living on a boat in Chicagoland
Sep 21st 2011, 3:42 pm
#16
UK & US Citizen
Joined: Jul 2003
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 1,276
Re: living on a boat in Chicagoland
I know of someone that does that here in Boston - but only for the summer. In the winter he flies south.
Sep 21st 2011, 4:45 pm
#17
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jun 2008
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Posts: 10,678
Re: living on a boat in Chicagoland
Aluminum hulls are becoming common in new build narrowboats, google Sea Otter, if you want to find out.
But my understanding is that aluminum does not have the strength to be used in a larger hull, it twists too easily. I think the maximum aluminum boat length is around 50 feet, whereas a typical Dutch barge houseboat is 70 x 12 feet minimum.
Many Dutch boats are old hulls, 100 years or more, but they are so solid that they easily convert into fantastic homes, outliving much younger conventional houses. (I'm thinking of UK council houses from the 1960s that are now being demolished and replaced.) Hulls that have worked their entire life hauling coal and other freight, and even made it through a couple of world wars then leave the Netherlands for conversion into homes. I seriously doubt if fiberglass has that kind of lifespan.
Anyway, I seem to have hijacked my own thread, I guess the answer is no to mooring a 'real' houseboat in the US!
But my understanding is that aluminum does not have the strength to be used in a larger hull, it twists too easily. I think the maximum aluminum boat length is around 50 feet, whereas a typical Dutch barge houseboat is 70 x 12 feet minimum.
Many Dutch boats are old hulls, 100 years or more, but they are so solid that they easily convert into fantastic homes, outliving much younger conventional houses. (I'm thinking of UK council houses from the 1960s that are now being demolished and replaced.) Hulls that have worked their entire life hauling coal and other freight, and even made it through a couple of world wars then leave the Netherlands for conversion into homes. I seriously doubt if fiberglass has that kind of lifespan.
Anyway, I seem to have hijacked my own thread, I guess the answer is no to mooring a 'real' houseboat in the US!
Apparently because the Navy does not fear attacks by torpedos and aircraft as much as previous wars, it is now building warships made of aluminum hulls but due to possible cracks that can occur in aluminium, the ships are being built as triple hulls designs instead of the more standard single hull designs in steel hull ships.
Aluminum is often used to build high-speed ferries and similar vessels, but it is a new material for the Navy, which has long relied on steel-hulled ships.
"It's hard to understand how the Navy could consider selecting a design that it says it doesn't understand very well," said defense analyst Loren Thompson of the Virginia-based Lexington Institute.
Austal's three-hulled aluminum warship is competing with Lockheed Martin Corp's (LMT.N) more traditional steel mono-hull ship, for over $5 billion in orders for 10 more additional LCS ships. Bids are due on April 12, and the Navy is expected to pick a single winner by July.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/...13314120100316
Last edited by Michael; Sep 21st 2011 at 5:06 pm.
Sep 21st 2011, 7:04 pm
#18
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 139
Re: living on a boat in Chicagoland
Aluminum hulls have been around for as long as fiberglass in boat building due to it's light weight and durability but normally fiberglass wins out due to it's low cost and normally does not require reinforcement for rough seas. However once a boat gets to a certain size and weight, fiberglass could possibly shatter under it's own weight and a hard hit by another object.
People in little fiberglass boats tent to get out of the way when I blast through with 70 foot of steel. Its fun.
Sep 21st 2011, 8:04 pm
#19
Ginger Monkey
Joined: Jun 2007
Location: Cheeseland, WI
Posts: 2,772
Re: living on a boat in Chicagoland
Oh no no no no noooo!! Please don't live on a houseboat here in the Midwest! It's far too cold in our hard winters, and the rivers literally freeze up.
Try somewhere warmer, or compromise and spend only the summer months on the water.
Try somewhere warmer, or compromise and spend only the summer months on the water.
Sep 21st 2011, 9:12 pm
#20
Sleepless In Chicago
Joined: Sep 2008
Location: Chicago.
Posts: 3,601
Re: living on a boat in Chicagoland
As has been stated.
No.
In winter there are really no small craft on the lakes.
This is a picture of the beach in winter, yes, the beach, with 3 feet of solid ice. Imagine what the rivers get like!
No.
In winter there are really no small craft on the lakes.
This is a picture of the beach in winter, yes, the beach, with 3 feet of solid ice. Imagine what the rivers get like!
Sep 22nd 2011, 12:11 am
#21
Banned
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 50
Re: living on a boat in Chicagoland
It's an utterly ridiculous idea
