|
|
11-07-2012, 09:10
|
#1
|
Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: east Tennessee
Boat: 50' houseboat
Posts: 16
|
Houseboat Cruising
I plan to get a houseboat in the near future would like to hear about trips ppl have taken in one. I will be docking on Watts Bar on the Tennessee river in the Harriman/Kingston area. I know a houseboat is not ideal for a long river cruise but I use a Wheelchair and that's the only kind of boat that can be made easily accessible for me. I mainly want to travel to Mobile and back. My wife would like to travel to Savanna Ga but that doesn't look to promising. Thanks in advance for your stories.
|
|
|
11-07-2012, 12:57
|
#2
|
Marine Service Provider
Join Date: May 2012
Location: New Orleans
Boat: We have a problem... A serious addiction issue.
Posts: 3,974
|
Re: houseboat cruising
Edin,
We bought a Bluewater Yacht which is similar to a traditional houseboat, but with much better seakeeping capability. It is still a coastal boat, but can take some waves.
We have taken her to and from Sarasota fl, a number of times, same for Pensacola Fl, and operate her primarily in a large lake. All from New Orleans.
Bluewater Yachts | Home
__________________
Greg
- If animals weren't meant to be eaten then they wouldn't be made of food.
|
|
|
11-07-2012, 19:25
|
#3
|
Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: UMR mm 283 /winter in Kansas
Boat: Bayliner 3870 41' oal.
Posts: 945
|
I'am on the upper Mis. river & don't have a houseboat but there are several in the marina. I've heard stories from some of the owners about trips they've made over the years. From the 283 umr mm some have cruised to minneapolis, cincinnati & Kentucky lake ,the Tennessee river. They have lots of room, shallow draft & are a fine vessel for cruising on the inland rivers. I saw in Heartland Boating in Gibson ad that a Ginson owner was doing the loop in one, just have to watch the weather. Good Luck
|
|
|
11-07-2012, 19:28
|
#4
|
Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Eastern Tennessee
Boat: Research vessel for a university, retired now.
Posts: 10,406
|
Re: houseboat cruising
You can cruise a houseboat on relatively calm waters for as long as you want. Enjoy!
__________________
David
Life begins where land ends.
|
|
|
11-07-2012, 19:39
|
#5
|
Marine Service Provider
Join Date: May 2012
Location: New Orleans
Boat: We have a problem... A serious addiction issue.
Posts: 3,974
|
Re: houseboat cruising
I don't know about doing the loup in a houseboat... Coming down the Atlantic, or crossing the gulf can be treacherous in a boat that can't handle a chop. Certainly people have done it, but it seems you would spend a huge amount of time moving from protected harbor to protected harbor, with no margin for error.
__________________
Greg
- If animals weren't meant to be eaten then they wouldn't be made of food.
|
|
|
12-07-2012, 04:31
|
#6
|
Senior Cruiser
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Thunder Bay, Ontario - 48-29N x 89-20W
Boat: (Cruiser Living On Dirt)
Posts: 49,082
|
Re: houseboat cruising
Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, edinwheels73.
Actually, I think a houseboat, such as a “Holiday Mansion” type, might make an ideal platform for a long river cruise.
__________________
Gord May
"If you didn't have the time or money to do it right in the first place, when will you get the time/$ to fix it?"
|
|
|
12-07-2012, 15:43
|
#7
|
Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: east Tennessee
Boat: 50' houseboat
Posts: 16
|
Any opinions about an outboard motor on a houseboat?
|
|
|
12-07-2012, 15:49
|
#8
|
CF Adviser
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: sausalito
Boat: 14 meter sloop
Posts: 7,260
|
Re: houseboat cruising
Quote:
Originally Posted by edinwheels73
|
My brother-in-law had a pontoon houseboat on Lake Powell with twin outboards. They make a special prop pitched just right for houseboats. It was a pretty good system, especially given that our standard way of overnighting was to run the front of the boat up on a beach and then set sand anchors sprung forward from the stern.
On a pontoon houseboat it doesn't take a whole lot of power to get the boat from Point A to Point B.
