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yukionna · 11-10-2006, 09:44 AM

I saw the Vintage anomaly thread and wanted to fess up that I too have had thoughts of using an Airstream trailer for something else other than its originally advertised use as a camping trailer pulled by a tow vehicle.

My thought was to find a trailer that was beyond restoration and build an Airstream houseboat (I know some people think there is no such thing as "beyond restoration"). Has anyone else ever built a houseboat from an Airstream?

Please don't shoot me for having these thoughts.

yukionna · 11-10-2006, 10:19 AM

It seems someone else had these thoughts too.

Check out the photo...

Boondocker · 11-10-2006, 10:23 AM

Oh the humanity

**azflycaster** · 11-10-2006, 10:28 AM

Make it stop!
Make it stop!

yukionna · 11-10-2006, 10:29 AM

From reading this article in Oceana's Herald-Journal out of Hart, MI, it looks like an Airstream houseboat has the neighbors talking.

Posted 10-12-2006
Houseboat stays, for now

Stony Lake Property Owners Association members are taking a wait and see approach regarding an Airstream-houseboat that has been on the water this past summer.

Association Vice President Chuck Ginebaugh said he believes the houseboat was launched from a private boat ramp in the Stony Lake subdivision and they are waiting to see if the property owners will allow the boat to be launched through their property next year. Ginebaugh said they have spoken with the sheriff’s department and learned there is nothing they can do. The boat was still on the water Sept. 29, property owner Cynthia McKinnon said.
Benona Township has not been approached about the houseboat, Supervisor Steve Fleming said. He thought he knew who the owner is.

“It’s a water thing,” Fleming said. “We don’t have a zoning ordinance or anything for water. “He goes out there I believe. I don’t think he is sleeping on it. He’s certainly not living on it.”

Oceana County Sheriff’s Department Lt. Buzz Angell also believed there is nothing the sheriff’s department can do about the houseboat. He provided a copy of a law that says county boards can regulate the mooring of houseboats on inland lakes by ordinance.
County Administrator Paul Inglis was not familiar with the houseboat, but said he would bring the issue to the county board of commissioners if requested. He instructed administrative assistant Sue Johnson to search for model ordinances, and said any proposed ordinance would need legal review for the content.

A-Merry-Can · 11-10-2006, 10:33 AM

ha! awesome! i was talking about that a few years back with some buddies.. get an old pontoon boat, and the shell off an airstream... (or better yet, avion! it'll keep the hate mail down), graft em together and away you go. i think it would get to be a bit top-heavy, though... unless you use a bambi or a caravel...

... but i think that's a capital crime in most states.

jp

**azflycaster** · 11-10-2006, 10:35 AM

Remember the Maine!

yukionna · 11-10-2006, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by A-Merry-Can

ha! awesome! i was talking about that a few years back with some buddies.. get an old pontoon boat, and the shell off an airstream... (or better yet, avion! it'll keep the hate mail down), graft em together and away you go. i think it would get to be a bit top-heavy, though... unless you use a bambi or a caravel...

... but i think that's a capital crime in most states.

Just for the record...having *thoughts* about something is very different from taking *action* on the something!

I don't have the heart to actually do this to an Airstream but I have thought of it! I'm still working thru the 12-step program so expect/hope/anticipate that these thoughts will be under control in the next month or so.

Chuck · 11-10-2006, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by A-Merry-Can

ha! awesome! i was talking about that a few years back with some buddies.. get an old pontoon boat, and the shell off an airstream... (or better yet, avion! it'll keep the hate mail down), graft em together and away you go. i think it would get to be a bit top-heavy, though... unless you use a bambi or a caravel...

... but i think that's a capital crime in most states.

jp

Funny you should mention that. she's actually already GOT a pontoon boat, AND 2 Bambies. To top it off, we live in a state that has no death penalty. All the ingredients for catastrophe are in place!

**Stefrobrts** · 11-10-2006, 10:46 AM

I think an Airstream houseboat could be a pretty cool idea, but that is a really atrocious execution of the idea! Certainly we could design something a little more pleasing if we put our heads together.

