Houseboats - Final Thoughts and Mistakes

Houseboat costs and expenses compared with cruisers. Mistakes I have made with boats in the last 10 years.

[@bspix46]

Captain Doug is my father and I cruise with him all the time, but he answered a lot of questions in this video that I've never thought to ask him. Very interesting!

[@cooperssalvage7388]

Im currently renovating a 1969 Lazy Days 50 foot. We have a slip at Aqua Land which is on Lanier. I have absolutely zero experience doing this, That being said i came across your channel and have been binge watching them since last night. I am very thankful you took the time to make these very informative series. If only there was more content on the subject of renovating house boats on youtube. I noticed in one of your videos you mentioned it would probably be your last video due to you feel as if you have covered everything. Maybe you could create another series talking about how your thought process worked while renovating (i.e How to identify dead space and maximize its potential, If flipping the boat what are some of the key elements you focused on that maximized your profit without going overboard, Easiest/Efficient methods on how to do certain things such as pulling wires from one end of the boat to the other etc..) I feel like you could really help out and fill the missing void that so many people are searching for because A) they just cant find any videos that explain it, or B) They were to afraid to ask / weren't informed enough to ask the question. Either way i love your channel and will be telling others on the dock so they too can be well informed and perhaps give them inspiration the same way it has for me.

[@houseboats1013]

Thanks for the comment. I have spoken to the first mate and I 'think' she has agreed to do a few segments on the renovation process. We might put these out in May or June.

[@pegfischer8044]

Agreed! This series has been excellent. And no drama. :) great ideas and I like that you give the rationale behind your choices. We are the new owners of a 1999 Jamestowner which needs updating. Would love a renovation focused channel with you and your first mate. You’re a great team!

[@tedbecker7484]

Thank you for the info. I am just starting to Educate myself about houseboats and what size I will need in about 3 year when I retired.

[@robertnelson980]

Great insight and info. Thanks for doing these videos. We are just down the road in Barrow County. Maybe we will have the privilege to meet you some day. We hope to have a houseboat on Lanier some day.

[@houseboats1013]

Houseboaters always welcome other hoiseboaters.

[@entrigueall2661]

Peace be with you. I’m considering buying a house boat. This is great information from an experienced captain not only what the broker said. Thanks again.

[@houseboats1013]

You’re welcome.

[@DeepHouseboatLife]

Once again, most excellent content from Captain Doug! Thank you for this video! Do you use Aqua-Kem as well for your black water system? Your story about dock lines reminded me about an experience I had as a kid on our houseboat. We were beached up north of Browns Bridge and a squall with a tornado came through. It snapped the lines we had used to secure the stern of our houseboat to shore, and our houseboat blew parallel to and was teetering on the beach. Once the storm passed, we had to use a ski boat to pull our houseboat off the beach. The waves were rocking so hard that our fridge scooted out into the hallway because of it. Pretty wild, and even after that we still love houseboating!!

[@houseboats1013]

Yes - we’ve been using Aqua Ken in our system for a few years now - once I figured out how to get the chemical feeder system working. We were up near Browns Bridge as well when we lost our dock line.

[@ImBetty352]

What brand smoke & carbon monoxide detector is recommended for a houseboat? The Kidde brand we were using tells us their detectors are not designed for use on a boat. The Kidde units we were using sounded off a co alarm. The only thing that was different was we had a leaky battery in the aft area with a strong sulfur smell. Kidde said this would not have set off the co alarm. What are your thoughts on this? Do we need to install different detectors?

[@houseboats1013]

Use a marine grade CO Detector like the MTI Industry 651-541. Smoke detector can be any residential type.

[@donacardenasHomes]

Just found your channel today after a visit to houseboats on Lanier. Which marina are you out of! Been boating all my life but this would be my first houseboat. If I am able to get the one I looked at today, it’s going to need renovations so I welcome any videos you put out. I’d love to chat with you sometime about life on a houseboat. I have two teens and two dogs so I have a lot to consider.

[@houseboats1013]

We are at Baldridge Marina on Lanier. Hope to add a more in-depth video on renovating a houseboat in the next few months.

[@donacardenasHomes]

@@houseboats1013 do you happen to know if there are any slips available? Or coming soon by chance? 16x87 and what the cost of the slips are? The marina is closed on the weekends so I couldn’t call.

[@houseboats1013]

Yes there are slips available at Baldridge. They run about $2100 / quarter. 3 month lease length.

[@mikefitzpatrick5209]

Captain DOug, are you and your wife full timers on the house boat or do you live in a land based home?

[@houseboats1013]

We have a land based home, but we do spend most weekends on the boat.

[@mikefitzpatrick5209]

@@houseboats1013 Sounds lovely, I wish we had a large lake like Linear in my area of Dallas Fort Worth, I really like your boat, good day mate

[@DavidSmith-vs8ss]

How did you change colors of the decals on the exterior?

[@houseboats1013]

They aren’t decals. They are painted. On our previous boat I had a sign painter do it. On our current boat, I painted some of them myself with the same existing color. The curves can be real tricky.

[@DavidSmith-vs8ss]

@@houseboats1013 so you just painted over the old decals? What kind of paint?

[@houseboats1013]

@@DavidSmith-vs8ss Rustoleum Top Side for the black stripes, Rustoleum Stops Rust Silver oil based for the silver stripes and Rustoleum Top Side white where I needed some white.