Four Trailerable Shantyboats You Can Build


to height of the cabin. The Escargot hull might be more


We’ve always loved the idea of houses that float, and in all of their categories: Houseboats, floating homes, boathouses with loſt living spaces, shantyboats, canal boats and others. While many house- boats remain stationary—often with unpowered barge hulls that need to be towed from one place to another—our real passion is for smaller, trailerable living quarters that are built on boat-like hulls… capable of cruising from place to place in somewhat protected wa- ters, and also ready to be trailered to more distant cruising grounds. So, this time let’s focus on


four alluring designs in the Trail- erable Shantyboat class—small boats one could theoretically live aboard, or at least camp-cruise for a few weeks…and that you can build from plans or kits.


ESCARGOT Canal Boat, Philip Tiel We’re starting with Escargot, even though its hull shape might be the least “boat-like” of the four designs, because we’re prejudiced: We knew and admired the late designer and we’ve always had a soſt spot for Escargot’s original concept as a pedal-powered canal boat. Shortly after the first Escargot was built, we photographed it in a lazy river with two recruits pedaling Sea Cycle drive units. Phil had been thinking it would be fun to travel to England or France, buy some materials, build an Escargot next to one of the cruising canals and experience a leisurely pedal-powered cruise. As it developed, builders of the Escargot design—the best seller among Phil’s cre- ations—preferred a small outboard for power, vs. pedaling all day. Chris Cunningham, a close friend


of Phil Thiel, helped make plans for Escargot available via the WoodenBoat Store. Chris also helped his son build the Escargot pictured on the opposite page, improving headroom by adding 6 inches


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there’s a dinette table that converts into a double berth, a tiny galley, a head and salon bench that also functions as a single berth. It’s easy to imagine relax- ing aboard Escargot, sipping coffee and reading while gently swinging at anchor in a quiet back bay or canal. Plans, avail- able for $75 from woodenboatstore. com, include 16 sheets you can print on 11x17 paper. Te hull draws only 6 inches, weighs 750 pounds and features “simple box-like construction” (8 sheets of ¼" plywood, 8 sheets of 3/8" ply and 6 sheets of ½.”)


DIANNE’S ROSE, by Roy Schreyer Te design was inspired by Roy’s wife, Dianne, who admitted she might be a happier boater if her husband would please create something larger, more stable and—oh, yes—more comfy than the small open daysailers he’d been designing and building. A wise and dedicated husband, Roy immediately got to work on Dianne’s Rose, a 17' by 8' shantyboat with inviting 10' by 8'


barge-like than others, but tracking is helped by four chine logs, each 1-1/2" square. Chris and his son further im- proved lateral resistance by adding drop-down leeboards…which made a bigger difference in how the hull han- dled in side winds. Escargot is 18' 6" overall with a beam


of 6,' and inside headroom of 4' 6"…or 5' if you follow options described in the building plans. Power can be any small outboard in the 2-5hp range, or one of the smaller electric outboards. Inside


cabin and generous 4' by 8' bow deck. (If you look closely at the photo above, you might get the idea that Dianne is pretty happy with the result.) Interior of Dianne’s Rose features


two opposing 62"-long couches. By dropping filler boards in place, along with cushions, the cruising couple en- joys a queen-size berth. There’s a head with privacy curtain, kitchenette with 3-foot counter and propane camping stove, lots of light from large Lexan side windows, and a clear passage from bow to stern through the cabin. The boat built by Roy is propelled by a 9.9hp out- board (6mph at ¾-throttle), and has an empty weight of 1500 pounds. The sharply-crowned


roofline offers a great sense of space inside, and the surprising thing about the design is that it is not flat-bottomed or barge-like when it comes to general performance or seawor- thiness. (Okay, you won’t go offshore with Dianne’s Rose, but only a 4' by 4' patch in the center of the bottom is flat; the hull has 24" chine panels on each side of the bottom, and the


bow rises like a shallow garvey shape… so the boat does fine in modest wind/ wave conditions and tracks better than one might imagine. So, yes, there’s a boat under that houseboat cabin, not a giant cement-mixing box.) Roy has sold almost 200 sets of plans


for Dianne’s Rose and hulls have been built all over the world. There’s a Di- anne’s Rose FB page with enthusiastic members, and plans can be ordered di- rectly for $230 (digital transfer) or $305 (full paper) from roydesignedthat.com


HONKER D.S. 19, by Sam Devlin Creative and prolific, Sam over the years has produced a variety of houseboat designs, ranging from stay-in-place barge homes to shantyboats, to seaworthy designs based on pram or garvey-style hulls. In the barge-hull category, you might consider Sam’s venerable Millie Hill series of houseboats, or in his bare- ly-trailerable-but-seaworthy class, you can check out his Lingcod 27 and Ling- cod 29 Houseboat designs (devlinboat.


SMALL CRAFT ADVISOR


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