Cracker · 11-10-2006, 10:58 AM

Way back in the mid 70's there was a facility established in the Kissimmee area of Florida to permit loading camping trailers on small powered pontoon barges to cruise the surrounding waterways. I'm not sure how long it stayed in business but I once dropped by and talked to the Owner. It was a fairly simple concept, consisting of short ramps between the barge and shore.

I've often thought about building a "Tom Sawyer/Huck Finn" type barge to moor at my camp during the summer - but I first need to build a ramp to take it in and out on during the winter (i.e.---4'-0" of ice.) The West side of our small lake is undeveloped, and the North end is a protected wetlands. With good screens on the windows, and a nice covered porch, it sure would be great to fall asleep listening to the night sounds - or spend an evening with a cane pole hanging over the rail! A 10 hp outboard would provide all the power needed. As for complaints from the neighbors - that's one of the reasons we chose the non-touristy area of Maine for retirement - live and let live!

yukionna · 11-10-2006, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chuck

Funny you should mention that. she's actually already GOT a pontoon boat, AND 2 Bambies. To top it off, we live in a state that has no death penalty. All the ingredients for catastrophe are in place!

OMG! You crack me up! Too funny!

Not to worry...no chopping of any of my toys!

Whatever you do, DON'T TELL BRIAN about this post!
He will have me committed, for sure!

Aria · 11-10-2006, 11:09 AM

yukionna, I think it is a great idea. We have a cottage on a Lake. We don't need a houseboat. Why not? It would take a bit of designing.

markdoane · 11-10-2006, 11:17 AM

If I was redoing my Tradewind I would put a little more Sikaflex around the belly pan, and Bearing Buddies.

Why do you need pontoons if the bottom is watertight? Probably needs some kind of a keel, and a motor bracket on the back. And replace the clearance lights with red and green navigation lights.

yukionna · 11-10-2006, 11:40 AM

See...this thread has me *thinking* these thoughts again...

...now I have further refined the idea based on some of the feedback received in this thread:

A-Merry-Can: ".. get an old pontoon boat..."
Cracker: "...there was a facility established in the Kissimmee area of Florida to permit loading camping trailers on small powered pontoon barges to cruise the surrounding waterways..."
Gen Disarray: "Anything worth doing is worth overdoing" (though I would bet my '64 Bambi that Gen Disarray would argue this project is not worth doing! )
A-Merry-Can: "i think it would get to be a bit top-heavy, though... unless you use a bambi or a caravel"
Markdoane: "add green and red navigation lights"

Build a custom barge that you could back the Airstream trailer on and off of. The barge could be built such that the trailer could be tied down to the barge underneath the floor. The floor would be level with the underside of the door of the trailer (hence the wheels and bottom half would be out of sight). This would help reduce the top heaviness of the trailer by loading some of the weight down to or under the water line.

And, if you don't forget to leave room for a tow vehicle, you have opened up many more avenues for 'streaming! I can just imagine an afternoon cruise across the Great Lakes for a sunset dinner in Ontario. Or perhaps a cruise down the Mississippi with different port stops along the way. The possibilities are endless!

InsideOut · 11-10-2006, 12:34 PM

Didn't Wally do this something like this on one of his caravans?

Scary!

Shari

yukionna · 11-10-2006, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by InsideOut

Didn't Wally do this something like this on one of his caravans?

Scary!

Now that is one scary photo! I've seen that photo before...I think it is from the Capetown to Cairo caravan.

Boondocker · 11-10-2006, 12:53 PM

Im sure it has been done before, but I have often thought it would be neat to get a barge, put a couple ASs on and do the Ole Miss from the head waters to the gulf

CanoeStream · 11-10-2006, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gen Disarray

I'm sure it has been done before, but I have often thought it would be neat to get a barge, put a couple ASs on and do the Ole Miss from the head waters to the gulf

Uhh-h-h, Rodney? We Minnesotans like wading across the headwaters barefoot at Lake Itasca near Park Rapids (seen below). There are impossible shallows in the Mississippi here at St. Cloud and further to the southeast. The lock and dam system starts right in downtown Minneapolis. Every few years somebody canoes the length of the river. Your dream still sounds mighty relaxing. The blufflands starting south of the Twin Cities continue right through Iowa -- a little recognized jewel in the middle of the country. You'll want your TV on that barge for exploring away from Ol' Man River.