Moving A 42ft Houseboat up the River - Part 3: Alma, Wisconsin to Hastings, Minnesota.

The third day of journeying up the Mississippi River in a 1980s houseboat. Today we started in Alma WI and made it to Hastings MN. We traversed the length of Lake Pepin and went past Wabasha, Lake City, Red Wing, and some small towns in WI.
(This isn't one of my own boats, I was just along as the "expert", because growing up on an island in Alaska plus owning 500 terrible boats probably adds up to river pilot experience, right?)
The boat is a 42ft Gibson built in the 1980s (it's not the one shown in the thumbnail, that was another cool boat we saw!). The Gibson has a fiberglass hull and twin Crusader 270 engines. It could probably sleep up to 6 people, but didn't have full interior furnishing yet.
We had a few more engine issues today, and some ongoing electrical and mechanical gremlins, but all the important stuff kept working enough to get us to the marina!

[@itwasrightthere]

The train to Chicago is called the “Empire Builder”. And another little tidbit; in 1922, water skiing was invented on Lake Pepin.

[@RobbsHomemadeLife]

the river views are wonderful.

[@nike2525]

Really fun to join you on your trip! Great editing!

[@steverudder3321]

Hey, thanks for taking us along.👍 Now I see what a real river looks like and all the goings on around it.🤔

[@joellenbroetzmann9053]

I had a great uncle who had a bait shop near by the Prescott lift bridge. He was mayor of Prescott at one time. And like most people who lived or live in Pierce County, I was born in Red Wing. I love that area. Anyone traveling up Hwy 35 at Hwy 63 should stop for chicken at the Hager (Hager City, WI) Drve In. My heart still resides there.

[@seanavery7265]

What a great journey ,love from England.🛳️🇺🇸🦅🚂

[@boydbauer7714]

At 2:41 you can see my uncle’s house. At 8:37 is Prescott, WI my families hometown. Great video series!

[@somewhere7129]

This was a good series . thanks for sharing it .

[@saveitforparts]

There's actually one more coming, we did a little bonus trip to move the boat a few more miles the following weekend! I might have that video out tomorrow :-)

[@darrylmcleman6456]

Great looking country!!! Nice to have the option to take a long boat trip and never be out in the middle of nowhere!!! Viewing from Westcoast Canada! CHEERS

[@edgein3299]

Going against that current didn't help your fuel economy. But on a positive note, you gave those old engines a workout, and they made the trip, so it seems to be a decent boat depending on what they paid for it. Would get that depth finder fixed immediately since they will be cruising on the river, though.

[@B-rad-and-LBs-adventures]

Great Trip, good video...I miss my houseboat daily.

[@MaxStax1]

🎶If you come down to the river Bet you gonna find some people who live You don't have to worry 'cause you have no money People on the river are happy to give 🎶

[@TheDgdimick]

Just like your Jet Boat video, you show us that you don't have to be an "expert" to go out and do this. Seems like all you need is a few charts, a radio, and a bit of mechanical know how, and off you go. Great video.

[@jkoozer2]

Watched 3 parts, and I have to say. Nice vids, excellent presentations,, and, always use the ropes. Lol

[@brewyourown4life]

Love the video updates have a place in Lansing

[@-NGC-6302-]

I stayed at a place a while southeast of Alma a while ago The hills around the river valley are like nowhere else I’ve been

[@saveitforparts]

It's a great area! I like driving the river roads whenever I have a chance!

[@craigmonteforte1478]

Some of those old Gibson Houseboats can make some nice boats when remodeled correctly you guys are lucky enough to have one that runs unfortunately because many of them sit in Marinas for years without using the Engines Electrolysis sets in and does permanentbdamagevtomthe drives or engines in which makes them permanently inoperable

[@MountainSportAirguns]

That looks like it was a fun trip, had no idea it could take that long to get through a loc. How did you end up getting back home?

[@saveitforparts]

I live near the endpoint of the journey (as do the other people involved). We got a ride down to where they bought the boat, then just drove it back up the river to a marina closer to where we all live.

[@kirksavage1815]

I did the same thing back 13 yrs ago, bought a 42' Gibson in Stillwater,Mn. and took it down river over 350 miles, same engine, same problems, same gen set. She uses 2.5 gallons to the mile, our trip took five days and it was great. Is you upper fly station working? working

[@saveitforparts]

The flying bridge controls mostly don't work. The owner will probably have someone look at those later.

[@kirksavage1815]

@@saveitforparts some are cable controls and newer are Hyd.

[@davekimbler2308]

Nice houseboat ! As far as the heating issue it could be as simple as timing being off or a carbs choke that don’t open completely or a clogged water intake , ya just never know ! If your going to sell the jet please let me know , if and when you do and the price is right I’d love to have it ! I have a few cool projects that I’d be willing to part with ! Lol

[@saveitforparts]

I'm not selling the jet boat any time soon! The houseboat trip was just helping some folks out, I'm still working on my own boat(s) when I have time but summer gets busy!

[@davekimbler2308]

@@saveitforparts I get that , was just putting it out there just in case is all ! I’m claiming FIRST DIBS ! Lmao

[@davekimbler2308]

@@saveitforparts I think if I had it I’d remove the current drive system and put twin 30hp motors on her !

[@saveitforparts]

@@davekimbler2308 If you mean the houseboat, oddly enough it has bolt patterns for two outboard mounts that someone removed in the past!

[@davekimbler2308]

@@saveitforparts I was thinking the jet boat , give ya more room !

[@dennisbetters8900]

Hammer down and burn the bad gas out just watch the temperature gauge lol

[@MrWessed]

how much was the boat and how much did the trip cost?

[@saveitforparts]

I didn't pay for it so I'm not sure! I was just along to help a friend's relatives :-)

[@mzimm460]

Ground ground ground

[@mazdarx7887]

You still havent learned to only run one motor at a time when cruising

[@saveitforparts]

We figure that's why the Port engine kept dying, previous owner probably never ran it and let the gas in that tank turn into varnish. I've heard various opinions on running one vs two, some people say the drag from the idling prop cancels out the fuel savings. We also didn't really trust either engine 100% so it was nice to have one still running when one cut out!

[@mazdarx7887]

@@saveitforparts Yea, lots of armchair sailors out there who never even owned a canoe, much less a multi engine power boat or sail boat. Most cruisers shut one down. Simple math , 2500rpm at 9 or 10 knots, burning 10gph, shut one down and lose a knot or 2, maybe 3 depending on the boat, but burn only 10gph instead of 20ghp. How much drag do a prop cause? towing a dinghy causes more drag. If stern drive or outboard, raise the motor. Many manufactures list fuel burns and speed for different rpms and also include single engine burns in the same charts. The internet is a wonderful thing but has a lot of bullshitters and those that have absolutly no idea what they are talking about BUT it only works a slower speeds 10 or less, at higherrr speeds the prop and rudder drag increases a lot. But again it depends on the boat and power of the engine

[@busterhyman103]

Place a dead cat on your camera.(south Florida)

[@saveitforparts]

This cam doesn't have an external mic jack. I had one for my phone but I used that so much that I burned out the camera :-P