__________________
cruising is entirely about showing up--in boat shoes.
|
|
|
12-07-2012, 16:46
|
#9
|
Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Eastern Tennessee
Boat: Research vessel for a university, retired now.
Posts: 10,406
|
Re: houseboat cruising
Quote:
Originally Posted by edinwheels73
Any opinions about an outboard motor on a houseboat?
|
Outboards for houseboats are great. They are generally in calm waters so you don't need to worry about the props leaving the water like you would have with outboards in big chop or heavy seas.
In a way outboards have the advantage of being simpler than having an internal engine. Especially when they need to be serviced or replaced. There is no trying to get yourself into a tight area. For replacing them, you just unbolt them...no tearing anything apart.
__________________
David
Life begins where land ends.
|
|
|
12-07-2012, 17:04
|
#10
|
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 476
|
Re: houseboat cruising
If you had lots of time to only travel during the 'good' weather conditions in the Gulf and around Michigan, you could do the loop in a houseboat, or just the Southern half. You have to plan your route and ask questions here about places to stop in case of bad weather. Panama City to Tampa would be the tricky leg.
You also might just want to take it slow the first year or two.
Have fun!
|
|
|
12-07-2012, 21:09
|
#11
|
Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: east Tennessee
Boat: 50' houseboat
Posts: 16
|
Been plotting a course with gps to mobile and there is a split and one comes out on the east side of mobile bay the other on the west side. Is either one better than the other?
|
|
|
14-07-2012, 17:05
|
#12
|
Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Windsor, ontario, Canada -Cape Coral, Florida
Boat: Bluewater 5800, Novatec 52
Posts: 191
|
Re: houseboat cruising
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stumble
Edin,
We bought a Bluewater Yacht which is similar to a traditional houseboat, but with much better seakeeping capability. It is still a coastal boat, but can take some waves.
We have taken her to and from Sarasota fl, a number of times, same for Pensacola Fl, and operate her primarily in a large lake. All from New Orleans.
Bluewater Yachts | Home
|
I have a 58 foot Bluewater also that I brought up to the Great Lakes from Charleston along the coast and have been to Key west and all over 4 of the great lakes the last 5 years, they are a great boat. I would have no problem doing the great loop in my Bluewater!
|
|
|
14-07-2012, 17:14
|
#13
|
Marine Service Provider
Join Date: May 2012
Location: New Orleans
Boat: We have a problem... A serious addiction issue.
Posts: 3,974
|
Re: houseboat cruising
Quote:
Originally Posted by edinwheels73
Been plotting a course with gps to mobile and there is a split and one comes out on the east side of mobile bay the other on the west side. Is either one better than the other?
|
Not really. If you are heading east take the east exit, west the west exit... The west does have a bridge, but I think the verticle is 75' or something ridiculous like that. I know we got a Columbia 50 under it two weeks ago.
Heading east from Mobile bay though you do have to worry about the Dixiey Bar. It is a shifting sand bar that stretches from just off shore to past the old light house. Head south at least to R12, and the further you go south the safer, regardless of what the chart says.
RaySeaLady,
We have the 58' too, and love it. I would have no problem doing the loup with it. But a traditional houseboat like the Holiday Mansion is a much less capable cruiser (not that the Bluewater is a heavy off shore boat either).
__________________
Greg
- If animals weren't meant to be eaten then they wouldn't be made of food.
|
|
|
14-07-2012, 17:29
|
#14
|
Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Brisbane Australia [until the boats launched]
Boat: 50ft powercat, light,long and low powered
Posts: 4,409
|
Re: houseboat cruising
This ocean-going powercat was owned by a wheelchair bound boaty
Bathroom and doors all large enough to accommodate the chair
|
|
|
17-07-2012, 08:46
|
#15
|
Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: east Tennessee
Boat: 50' houseboat
Posts: 16
|
I like the cruisers but I think a houseboat is more for us but you never know by the time we are ready to buy. Gotta wait till my oldest starts driving to school so it will be a couple more years. Im just getting all the information I can till then.
|
|
|
|
|
Thread Tools |
Search this Thread |
|
|
Display Modes |
Rate This Thread |
Linear Mode
|
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
|
Advertise Here
Recent Discussions |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Vendor Spotlight |
|
|
|