actually is responsible for the GENINI. But Francis was the only one who was a prolific book and periodical article author. That is how he emerged in the public perception as the Herreshoff of the "Hereshoff designs" and the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company.

John Brown Herreshoff or "JB" was the business brain behind Herreshoff Manufacturing and the brother of Capt. Nat.  JB was blind and so never developed as a designer but was a master of deal making, and could cost estimate each design in his head. It was JB who found the initial investors, the initial buyers, and managed the work force and other overhead, keeping the company in the black. He led the company from its start up with 20 employees to a long lasting status as a 400 employee company operating consistently in the black. J B Herreshoff created the sound business environment and regular cash flow that allowed the designers to flourish.   Without JB, there would have been no famous "Herreshoff designs" and all three brilliant Herreshoff boat designers would have spent their lives laboring in anonymity for various boat builders over their life times with the business owner's name associated with the designs.  


LINKS:

Mystic Seaports L.Francis Herreschoff design index

WOODEN BOAT RESCUE FOUNDATION LISTING OF RESTORABLE HERRESCHOFF DESIGNED BOATS

THE HERRESHOFF REGISTRY, A LISTING OF OWNERS, BUILDERS, AND AFICIONADOS

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Of course nothing helps with "how to information like a good book" here is a link to Amazon's Model Boat Building publications:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_19?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=model+boat+building&sprefix=Model+Boat+Building%2Cstripbooks%2C241

You may note as we are constructing this section that we have not found a good video on building a model boat from scratch vice a kit. 

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UNUSUAL BOOK RECOMMENDATION:

by Steven Ujifusa, 448 pages published by Aimon & Schuster, New York.

As I write this in my office I am literally sitting under a shelf holding a two and a half foot long model of the SS UNITED STATES the ship that is the subject of this book. I often used this model in the past as a training aid in teaching nautical terminology to lawyers in continuing legal education classes, if you are a certin age you might remember training aids like scale models, mock ups, transparencies,or even movies. Then someone invented Power Point and real instruction was displaced, but I digress that is another subject. My purpose here is to recommend to you this new book by Steven Ujifusa. This is the story of the last Blue Riband winner in the transatlantic passenger liner service , one of th egreatest merchant ships to ever fly the American flag, and her designer.

 TITANIC,MAURETANIA, BREMEN and the last of the great liners the UNITED STATES. Their era came to an end with the advent of transoceanic jet service. In their heyday they hauled the rich and famous back and forth across the Atlantic in style. They were sometimes near 1,000 feet long and the United States launched on June 23, 1951 averaged 35.9 knots on her first outbound trip from the United States. Depending on the time of year and departure time with the ability to often  put over 821 ocean miles in her wake Fredrick he formed Gibbs Brothers Company which made a name for itself converting the captured German  ocean liner VATERLAND into the famous  LEVIATHAN. Around 1929 the brothers merged with yacht designer Daniel Cox,s organization to form Gibbs and Cox as we know the organization today. This is the story of the ship, the design, and the designer. It should be of interest to maritime historians, model builders and lots of the general public.


    

This book may seem a strange choice for the model boat building subsection. But Don Preul, curator of ship models for the U.S. Naval Academy Museum and owner of a ship-model building company gave it an excellent write up in February 20 13 Naval Institute PROCEEDINGS as a reference for model builders of ships designed by Gibbs and Cox.   

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OUR THOUGHTS ON COMPARATIVE BOAT BUILDING TECHNIQUES:

For the truly rank amateur back yard boat builder the "stitch and glue method" requires the least specialized skills and smallest and cheapest inventory of tools.  The early written works on this method mostly focused on simple skiffs and prams suitable for small lakes and ponds. But over the years the available designs have progresshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GulqnmgkPpQed to include wonderful designs for power, sail, oars, and paddle propulsion. Today, backyard builders are using the simple "stitch and glue method" to build 40 foot sailing "Yachts".

 However we are not saying that the "stitch and glue method" is the best, just that it is the easiest for the first time builder unless the first time builder has some serious experience in a related skill like cabinet making and a serious studio of wood working tools. 


