Learn Me: Houseboat edition

My wife grew up on the Chesapeake and (thanks to Facebook Marketplace) has a wild hair about getting a houseboat. This would be a rentable space for our business and for our family use.  That said, we are not a 'lake life' family and I know squat about boats or boating.

I indulged her this weekend by going to see a few boats and, as fate would have it, we found a really cute boat from a solid seller for reasonable money. Now my wife is itching to pull the trigger and I am way out of my depth.

Boat people: I know so little about this stuff that I don't even know what questions to ask. I need the 411 asap, thanks!

No. 

Define "House boat"

YOu talking one of these:

Or one of these?

If it resides in the water, the one thing that I can assure you is that it will require non-$top maintenance of some sort. Up to you to decide if that is a feature or a flaw.

Pete

Do NOT buy one with a steel hull. Make sure it's aluminum. Steel is a lot more maintenance, higher insurance rates, and some Marina's won't rent you a slip. There are some lakes that won't even let you bring it on to the water.

Pete, I'm referring to the floating RV type: 

Otaku -- Thanks, that echos what I heard about steel-hull boats while at the lake.  Apparently the Army Corps of Engineers will require all steel-hull houseboats removed from Atlanta area lakes within the next year or two.

Given your screen name, are you sure this is a good idea? 

One of these, maybe?
 

What is the deal with steel hulls?

Pete

Maintenance can be a bit painful on something that stays in the water full time. Not as bad in fresh water, but still painful.

I/O drives and full time in the water make me nervous. The drive shaft on them runs in a rubber bellows that are prone for being damaged. At rest that bellows is below the water line. They cause a lot of boats to go to the bottom. I would budget having the boat pulled every other year and all the rubber in the drive replaced.

Read up on stray current corrosion if you get a aluminum hull. It will literally eat the boat. Marinas are bad about E36 M3ty wiring and stray currents that can eat aluminum. 

The following is doubly true for boats that don't stay on the trailer when not in use. My fathers last trip to the marina for maintenance and bottom paint was around $15k. 

B: Break

O: Out

A: Another

T: Thousand

Noted.  As it happens, the bellows on this boat will be replaced next weekend.  Are there any other critical inspection items like that to regularly check?

I hadn't even thought about electrolysis.  I bet it would be pretty easy for someone to kick a power cord off a boat or dock and into the water.

Pete - It was explained to me that water issues *inside* the boat often go unnoticed, but cause rust problems that over time jeopardize hull integrity.

IMHO, if SWMBO needs a boat in your life, get something you can tow.  At least then when it sits unused for years on end, it'll be in your back yard where it won't cost as much.  On the plus side, you'll be able to barter for a sweet truck to tow said boat. 

Appleseed said:

Given your screen name, are you sure this is a good idea? 

Be sure to factor slip rent and yearly haul-outs into your budget. Boats are cheap, slips are not. The freshwater lakes here in GA can grow an amazing amount of crap on a boat and some stain the heck out of the hulls. Look into marine toilet maintenance / upkeep based on what type it has. Be ready to have your average renter stop up the system. 

I like the idea of a house boat for obvious reasons, but I'm not sure I'll ever own anything I cant pull out of the water myself for maintenance. 

OTOH, I might be interested in renting YOURS for a weekend! What lake are you looking to be on?

Lake Allatoona; marinas are 20-40 miles from my house--far enough to be a 'destination' but close enough not to be a burden to get there. Hopefully there will be *lots* of people curious enough to try it for a weekend!

An RV that floats and consumes fuel at a rate that would make a sheik smile. Seems like one of those items that should be rented rather than owned.

In reply to nderwater :

A boat is a hole in the water you throw money into.  

You will need a place to dock it.  That is expensive. In the way Nett you will need a place to store it, more expense. The Hull will need cleaning more expense.  Things will break and wear out. Even more expense. 

Then when you finally give up and sell it, the depreciation will really hurt. 

Now I’ve owned boats all of my adult life and some as a teenager.  I love my boats. And enjoy them.  But accept the big cost!  

Everything that I know about houseboats I learned from reading John D MacDonald's Travis McGee series of books. I say go for it. McGee's Busted Flush is the type of place that I would like to have.

Realistically it's probably a bad idea unless you really want a boat

Houseboat living at it's best!

We sold our "big" boat last fall after 22 years of boating.

Our 1st was a 40' houseboat similar to your picture. 14' beam, single 150HP outboard. Great for a weekend cabin, lousy if you actually wanted to go anywhere unless there was absolutely no breeze. I'm not talking about wind, just a breeze. With a flat bottom and that much area on the side, the smallest of breezes and you were white knuckling it around the dock or any other objects that you didn't care to hit.

After a ~150 mile trip, we decided that we were getting a different boat or a different hobby.

We traded for a 36' Gibson house boat with twin 350's and V-Drives. What a difference. Speed, handling, manuverability, but still sucked in the wind. We kept it for 8 years, put around 800 hours on it and a lot of miles. Great boat, but, it was like driving your motor home every time you wanted to go for a ride. Still fun, but we found ourselves sitting at the dock when it was just the 2 of us. Since I was the Captain, I wanted something more enjoyable to drive. (BTW, my wife is the Admiral)

Traded boats with a couple we had known for several years who had a 34' Sea Ray Express who used it like a cabin. All they did was sit at the dock and were looking for something more suited to floating instead of boating, so we made a deal in 2005.

