boat fan Posted March 15, 2016 Report Share Posted March 15, 2016 (edited) No canals here , but a beautiful River .....over 1700 miles of it . Building a small houseboat . Marine plywood , Epoxy and F/G. Length is 40 ft , breadth is 12 ft. I think you people in the UK call them widebody ? I have hundreds of photos of the building saga , if anyone is interested . Still building ....... Murray River South Australia. Edited March 15, 2016 by boat fan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreyLady Posted March 15, 2016 Report Share Posted March 15, 2016 (edited) G'Day Mate, That looks like an interesting project. Does it have a Pump Out or a Cassette Loo/karzee? Edited March 15, 2016 by GreyLady Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boat fan Posted March 15, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2016 (edited) Hi Grey lady Yes , indeed it has a pump out. They would not let you on the river without it. Mine are made with 12 inch heavy duty PVC pipe and is fixed below the bridge deck , and between the two pontoon style hulls. Capacity is 1100 liters.Total of 50 feet of pipe. Edited March 15, 2016 by boat fan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreyLady Posted March 15, 2016 Report Share Posted March 15, 2016 (edited) Wow thats very well thought out boat fan, I have to say I do like the look of your houseboat. Welcome to the forum. Edited March 15, 2016 by GreyLady Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boat fan Posted March 15, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2016 Thank you ! Waste water tanks are strapped below the bridge deck. 50 ft of pipe make up the tanks. It`s a big job ...... Storage for little things . Bathroom has a bath tub .... I did not think many people would be interested. I look at your waterways with envy ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patty-ann Posted March 15, 2016 Report Share Posted March 15, 2016 Thats amazing..what a project...it looks fantastic.."Whats her name?(the awesome boat)" Thats a lovely river. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo_ Posted March 15, 2016 Report Share Posted March 15, 2016 What a lovely boat and how beautifully it's taking shape. I grew up in Sydney and swam from New South Wales to Victoria (by swimming across the Murray). Gorgeous place - happy happy memories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boat fan Posted March 15, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2016 (edited) Hi Patty - ann It does not have one ( name ) ! I work on this alone , so it is slow and sometimes hard. The hardest parts are over though...... The tiles are only vinyl stick - on , to save weight. This picture shows them laid out ( not yet stuck down ). Thank you for the comments. And thank you for your comments too Jo . You must visit ( OZ ) again ! Edited March 15, 2016 by boat fan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreyLady Posted March 15, 2016 Report Share Posted March 15, 2016 (edited) Thank you ! I did not think many people would be interested. I look at your waterways with envy ! I think a lot of people look at waterways in envy boat fan and I am envious of your boat and the fact you live in australia. Your boat is really nice, are you going to put outboards on or have an internal engine ? Edited March 15, 2016 by GreyLady Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boat fan Posted March 15, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2016 (edited) Hi Gray Lady , The boat will have a four stroke Yamaha outboard mounted on an engine pod I have only completed last week ..... This is a special version of the Yamaha outboard , different gearing , larger pitch prop. ( High thrust model ) made to propel houseboats and barges. Motor pod. 18 mm marine plywood and lots of F/G and epoxy. The jack plate was made from steel angle ( 50 x 50 mm ) drilled out with a 12 mm cobalt drill , and the slots were carefully cut with a small ( 100 mm disk ) hand held angle grinder .The slots were then filed true by hand.Emery cloth cut from a sanding belt was used to finish all edges. Home built jack plate allows the motor to be raised or lowered to the correct position. Edited March 15, 2016 by boat fan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreyLady Posted March 15, 2016 Report Share Posted March 15, 2016 Your engineering skills are impressive, i bet you've had a few sleepless nights thinking on the best way to go about stuff and it really shows. Hey just think when it's finished you can sit with a few tinny's and relax on something you've built yourself. I hope you enjoy every minute of it. ☺ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boat fan Posted March 15, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2016 (edited) Thank you for the kind words Grey Lady. This humble little boat is nothing fancy really. Almost all things on it are home made , ( I don`t have much money to buy the nice fancy stuff ) Take a look at my water tank for example ......LOL : It`s a pickle barrel that I cut down ....I fitted a marine plywood top and bolted it to the wall. It cost me about $ 50 .00 AU , including the new plywood top. ( 200 liters ). A 200 liter water tank made to order would have cost over $ 400:00 AU .....nice if you have the money ..... I just strapped it to the rear wall and dressed it up a bit to take away that " agricultural " look. The straps are just steel flat bar hammered to shape .... Some more minor detailing and painting to do on it , but .....it will just have to do...... Edited March 15, 2016 by boat fan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John V Posted March 15, 2016 Report Share Posted March 15, 2016 Wow !!! that is some project !!! Very impressive workmanship and I really like the pipework waste tank idea, that is neat. Welcome to the forum by the way and those are fantastic pictures of the Murray John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boat fan Posted March 15, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2016 Thank you for the kind words John . I must say , most of the time , I do like this river. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreyLady Posted March 15, 2016 Report Share Posted March 15, 2016 Thank you for the kind words Grey Lady. This humble little boat is nothing fancy really. Almost all things on it are home made , ( I don`t have much money to buy the nice fancy stuff ) Take a look at my water tank for example ......LOL : It`s a pickle barrel that I cut down ....I fitted a marine plywood top and bolted it to the wall. It cost me about $ 50 .00 AU , including the new plywood top. ( 200 liters ). A 200 liter water tank made to order would have cost over $ 400:00 AU .....nice if you have the money ..... I just strapped it to the rear wall and dressed it up a bit to take away that " agricultural " look. The straps are just steel flat bar hammered to shape .... Some more minor detailing and painting to do on it , but .....it will just have to do...... Ay not many of us have lots of money and a water tank is a water tank wether is gold plated or made of plastic I can't fault you for using what's available (the cheaper the better and your boat does look a million dollars) Your photo pictures are lovely too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murflynn Posted March 15, 2016 Report Share Posted March 15, 2016 I love the pot belly stove. great project all round. houseboat style vessels that are actually intended to cruise are rare here in the UK. there are many US designs, proving you can achieve so much more by doing away with side decks and not being concerned about air draught. good luck mate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dor Posted March 15, 2016 Report Share Posted March 15, 2016 Interesting build! Slightly different to what we have on our canals. Can you get up to Echuca? Interesting place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boat fan Posted March 15, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2016 Hi dor , Yes , could do that from here ...... Echuca is 625 km upstream. It is interesting , like you say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boat fan Posted March 15, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2016 I love the pot belly stove. great project all round. houseboat style vessels that are actually intended to cruise are rare here in the UK. there are many US designs, proving you can achieve so much more by doing away with side decks and not being concerned about air draught. good luck mate! Thank you Murflynn......... Sometimes I think i`m quite mad ....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie Booth Posted March 15, 2016 Report Share Posted March 15, 2016 Thanks for the fantastic post. I always thought Australia as a grotty dried out place. Boy was I wrong!! Great looking boat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boat fan Posted March 15, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2016 Thanks for the fantastic post. I always thought Australia as a grotty dried out place. Boy was I wrong!! Great looking boat. Well .....you are not entirely wrong there Laurie...... We certainly have dry and grotty here ...especially most of the interior. But there are great spots along the coast...and rivers . Rainforest . A land of great contrast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnmck Posted March 15, 2016 Report Share Posted March 15, 2016 What a fantastic project. Well done you. Many moons ago, our family nearly emigrated to that area. Just after WW1, my grandad left a note stating he was going seeking work. Life was tough for a stone mason in Liverpool at the time. A few months later, grandma got a letter. He was in Australia working on a dam project! He returned after a few years, because grandma would not leave her family, but I believe he always pined to return. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bargemast Posted March 15, 2016 Report Share Posted March 15, 2016 Hi boat fan, and a warm welcome to this forum, you seem to be a very practical guy, full of good ideas to realise this big job. It's really nice to see the solutions you found for different problems without the need to be a millionair. Once your project is finished, you'll have a very comfortable spacious floating houseboat to explore the Murray river with. It's not very likely that you'll ever going to bring her to this part of the world, but your beautiful photos show that there's plenty of beautiful nature to see in Australia, apart from the huge dry part in the middle. Keep your photos and stories of the build coming, I really admire your work and would love to see your progress. BTW how many HP is your four stroke Yamaha ? Looking forward to see what's will be the next stage of the fitout. Good luck, Peter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loafer Posted March 15, 2016 Report Share Posted March 15, 2016 Whilst I'm impressed by your boat project, I'm equally impressed by your photography. I presume they're yours, and I'm guessing quite a lot of Lightroom work and HDR. They look great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchcrawler Posted March 15, 2016 Report Share Posted March 15, 2016 Whilst I'm impressed by your boat project, I'm equally impressed by your photography. I presume they're yours, and I'm guessing quite a lot of Lightroom work and HDR. They look great. Just what I was going to say. Also have you seen this http://www.auscanal.org.au/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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