When you first link into the Amazon general search engine for amateur boat building you will immediately see a bunch of titles including:

BUEHLER'S BACKYARD BOAT BUILDING

ULTRA SIMPLE BOAT BUILDING

BOAT BUILDING: COMPLETE HANDBOOK OF WOODEN BOAT CONSTRUCTION

BOAT BUILDING MANUAL , FIFTH EDITION

BOAT BUILDING MASTER COURSE
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*DEVLIN'S BOAT BUILDING: HOW TO BUILD ANY BOAT THE STITCH-AND-GLUE WAY.

                               

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 You'll notice that we singled out Devlin's book from the pack. We have already expressed our admiration for the stitch-and-glue method for the first time backyard boat builder. Devlin's may be the most important book to possess if you are attempting a stitch-and-glue project and especially if you are thinking of starting simple like with an 8 foot pram with thoughts of eventually tackling more complex projects. WARNING : THIS IS NOT A BOOK OF BOAT DESIGNS FOR STITCH-AND-GLUE CONSTRUCTION. THERE ARE SUCH BOOKS IN THIS SECTION OF AMAZON. THIS BOOK TELLS YOU ABOUT THE STITCH-AND -GLUE PROCESS GENERALLY AND PREPARES YOU TO ADAPT ANY PLYWOOD DESIGN TO THIS SYSTEM OF CONSTRUCTION WITHOUT LOFTING AND COLD MOLDS. 

This book will show you how to: 

• Set up shop
• Select the right marine plywood
• convert plywood boat plans to stitch-and-glue construction methods
• work with epoxy and fiberglass
• perform proper "stitching" and reinforcement
• finish the hull

 There are simpler "stitch-and glue" books in the inventory sometimes including a simple boat design such as a hard chined skiff or a small pram that you can attempt while mastering the basics of "stitch-and-glue". But if you are serious about mastering the stitch and glue method and eventually building larger and more complex boats you will want this book. We don't intend for all of the good things that we have to say about Devlin's Boat Building to detract from the other offerings presently available at the linked section of Amazon. We simply are just getting started on reviewing books for this section. However, we are convinced of the utility of Devlin's Boat Building and of the simplicity and many advantages for the novice boat builder of the stitch-and-glue method. 

Please continue to monitor this space as our exploration of boat,and ship building and design continues.

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  BUILDING CLASSIC SMALL CRAFT: Complete Plans and Instructions for 47 Boats by John Gardner

ISBN 10:00714297X
ISBN  13:0071427975

 This is our first formal book review in this section. Above this point we have provided the reader with a hyper link for a general search of Amazon's boat building selections, a description of a few titles and one suggestion for the beginning amateur boat wright. This book is not for beginning boat builders, if you have not at least gained serious wood working skills , read at least one simpler boat building guide, and constructed at least one large scale model we doubt that most new amateurs could construct the boats in this book. However at around twenty two bucks even rank amateurs might want to snap one up against the day they become more skilled.

 The author is a former assistant curator of small craft at the Mystic Seaport Museum. He has carefully assembled plans from 47 of the best small craft designs of all time which are in the public domain. When you are ready to undertake serious boat building projects in their original mode of construction (plank on frame, clinker, lap strake, etc.) you could pay hundreds of dollars for plans. The serious boat builder can construct any one of these 47 selected classics with only the plans in the book. Don't buy this book if you are not either a serious boat builder or intend to become one. If you are at that level but don't have this book yet; get it now before it disappears from the shelves. If you intend to become a serious boat builder get one now for the same reason, just don't think of this as your introduction to the activity, this is not a beginner's book, you will need to grow into it.
  

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HERE ARE SOME RELATED TITLES THAT WE HAVEN'T REVIEWED YET YOU CAN CLICK ON THE BOOK JACKET ICON AND READ WHAT THE PUBLISHER HAS TO SAY ABOUT THE TITLE

                               

   

                                                  

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LINKS

Amateur Boat Building .com : Comprehensive amateur boat building site with how to articles, and boat plans, access to some areas require registration.

http://www.amateurboatbuilding.com/index.html

John's Boat Building Page: Comprehensive links to every manner of boat building website or blog a sort of master list of links

http://www.boat-links.com/

John Bell's Boat Yard: Plans, articles, and a blog on small craft building

http://www.mindspring.com/~jmbell/boatyard.htm

Canoe and Amateur Boat Building: Among other things, a complete on line, free reprint of an 1889 canoe building manual.

