Blue Water House Boats

[Ttfr]

Hey you guys,

So I joined this forum because my last "boat" forum was a complete bust of negative irritating A-holes and I still have questions regarding my boat.

Last year in late spring, My father who is a boat mechanic by trade and Antique car builder by hobby bought a 30(maybe 32) foot blue water house boat that had been left to its own accord at a dock right across his work for the past year +. It somehow ( still don't know other than guesses ) got caught on the dock and sunk thanks to a dead battery and pumps that do not work. The boat was thankfully risen only a few short hours later and did not sink all the way to the roof.

About half of the upper living areas were submerged and there is still a hell of a water line on parts I did not paint over. I had at the time been living on a Trawler ( forgot the type ) 50ft with no running water, no pump, no bathroom, etc. But I used my parents house for all that and made a kitchen using a electric skillet! It worked for two years. My father however wants to sell this antique boat and get me another place to live. Hence the blue-water boat find.

The old forum had said it was a poor buy and wouldn't be worth the money. I wasn't looking for a 100 thousand dollar vessel to stay on, just something that had a bathroom for Christ sake.

Anyway...it took a while but I am currently living on her. She has a few things still to fix but shes come a long way.

Blog: The Big BlueWater

My questions mainly are:
* Can you tell me a little bit about these boats? I couldn't find much in regards to what they are worth, or how reliable are they as liveaboards.

* Where they can and can't go in regards to traveling? I know they are not sea worthy as they just have a weak hull( from reading at least? They are said to be lake boats ). I may or may not be planning to take the boat to somewhere else towards DC maybe depending on College ideas.

* Who else here has one of these and how do you like it in all honesty?

I would like mine better if the roof didn't leak all over my dishes and stove top. Or the back deck drain properly when it rains instead of it pooling byyyy the damn drain hole. Good job boat...Good job. Not the mention trying to fix things that only Midget Asian Ninjas could reach.

[foolishsailor]

It sounds like you own a "houseboat"?

Is "Bluewater" the brand name? I ask as it is confusing as a houseboat can not be bluewater capable. I'm not sure of any that can even travel coastal in exposed waters. They mainly stay in the bay or lake they are on.

[DoubleWhisky]

Originally Posted by Ttfr

Blog: The Big BlueWater

Your page does not work for me

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Ttfr.

Bluewater Yachts doesn’t make anything in the 30' range, but?
➥ http://bluewater.ep2.channelbladeliv.../About-Us.aspx

[Tellie]

I like your blog and the things you and your Dad have done to the boat. I don't know anything about this specific boat or it's worth perhaps others here might, but I'm willing to bet when you look back years from now the time you and your father spend together doing this is going to be worth more than all of our boats put together.

[nigel1]

I think you are spot on Gordon


This is the young lady's boat



And this is a picture from a brokers site




This picture is from
40′ Bluewater Yachts Motor Yacht | Yacht Broker

Least it appears we know who the maker is.


This is the makers website, may be worth while a call and they could help you with some of the detail.

http://bluewater.ep2.channelbladeliv...6472/Home.aspx

[Delancey]

Looks like you have a great project. I love living on the water. I am a sailor and can't help you with your boat but want to wish you the best of luck anyway! Cheers

[Dockhead]

The OP asked what it may be worth. Here's one on Yachtworld:

1979 Bluewater 40' Coastal Cruiser Power New and Used Boats for Sale

It's not a houseboat at all -- it's a proper motorboat with twin petrol V8's. Should be quite capable of going to sea in reasonable weather and could be cruised around the coast.

[shorebird]

Looks like a great project. You may find repowering to diesel a very, very expensive prospect. I like the way you have added your own touches to the project, rather than the same old same old. Good luck.

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by Ttfr

My questions mainly are:
* Can you tell me a little bit about these boats? I couldn't find much in regards to what they are worth, or how reliable are they as liveaboards.

Worth is relative to condition and I think for that boat is largely a function of how your example compares to the condition of comparable models that recently sold. Obviously, your boat having been neglected and then sunk has left you with a host of things to fix...mechanical, electrical, and cosmetic.

Originally Posted by Ttfr

* Where they can and can't go in regards to traveling? I know they are not sea worthy as they just have a weak hull( from reading at least? They are said to be lake boats ). I may or may not be planning to take the boat to somewhere else towards DC maybe depending on College ideas.

Again this is a function of condition. The boat looks like a coastal cruiser, in terms of what it was designed to handle. What it actually can handle is a matter of how reliable it is mechanically and structurally and what sort of equipment it has on it.

Originally Posted by Ttfr

I would like mine better if the roof didn't leak all over my dishes and stove top. Or the back deck drain properly when it rains instead of it pooling byyyy the damn drain hole. Good job boat...Good job. Not the mention trying to fix things that only Midget Asian Ninjas could reach.

You'll get lots of good advice (and probably conflicting advice, and maybe even lively discussion) here on how to fix various issues with the boat, from sealing the cabin top so it does not leak to clearing/repairing the scuppers that should be draining your deck.

Beyond those things that you need to do for your own comfort as a place to live tied up to a dock, the question you'll need to ask is, what is it worth to you? You could very quickly spend more money than the boat is worth to make it lovely or capable of the things you might want it to do.

You got the boat for free, it sounds like. If it were me I would slowly and judiciously do those things that would increase it's saleability (assuming you plan on moving off it eventually) and also make it a comfortable place to live. I don't know that I would take it beyond that as your costs will skyrocket exponentially.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by shorebird

Looks like a great project. You may find repowering to diesel a very, very expensive prospect. I like the way you have added your own touches to the project, rather than the same old same old. Good luck.