Kept the Sea Ray until last fall, put almost 1000 hours on it. Probably going to miss it this spring. Or not.

Things to consider-

Slip fees: Around here, $1200 to $2500 per season.

Winter storage: Here, about the same as the slip.

Power: Some marinas include the power or have a flat rate depending on your boat, some are metered. Ours was metered and ran about $100 month.

Insurance: You will most likely have to have a survey done on the boat before you can get insurance. Survey costs are usually based on a percentage of the value of the boat, so I would expect possibly $1K to $2K.  Our insurance was ~$600/yr with discounts for Boat US membership, multiple boater's safety courses,(Not a bad idea, and especially if you take them in the winter. A good reason to hang with other boaters) and the fact that I had zero claims in 22 years of boating.

Winterizing: 3 cases of RV antifreeze, a day's work, fogging oil, power washing the bottom. About $150

Spring: Sand and Bottom paint at ~$150/gal, wash, buff, wax.

So, We're closing in on $5K of annual expense with no labor, but we haven't bought the boat yet.

Sales Tax: May not apply in your state, but did here to the tune of about $3K

Depreciation: Our boat's blue book went from $52000 to $18000 in 12 years. Ended up selling it for about 1/2 the book value. It is a buyer's market, especially in the fall.

Fuel: Our Sea Ray got between .6mpg and 1mpg. Notice the decimal. That's not a misprint. 32 gallons per hour at cruise.

Annual Maintenance:  Oil change was 18 quarts of oil, 3 filters (2 454ci drive engines and the generator), 19 spark plugs (gennie was a 3 cyl), 3 fuel filters and 2 water separators. Took a full day of contortionism to perform the work and a week to recover.

Spiders and other bugs love the water, so you'll have to wash it everyday if you want to keep it looking good. Waxing it will take several days.

The "Break Out Another Thousand" is conservative. For us, that was a trip to the gas dock. Other things to remember are "The only thing that works on an old boat is it's owner" and "The 2 happiest days of a boatsman are the day he buys it and the day he sells it". I can attest that all are true.

Marinas are like small towns with their cliques, politics and bullies. Talk to as many people as you can before deciding on one.

We had some of our best times while boating, made a lot of great friends and spent an enormous amount of money.

I don't regret any of it, but I am glad we are out of it. It is a lifestyle that consumes a lot of your time and resources.

I have seen a LOT of people buy a boat without an idea of the costs involved in both time and money, lose interest in a few months and walk away with a greatly lightened pocketbook.

I'm not trying to steer you away, but please take all of this into account and do your due diligence before you decide on anything.  

Good Luck on whatever you decide.

frenchyd said:

A boat is a hole in the water you throw money into.  

You will need a place to dock it.  That is expensive. In the way Nett you will need a place to store it, more expense. The Hull will need cleaning more expense.  Things will break and wear out. Even more expense. 

Then when you finally give up and sell it, the depreciation will really hurt. 

Now I’ve owned boats all of my adult life and some as a teenager.  I love my boats. And enjoy them.  But accept the big cost!  

Check that, those are good points.  We're comfortable with the marina fees. I'm compiling a list of maintenance items and am working out what to outsource and what to DIY.  The boats we're considering are fully depreciated--we shouldn't lose our shirts on resale unless there's a catastrophe onboard or in the economy.  

SaltyDog - that's really, really great info. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

PS - Any suggestions for learning how to pilot, anchor and moor the thing?  

In reply to nderwater :

Find a soft shore and practice. And practice. And practice. 

Also take a boaters safety course to learn the rules of the road. Your local boating/wildlife/marine authority should offer them. 

Yep, what Toyman said. BoatUS is another great organization for education and safety. I've been a member since the first boat.

I was lucky, our first marina had great people who took me under their wing to teach me boat handling. It's not as easy as it may look. Wind and current can be a real bitch.

Two good pieces of advice I got were "Don't approach anything any faster than you want to hit it" and "If you're not bored docking the boat, you're going too fast"

In reply to nderwater :

There is a reason experienced captains  hire a pilot when coming into port.  So get someone with a lot of experience with that kind of boat to teach you the first few times until you get the hang of it. 

You’ll have three things to focus on besides speed.  

Wind!  

that kind of boat has a lot of sail area it will dramatically change how you approach depending on which quarter the wind is coming from. 

Current!   

underwater currents will shove your boat around until you know how to handle them and anticipate them from visual clues 

Tide  

is the tide eb  or flood?  That will in conjunction with current and wind determines your approach 

oh and least I forget, underwater topography Shallow tends to speed things up deep tends to slow them down the transition between them effects your approach 

Get a copy of Chapman's Piloting and Seamanship and read it several times . I read one every spring and have one at home and one at my cabin. Seeing as you will have a house boat you can keep yours aboard

Not one mention of VRBO - did you know you can rent boats on there just like you can a vacation rental? You’re welcome.