http://dragonflycanoe.com/stephens/

BEARINGS, the blog of the Wooden Boat Center
http://cwbblog.wordpress.com/2010/04/09/introducing-the-nordic-spirit/

WOODEN BOAT:
http://www.woodenboat.com/

CHESAPEAKE LIGHT CRAFT:
http://www.clcboats.com/newsarchives/2012-class-locations.html#clc

DUCKWORKS:

http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/

SMALL CRAFT DOLLEY'S, DETACHABLE WHEELS' AND LAUNCHING AIDS:

http://www.boats.backwater.org/Amphib/amphib_boats.htm

EVERYTHING ELSE ABOUT BOATS AND BOAT BUILDING THAT YOU CAN IMAGINE:

THE MOTHER OF ALL MARITIME LINKS: http://www.boat-links.com/boatlink.html#top

MODEL BOAT BUILDING LINKS 

Intute: 19 site descriptions, evaluations and links to model boat building and design sites (on line magazines, web sites, blogs)

http://www.intute.ac.uk/cgi-bin/browse.pl?id=114363

SHIP MODEL MAKING AND RESTORATION: An on line magazine by a member of the model ship staff of the Malta Maritime Museum. Check out the model ship building and restoration classes. Of course no one actually lives close to Malta, you either live on th eisland or you don't. For those who don't it is a great vacation spot.) This is an excellent on line publication.

http://www.shipmodelmaking.com/index.html

ELDEBERRY'S WOOD SHIP MODELLING LINKS & BOOKS: dozens of links to ship and boat modeling books, model making information and tips, and lits, and tool suppliers; all selected by a master model maker.

http://www.eldrbarry.net/hatr/wdshpbks.htm

NAUTICAL RESEARCH GUILD: Membership dues required. An association of model builders and researchers dedicated to advancing model building through research. Membership includes a quarterly journal, technical assistance network, lending library, an annual conference,symposiums and an extensive list of resources and links.

Phone:1-585-968-811      LINK:http://www.thenrg.org/

SHIP INDEX.ORG

Use SHIPINDEX.ORG whenever you are looking for references to a particular ship in print. This search engine used in the free mode will check tens of thousands of books and periodicals for mention of the ships name you enter your search with. For very low fees it will literally check millions of data bases, many of which normally charge individual searchers fees. Often in such searches you nay find pictures and dimensions of vessels for which you can find no plans, or discover who the builder was when unknown. AMERICAN ADMIRALTY BOOKS RECOMMENDED

 LINKS TO BOAT BUILDING SCHOOLS 

THE APPRENTICE SHOP: http://www.apprenticeshop.org/ 

THE ARQUES SCHOOL OF TRADITIONAL BOAT BUILDING:

http://www.arqueschl.org/

CAPE FEAR COMMUNITY COLLEGE

http://cfcc.edu/martech/boatbuildingschool/

THE BERKSHIRE BOAT BUILDING SCHOOL (Fabric on wooden frame light boats)

http://www.berkshireboatbuildingschool.org/

Seattle Community College Boat Building Program:

http://www.woodconstruction.org/boat-building.htm

CENTER FOR WOODEN BOATS SEATTLE:

http://www.cwb.org/

INTERNATIONAL YACHT RESTORATION SCHOOL:

http://www.iyrs.org/

THE LANDING SCHOOL:

http://www.thelandingschool.org/

SKAGIT VALLEY COLLEGE NORTHWEST CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE IN MARINE MANUFACTURING AND TECHNOLOGY:

http://www.marinecenterofexcellence.com/

DIDN'T FIND THE LINK YOU NEED IN THE ABOVE LIST: TRY THIS:
The Mother of All Maritime Links":  
http://www.boat-links.com/linklists/boatlink-06.html#classes
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A "FLOATING HOME" MAY NOT BE A "VESSEL" UNDER MARITIME LAW BUT AN "EXTREME HOUSEBOAT" IS.  EITHER WAY THERE IS A LOT TO LEARN BEFORE MAKING A HOME ON THE WATER BEYOND THE "LIVE ABOARD LIFE STYLE" OF MANY YACHT OWNERS. 

