Catamaran Camper

[Ozarker]

I've been reading about some great builds here and someone mentioned Wests Marine products for fiberglass and epoxys used in boat building. That triggered a thought too, there is a boat building site most are probably familiar with "Duckworks" about small wooden boat building, great site, and for a couple years I have been thinking of trying to build a small powered or motorsailor catamaran. There are several on Duckworks, one being the "Gato". It has a small enclosed cabin that sits on top of the amas or pontoons.

Now, it seems to me that this cabin could be built as one unit and bolted to the boat deck (as intended in the building process) but the cabin could be a stand alone unit that slides in the back of the pickup. A trailer could be made to pull the pontoons and mount them higher than customary, or since they are only 16 feet long, they could be carried on a ladder rack on the truck. The pontoons are not very big or heavy, in fact, you could go lighter by using a Hobby Cat hulls.

Yes, I asked aerlier about converting a travel trailer, still an option. I'm trying to go through the options and actually get going on a plan to take off while I still can, I'm not getting younger. I'd like to enjoy the back country and waterways, use the motorcycle for errands and getting deeper of road and yet have a livable condition for an extended trip, two to four months. So, yes this all ties together....

Seems you'd have a camper and a little cruiser as well.

Is this feisable? anyone done this or even pull a boat as the on shore camper? Any suggestions?

Might check out that sits as the construction techniques seem to be very adaptable to building a quality camper. Another good site is Micro Cruiser, that features many home built small boats.

 

[Ozarker]

LOL, no takers.....The cabin is very similar to a tear drop trailer, that's why it became a thought too.

 

[Lynn]

To be honest, that thought has crossed my mind, as well. As a powered catamaran/houseboat. Use the truck and cabin for an RV. Carry the pontoons on a trailer. Then somehow slide the cabin off the truck onto the pontoons to make it a houseboat.

Hopefully a better execution than this:

Have you seen the Boaterhome?

 

[HMR]

FWC:

 

[brianjwilson]

Have you seen the Boaterhome?

Sweet! My mom told me a long time ago that her parents had something like that! lol

 

[Ozarker]

LOL, that was something! Guess you use it on land or goind down the road and detach close a hatch and go on the water....

I've still been wondering if it would fit my needs, I don't need more stuff in the back yard.

The small cats seem to be great for costal waters, rivers and lakes. WhileI would like to sail the seven seas, I'm too old now to learn and not knowing out there can get you killed. I'll stick to the hudreds of thousands of miles of shoreline, rivers and lakes. I would like to do the Great Loop. That's where the thouth of having a cabin that could be trailer mounted came from, double purpose. The cabin I'm thinking of can't be that big, maybe sleep two, small stove, ref. small gen set, water tank and porta poti.

Aluminum pontoons won't cut it I don't think, needs to be a lighter amas hull with larger volume, V shaped. I'm sure they could crank up on an overhead rack. Detach the cabin from the two hulls, a winch should aid in mounting and dismounting the cabin fromor to the trailer or boat.

Another option was poping the wheels off the trailer and mount the hulls to the trailer as part of the boat frame. Carry the wheels. Get to a dam, you could convert it back and I'm sure someone would pull you around the dam and put back in.

I can get to a small lake about /14 mile from my house. It goes into the James river, then to Tablerock Lake and on to the White River, tothe Mississippi and to the gulf. Few years back thought about doing a kayak trip, but couldn'tget away long enough, too late now I would think. So, something like this kills two birds with one stone so to speak, wavewacking and back country travels!:wings:

Ya think it should sit on air bags and be bolted in?

 

[OTR]

Have you seen the Boaterhome?

[/QUOTE]

One for sale here. Pretty cool idea IMO, too bad it's not a newer design/model.
http://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/ford/unspecified/1052371.html

 

[OTR]

Found a newer design!! It's a lot more money and a lot more comfort. Also check out the spyder model.
http://www.terrawind.com/terrawind.htm

 

[dwh]

One for sale here.

Heh. Looks like the same one to me. "5 hours on the boat". Guess they only offloaded it once...

 

[CliftonSmith]

Wow! this is really an expensive camper truck to have... I also wanted to have this same camper, if i only have enough funds I will definitely like to turn my truck into a houseboat

 

[kozaz]

You may want to look at this one, it was the most bang for your buck, good builder/designer and looked like it can be easily built by a novice.

http://www.sailingcatamarans.com/skootas.htm

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

Why not just tow a C-Dory around on a beefed up trailer behind your truck. You can live in it on both water and land and have the best of both worlds

 

[Overland Hadley]

Why not just tow a C-Dory around on a beefed up trailer behind your truck. You can live in it on both water and land and have the best of both worlds

Hey Pat, I had a good chuckle when I read this.

Then I got thinking, for some trips this would make good sense. A boat is poor living space for the trailer size, but on the other hand a travel trailer makes for a poor seagoing vessel. Under the right travel conditions this is a great idea.

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

A travel trailer really only makes a good livable space under ideal conditions. Trust me, you cant bring them too far off-road without LOTs of modifications. These would never be ideal living conditions, but the places this combo would be able to bring us photographers would be like no other. Let's face it, how many members are living out of the back of their pick-up trucks or vehicles for long periods of time while exploring.

The C-Dory gives you a queen size bed, kitchen, fridge, and small galley. It can be hooked up just like a small RV while on the trailer, yet give you access that most wouldn't be able to see or explore without the access to the boat. Towing with a outfitted truck, Sportsmobile or Sprinter would really be the best of both worlds.

There are so many places that this would be ideal. Exploring The Great Lakes & The Gulf Coast alone could be the rest of our lifetime to truly explore and navigate.

Alaska and British Columbia could be a few summers.

Lake Powell, Lake Yellowstone, Glen Canyon, Mississippi River, Arkansas River, Theodore Roosevelt Lake, Puget Sound, Channel Islands all come to mind while exploring the United States.

The Sea of Cortez would be friggin' amazing with this combo. Have a nice kayak strapped to the roof of the C-Dory and the exploration even gets deeper into the shallows

Here is what I have in mind. Since most of the trolling on the water would be during the daytime, throw on a set of these electric trolling motors with a nice bank of solar panels along the roof of the C-Dory powering a bank of batteries. Keeps the fuel costs down, yet if you need to get somewhere fast, you have the big Outboard to get you there or get you out of there.

This is what we've been working on for our next adventure, so if I can make it work, I'll be sure to keep everyone posted.

I'd love to hear others ideas on this so I could get some different views on ways to make this work

 

[Overland Hadley]

Pat,

Not sure weather to curse you or thank you.

Ever since visiting you guys in YNP the far reaches of Yellowstone Lake have been calling. Hmmm....


I like to sail, well I love to sail. But a sailboat is a very poor platform for photography, and I have often thought a motor boat of sorts is what is needed for photographic exploring. A C-Dory looks ideal for a trailerable boat platform. And with a solar/electric motor setup I would feel like I could let go of the rags. I am going to give this some thought, and even if I do not do this in the near future I would be happy to help in any way that I can. First thing to consider is boat size vs trailer size, bigger is better vs smaller is better.



And yes, a big outboard for getting out is very important.