If the petrol engines work, forget repowering with diesel. There are two engines! That will cost you at least $40,000 and probably more, which will never be reflected in the value of the boat afterwards and will never pay for themselves in fuel expenses. Just pour the gasoline in and forget about it -- you could never burn up $40,000 worth of gasoline over the modest distances you would be going in a boat of that type.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Suijin

You got the boat for free, it sounds like. If it were me I would slowly and judiciously do those things that would increase it's saleability (assuming you plan on moving off it eventually) and also make it a comfortable place to live. I don't know that I would take it beyond that as your costs will skyrocket exponentially.

Excellent advice.

If you got the boat for free, use your own labor, and if you are very modest in what you do to the boat, you MIGHT just get your money back out when you eventually sell her. If you start to go crazy, you will quickly find the boat worth less than what you have invested.

[boatpoker]

A Bluewater 42 provides a great liveaboard space but as you've been told before the hulls are extremely weak. The layup is largely chopped strand mat, the weakest form of fiberglass. The stringer/frame structure supporting the boat is completely inadequate for anything but quiet river cruising. These boats are actually known to fracture when lifted in slings. The stringers and frames are the lowest grade plywood covered with very thin chopped strand mat and rotted within a few short years making the hulls even weaker. the deck drains are also inadequate and with such a low cockpit deck and inadequate and poorly designed scuppers, several have sunk while tied to the dock due to heavy rainfall.

These boats are not capable of blue water or even coastal cruising, they are fair weather lake or quiet river boats which perform best tied to the dock.

Triple your bilge pump capacity, have your Dad see what he can do about making the cockpit hatch more water tight and add a bilge high water alarm.

Attached are the sales data for these boats since January 2011.
Don't want to slam your dreams but don't want to see you hurt either.

[HappyMdRSailor]

Originally Posted by Ttfr

Hey you guys,

So I joined this forum because my last "boat" forum was a complete bust of negative irritating A-holes and I still have questions regarding my boat.

Welcome to the forum Ttfr!

I think from the responses you're received thus far, you can tell that we're COMPLETELY different from the other forum.... We're SELF ENTERTAINING A-HOLES!

i KID... Welcome...

Originally Posted by Tellie

I like your blog and the things you and your Dad have done to the boat. I don't know anything about this specific boat or it's worth perhaps others here might, but I'm willing to bet when you look back years from now the time you and your father spend together doing this is going to be worth more than all of our boats put together.

That's the best thing that can happen here.... As below... I give a second opinion similar... I have seen one too closely before...

Originally Posted by boatpoker

A Bluewater 42 provides a great liveaboard space but as you've been told before the hulls are extremely weak. The layup is largely chopped strand mat, the weakest form of fiberglass. The stringer/frame structure supporting the boat is completely inadequate for anything but quiet river cruising. These boats are actually known to fracture when lifted in slings. The stringers and frames are the lowest grade plywood covered with very thin chopped strand mat and rotted within a few short years making the hulls even weaker. the deck drains are also inadequate and with such a low cockpit deck and inadequate and poorly designed scuppers, several have sunk while tied to the dock due to heavy rainfall.

These boats are not capable of blue water or even coastal cruising, they are fair weather lake or quiet river boats which perform best tied to the dock.

Triple your bilge pump capacity, have your Dad see what he can do about making the cockpit hatch more water tight and add a bilge high water alarm.

Attached are the sales data for these boats since January 2011.
Don't want to slam your dreams but don't want to see you hurt either.

Be wise kiddo... Invest in dad and enjoy your projects.... Don't dump money that isn't "discretionary funds" into this boat... You'll never get those dollars back... but the experience could be priceless....

[Ttfr]

Thanks all!

And I understand the whole, A boaters only happy when they buy the boat and sell the boat moto, but for what we were looking for in regards to boats made this a decent choice. We didn't get the boat for free per say but from what others have said..1500 was a good price for this boat.

My father thought about getting diesels to replace the gas but the original engines we found and were going to trade for, ended up being a bust. So I think I am stuck with gas engines for a while. Plus this spring time we still have to pull them ( we flooded them with oil ( I think ) after the sink and still have to rebuild them. But dad can do those things pretty much in his sleep.

The boat did have a small leak when we got her but apparently it was just a seal issues that dad had to fix and since than her hull has been completely dry. I do have some pretty wicked sump pumps in the front/back that I have never heard go off since we fixed the leak. They do have alarms though we tested it one time and haven't heard them sense. ( good thing!!! )

But don't worry, I am the kind of person who is over worried. I have routines every week that go along with my car. I check the battery's, my trickle charge , I open up hatches to look for water, I go up to the top to check on the canvas covering the gear on the pilot house. Etc etc. Its nerve wracking. More than I ever did for the older boat I lived on!

Boat Poker: "These boats are not capable of blue water or even coastal cruising, they are fair weather lake or quiet river boats which perform best tied to the dock." I messed up my quote so I just made one. The boat having a weak hull is kind of what I feared. But my plans for her aren't much. After we get the engines done this spring, We are going to test her out in the Potomac to see how she fairs and drives. ( we live in Va right on the water and can see Maryland from the beach. ) And than once I feel confident, Take a maybe two day cruise to st. Clements island and up to the battle ship coves for some fishing, partying, swimming, etc with friends. After that its back to port until next year where I may do it all over again.

My biggest trip or question I guess would be if she could make it to DC/ Baltimore? I may be transferring to a four year to finish my education degree in a year or so and am thinking on living on the boat while up there. I have a dog that doesn't do well in room share circumstances and it would be better if I just have a place to myself. (Cant leave him. Parents would go insane trying to handle his energy and food phobias. Trust me..two days is all it takes for them to call me to skype with him just to calm him down. )

But than. I could always sell the boat and buy a RV with the money. Though, Not sure where I would find RV parks in DC near metro stations.

I haven't even began to think about the college in DC so all of this is still up in the air of possibilities.