This is actually an Extreme Houseboat, a self propelled vessel. You can actually rent one of these down in Australia and take it out for a weekend. To take a virtual tour of this extreme house boat and get all the information on where and how to rent one down under click here: http://www.stayz.com.au/accommodation/vic/mildura-murray-outback/mildura/95313 

By Contrast "Floating Homes" are more like conventional houses built on barges. The more modest ones cost quite a bit less than an "extreme house boat" and are not meant for cruising about on. The true "Floating Home" is used much like a waterfront cottage. Floating Homes are generally permanently moored in special sections of marinas, off of someone's waterfront property, or in specially planned special purpose marinas or "neighborhoods." They can be simple cottages on a barge or very elaborate such as the one pictured below:

You can tour this and nine other truly amazing floating homes at:  http://www.stylemotivation.com/10-amazing-floating-houses-/ around-the-globe:

PHOTO BY JUDITH NAZAREWICZ

If you would like to see a beautiful photo essay on floating homes and a floating home "neighborhood" see Judith Nazarewicz's  Photo Essay: FLOATING HOMES OF VANCOUVER ISLAND at: http://www.squidoo.com/floating-homes

 So if you are thinking of living with a water view you might want to consider a floating home or extreme houseboat especially given the rising prices for water front and water view property. But you should be aware that neither extreme houseboats nor floating homes are carefree and present some maintenance headaches and design considerations that are quite different from conventional houses of any size. Square foot for square foot we would think that the extreme houseboat option is the most expensive. It must be designed by a naval architect, constructed by skilled professional boat builders, and in addition to the expenses involved in the hull and accommodations construction you have to pay for and maintain the propulsion engine or engines and generator, and all steering and navigation equipment. Operating the extreme house boat will also require some near professional navigational skills. Still, if you have the money and the skills the extreme house boat offers several advantages. First it is legally a vessel and is professionally designed and build by marine professionals. It will be in compliance with all relevant marine safety and environmental protection regulations and good marine practice from day one. Second, it is self propelled, so even if you mostly leave it in the slip and use it like a waterfront cottage it can be relocated without having to hire a tug. The extreme houseboat can also get underway on short notice and relocate to a safer place in the event of a hurricane. The disadvantages include as we mentioned, higher initial costs and much higher maintenance costs including the extra cost of maintaining the propulsion engines and navigation equipment. Virtually all maintenance beyond the do it yourself capabilities of the owner must be performed by highly paid and skilled boat yard craftsmen. We don't recommend the extreme house boat for the majority of our readers. But it could be a preference for some with the right skill set and funds. An owner with a really good skill set of both navigational skills and boat building maintenance and repair skills might overcome the initial price gap by shopping the used boat market, but it will take a bit of luck to find an extreme house boat with in easy relocation distance, there aren't that many around. But some places are better than others. On water bodies where house boating is popular there are more likely to be "extreme houseboats" occasionally turning up on the used market.

 Floating homes by contrast come in a wide variety of prices and sizes, and types of construction. The "house" portion may be build by ordinary carpenters, roofers, cabinet makers, electricians, and plumbers even with no prior floating home construction experience. However you have to remember that the "foundation" is a floating barge or set of pontoons. Stability has to be considered. The house and barge/pontoon arrangement must maintain the center of gravity below the center of buoyancy not only under all conditions when moored, but on those rare occasions when it has to be moved by towboat . Ordinary house or cottage plans may suffice but a naval architect should be consulted on the barge size and configuration or pontoon arrangement that you are going to set your house upon. The naval architect comes in handy also when your plumbing plan gets below the drain in the sink level. Water hates all sorts of sewerage and so does the EPA and state versions of the EPA on the water you are going to need no discharge systems these days. Some floating home "neighborhoods" have hook ups to city sewerage and water services as well as electricity. Some marinas that accept floating homes in the same manner as live aboard yachts provide water and electricity hook ups but no sewerage hook ups. In many cases you are going to need holding tank arrangements. What you don't want is any arrangement where the floating home has to come to the pump out station. If no pump out service is available that comes to your floating home, you haven't found a suitable place to locate it yet.

