In medieval times marriage was, first of all for rich people, and even then rarely for life. But for those who did hang in there life was typically only until about 45 or so . Today the divorce rate amongst those of about that age is sadly high, and some social scientists propound the theory that our internal programming did not evolve for the very long lives that many of us enjoy , so the following scenario, while written to outline the next design series, is all too common even if most would probably just dream rather than actually do it.

Bob had considered himself a successful man, a small business that took most of his time to keep running, a couple of kids, one at University and the other married and gone, a wife with whom life was pretty tolerable even if the sparkle had gone a bit dull. But that had changed, he came home one night after a series of business trips away ( yes he had played up a little with the boys) and found a note on the kitchen table of his almost emptied of furniture house that told him who her lawyer was, and that she would require half of the assets including the business by so and so a date!
We all know the pain and hooraw that can go on, and Bob managed to get through in more or less good order, but chose to sell the house rather than the business, and, with the business now running a fair sort of an overdraft to pay the ex the balance of the half he rented a flat where he could put his head on a pillow until he could find a new direction in life.
Well, life seemed tasteless, he had a feeling of time passing, being trapped and a real dissatisfaction with , well, everything!A life on the ocean wave? Not really but a friend lived on a houseboat near Brisbane in Aussie, and after an exchange of emails and a long weekend ( part of a business trip) aboard he came home with a real spring in his step. This was the life!
He would build a suitable houseboat, use it as a home for a year or three then, after moving ashore he could keep it as a holiday home.
New Zealand is not a good place for Houseboats! Too open and exposed for the type, the boat would need to be reasonably seaworthy , and would need to be able to make
7/8 knots to get between harbours, it would need to be rather more boatie than houseboatie if you know what I mean, but still shoal draft and still very much a house which floats rather than a “real” boat. Bobs wanted to be able to buy another house soon, and having to build up capital to do so meant that the dollars were in short supply . Building something himself was not out of the question, there might even be a bit of space in the backyard of the semidetached flat and the garage would hold the tools and materials. Being located in a residential area meant that steel with its noise and appearance was not the preferred material, alloy was outside Bobs skills, and the complexities of fiberglass and most composites were a closed book to him.
Although a good practical handyman, able to put together plumbing and electrical circuitry as well as woodwork, he is not much of an engineer, so whatever is to power this paragon of punts has to be simple , and the systems which power the electrical, refrigeration and hot water systems need also to be simple in concept and execution.
Given materials he could handle he needed a design that incorporated,
Standing room in most parts of the accommodation,
A Queen sized Bed in an alcove if not a separate bedroom
A proper kitchen with deepfreeze fridge and oven as well as the usual cooktop.
A desk for the working at home days.
A lounge area in which to entertain.
Shoal draft, most of the interesting anchorages tend to be shallow.
240v ac power throughout ( or 110 if you live in that part of the world)
The bathroom had to have a proper shower, a toilet with holding tank and, as with the kitchen it needs to have reliable hot and cold running water.
This craft needs to be a really good living space, Outside and inside lounging space, the ability to go coastal on a good forecast, and be simple to build in materials familiar to the builder.
Are you interested in having a go at this? I don’t need full construction drawings but would need to know that the concept would be workable, some of the Houseboat egroup could be interested, as might someone living on the Chesapeake or North Carolina or on the amazing river systems on Aussies East coast . ( just been boating on the Clarence River at Mc Lean, wow, small boat paradise!)
If you want to try your hand at the drawing board on this one give me a shout on jwboatdesigns@xtra.co.nz
JohnWelsford