 If you live anywhere subject to tropical storms you are going to need an elaborate mooring system. Along the Gulf Coast of the United States for example the daily lunar tidal range is only about a foot. But a typical tropical storm surge could add five feet  to the lunar tide effect and a major hurricane could plow a 30 ft tidal wave into a coastal marina or raise the water level in protected back bays by more than 20 feet. You will need a mooring system that can accommodate such conditions. You can't take a floating home and just tie it to some cleat on some dock. This is an expensive investment in a risky environment. You can't skimp on moorings and moving to avoid a hurricane is going to be just about impossible so it has to be able to survive where it is. Having said that, despite sparing no expense in designing and building  your mooring you will not be allowed to ride out the storm aboard. If there is an evacuation order and that is highly likely for low lying areas where marinas are usually found, you have to get out and the floating home has to deal with the storm surge and wind on its own. Consequently your mooring design can't be based on someone being there to slack and tighten lines as needed.

 Most of your repairs on a floating home may be performed by the same craftsman you might call for a house in the suburbs, but hull maintenance is another ball of wax. If you buy new, you will want a hull with a really high quality anti-fouling bottom. Unfortunately such bottoms don't last forever. On an annual basis you will probably need a diver to give the bottom a good scrubbing. This will probably only cost a few hundred dollars and such services are common in areas with big marinas. The other service that you will want to check out in advance of need is towing. Eventually, we hope not more than every five years or so , you will need to have your home towed to a dry dock for hull refurbishing or repair. You don't want more or less boat than what it takes to do the job. Don't just call the local tug company that serves ships in the harbor. You are looking for a smaller boat and crew than that. The type of tug you are looking for is sometimes called a "dinner bucket" tug or tow boat. These are called "dinner bucket because they typically have no crew quarters and do basically day jobs requiring minimal horsepower. Typically you'll want about 450 to 650 hp to move a simple barge mounted floating home. Construction companies that work on bridges and piers often have such boats. Sometime they are referred to as "construction tenders". One advantage to owning a floating home in a "neighborhood" of floating homes is that many of your neighbors will have solved these problems and found these services and can advise and introduce you. Now for the big issue.

 With the floating home you have a "house" on a "hull" under maritime law it is most often not considered a "vessel". That means that standard boat owners insurance won't do . Being on a floating foundation typical "boat owners insurance" won't cover everything and may possibly even be unavailable. You're going to need a custom package from an agent that really knows what he or she is doing.  Again here is another advantage of clustering floating homes into a "neighborhood", your neighbors can help pilot through the shoal waters of floating home insurance.

 We hope that you enjoyed this peak into the world of the extreme houseboat/floating home. We're going to move this post soon to our BOAT BUILDING SECTION where we hope to be able to expand on the concept. We caution all of our back yard boat builders however, that you will need a naval architect's help in designing your floating home even if you are quite capable of building a small cottage and/or a large barge. Stability calculations to help you keep the center of gravity beneath the center of buoyancy in all conditions, and marine plumbing are usually going to require some actual professional help. But as Judith Nazarewicz's beautiful photo essays indicate lots of people have solved all the problems and live aboard floating homes in beautiful "neighborhoods.

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"HOUSE BOAT BUILDERS,PHILIPPINES"

 Public domain Image courtesy Wouter Hagens

                                                       Public Domain

 We had four key word searchers as first time visitors on January 2, 2014. The key words "Houseboat Builders, Philippines".  Unfortunately we are sure that despite our goal of being the one site for all maritime information after a due diligence search we have to conclude that on January 2, 2014 we had no links or information on houseboat builders in the Philippines. So we set out to remedy that. Nothing distresses us like a visitor who doesn't find useful information that they sought here. Unfortunately we couldn't find public domain images of houseboats built in the Philippines to open our post with. The unique boats depicted above were built in India (upper left) and in an unknown country for the lower right. The one image of a boat design with houseboat potential built in the Philippines we were able to find had copy right protections.  Nearer the bottom of the post we show a proprietary photo with a link to the Philippine builder, in the hopes that the free advertisement will keep us out of hot copyright water. We also didn't find much in the way of Philippine house boat builders on the internet. However we know the Philippines is full of excellent boat builders of wooden craft, Philippine traditional craft, and Australian and New Zealand owned boat builders in a variety of materials capable of custom house boat construction. So below we've linked our readers to what we were able to find both in terms of house boat builders and builders who we thought would be capable of custom houseboat construction located in the Philippines. If any of our readers know of other reliable Philippine boat builders capable of custom houseboat or floating home construction please use the comments section to alert us.

Thanks,

 Johnas Presbyter, Editor

House Boat Builders Asia: Located in Cebu, Philippines, builders in wood. Australian owned Philippine based. 

Corporate Self Description:

"Company Description

We are a boat building company that specializes in the construction of custom and production built houseboats of all designs and sizes. We are based in the Philippines but owned and run by a qualified Shipwright/Boatbuilder from Australia that has over 25 years experience. Because we are based in the Asian region we can supply labour and materials at much more competitive prices but still provide excellent quality and workmanship. If you looking to build a houseboat of any kind please don't hesitate to contact us for some information and quotations. "

http://pcamber2.fm.alibaba.com/company_profile.html

ANDY SMITH BOAT WORKS: New Zealand Owned, Philippines located.  Not specifically a houseboat builder, but check out their "Power Cat" design which looks like a good platform for a house boat superstructure. This is a custom boat builder so such a modification of an existing desigh shouldn't be very difficult.

http://www.andy-smith-boatworks.com/index.html

BOAT SHOP MANILA:  `This builder has produced many different yachts in the 42 to 52 foot size range including a number of what Chris Craft used to call "Sedan Cruisers" a more yacht like and open water capable version of a "house boat', frequently favored by "live aboards". It also has a small ferry design that only needs the interior changed to be a classic house boat. If you are looking for a custom house boat builder in the Philippines we are pretty well convinced that this shop could do a fine job even though they don't advertise that capability.

http://boatshopmanila.com/

And finally a actual photograph of a Philippine built large houseboat type vessel:

 Ces Craft Philippines Philippine owned and Philippine operated:

CES CRAFT PHILIPPINES started as a single proprietorship company way-back 1957. Its reputation as one of the premier and dominant boat-builders in the country was galvanized after entries made by the company started winning international powerboat races in various parts of the world. Clients from the United Arab Emirates, Australia, Japan, Singapore and the USA came to know CIRILO SALILICAN / CES CRAFT and ordered boats of various sizes and classification.

  CIRILO SALILICAN spent the best years of his childhood on the sea. Coming from a family of fishermen, he was already fascinated with seafaring vessels at an early age, marveling at their seemingly perfect designs to glide and withstand the rough Philippine seas. 

 In the interest of full disclosure this is not a paid advertisement for Mr. Salilican or CES CRAFT PHILIPPINES. We simply found public domain images of Philippine built houseboats very hard to find in the Public Domain. CES CRAFT had the best photo we could find on the internet, but we have to presume the photo is the copy righted property of CES CRAFT.  By using the photos in conjunction with a direct hyper link to the company we hope that we have avoided any copy right infractions. We know from first hand experience that the Philippines has an impressive boat building work force of highly skilled craftsmen. This is what attracted Australian and New Zealand based boat builders to the area. We also feel that Philippine boat builders, especially the Philippine owned and operated companies have a much smaller foot print on the internet than what their quality and quantity warrant. We urge all Philippine builders to step up their internet marketing efforts.  One inexpensive way to start is by letting us know you're out there by posting contact information and capabilities in the comment section. We will cull these periodically and move them to our boat building special interest page on a semi permanent basis, free of charge.   

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We read with interest a comment on this section signed by Yacht Design  a New Zealand yacht design and naval architecture firm. We decided to visit their site just to see who had tuned in from New Zealand and found this design on their web site: 

The boat is described as a 10 meter Semi-open Super yacht tender. 

This may be a super yacht tender for the super rich super yacht owner. 

But we think in mass production it could be a great "weekender" for the recreational boating 

market. It looks like a design and materials that could easily be adopted for mass production. See more of it at 10m Semi-Open Super yacht tender  

Visit naval architects and yacht designers Andrew Copson and Matt Gibson at BUILT BOATS YACHT DESIGN STUDIO. KIWI Boat Designers the whole English speaking world needs to know about.

Check out THE TREASURE BOX  for some intersting water sports equipment bargains https://www.treasurebox.co.nz/sports-fitness/water-sports.html