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Bali or Thai style houseboat

Discussion in 'General Yachting Discussion' started by brian eiland, Aug 28, 2006.

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  1. brian eiland

    brian eiland Senior Member

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    I'm over in Thailand on holiday, and to look thru a few composite boatbuilding operations.

    The thought has occurred to me after spending a delightful afternoon on a bamboo raft vessel for lunch and siesta, that it might be quite nice to have a seaside cottage in the style of a Bali or Thai style built on a floating platform for mobility along the coastline.

    Has anyone ever seen such a vessel, raft, barge??
  2. brian eiland

    brian eiland Senior Member

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    Lunch, Siesta, Massage in Thailand

    Well I see no one had any comments on my 'houseboat' idea, so I thought I might post a couple of photos in reference to a fine lunch and siesta on a floating raft on a pretty lake in Thailand

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  3. arion

    arion New Member

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    Definately romantic but a few things spring to mind.. weather and security :)
  4. YachtForum

    YachtForum Publisher/Admin

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    Welcome back Brian!

    Makes you wonder... what ever happened to the good ole' houseboat! That barge of a boat better known for waterbugs & rodents then it's ability to get out of its own way. If you venture inland, where the H20 lacks iodine, houseboats have gone through a transformation… looking more like today's yachts than yesterday's Winnebagos.

    On the subject of houseboats, this might be the only Florida condo I would invest in… it’s a 72’ Sun State and it’s probably the best “blue water” houseboat I’ve seen. If I was going to live up to my name, ahem… Sea Camper, this would be my waterborne motorhome…

    http://www.**************/core/list...200000&ftid=0&slim=quick&spid=108&searchtype=

    But getting back to thatched-roof rafts… here’s one on steroids. This is the Tiki Bar. It’s owned by Steve Savor, a local Lauderdale resident who also owns a 100+ Westship. It’s used for special event charters. In recent years, Yachts International has used it to host parties at the Miami International Boat Show. Nice to see them giving back to the community that supports them…

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  5. YachtForum

    YachtForum Publisher/Admin

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  6. brian eiland

    brian eiland Senior Member

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    Haven't had time to persue this Thai houseboat theme further yet, but I hope to do so. Meantime I was doing some computer changeover and ran across a few other photos.

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  7. MaxPower

    MaxPower Senior Member

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    from what i'm told, security is not an issue in thailand.

    weather you can't do anything about ...

    :)
  8. brian eiland

    brian eiland Senior Member

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    This is a Buddhist temple in one small town (ALL towns have at least one), so it is not likely somthing you could replicate, but it does give that feeling of architecture that is Thai ...and Bali

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  9. brian eiland

    brian eiland Senior Member

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    This was a little roadside coffee shop set on the edge of a paved lot for a gas station. It had been built by the father of the girl operating the shop.

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  10. brian eiland

    brian eiland Senior Member

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    I found some more pics

    Note the construction...lots of bamboo...even the flotation bundles

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  11. brian eiland

    brian eiland Senior Member

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    Bamboo

    Bamboo construction

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  12. brian eiland

    brian eiland Senior Member

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    Floating 'House' in Amsterdam

    Another memory just came back to me. Once when I was visiting Amsterdam I went on a canal tour. I recall the narrator bringing to our attention this UNUSUAL South Seas Island thatch-roofed cottage built in the middle of this big wide open barge tied to the sea wall on one of the canals. I believe he mentioned that some famous American owned that residence.

    Don't know that I can ever find that photo, but if I do I'll surely post it.

    Of course there are lots of floating residences in Amsterdam, but this one really stood out as different in its South Seas Island theme.
  13. brian eiland

    brian eiland Senior Member

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    HOUSEBOATS IN KERALA, India

    A Cruise along the palm fringed waterways of Kerala in a luxury houseboat or ketuvallom is the most enchanting holiday experience in India today. In this world of simple pleasures, you'll skim past ancient chinese fishing nets, water lillies, lush paddy fields, coir villages, rustic homes, temples and coconut groves.

    Innumerable lagoons, lakes, canals, estuaries, and te deltas of forty-four rivers make up the 900 km backwater network of Kerala. The backwatrs mainly covers the four districts of the state - Kollam, Alleppey (alappuzha), Kottayam and Kochi ( Cochin ).

    ...ck out these unusual houseboats (photos)
    http://euroworldtravels.com/houseboats-in-kerala.htm
  14. MaxPower

    MaxPower Senior Member

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    i've done the backwaters trip many years ago & it's truly amazing ... well worth the trip.

    what is noteworthy is the construction of the houseboats - all in the traditional style, without a single nail ...
  15. brian eiland

    brian eiland Senior Member

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    Rafting and Living Aboard on a River in Thailand

    Over in Thailand at the moment and looking thru a few forums I ran into this reference to a series of photos where a fellow 'rafted' some rivers of Thailand...

    "Forget the Mekong…get whatever rig you want and stay on any of the many rivers in Thailand…I just sold a raft I lived on for four years on the Mae Klong River (think up and down from Kanchanaburi (Kwae Yai, Kwae Noi))…loved it, miss it…needed the dough or I'd still be there…many photos at:

    http://picasaweb.google.com/pramaprow/Raft#slideshow/5179203670784945714
  16. brian eiland

    brian eiland Senior Member

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    ...a few photos from that slide show above...for those that could not access it

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  17. brian eiland

    brian eiland Senior Member

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    ....couple of more

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  18. Arendie

    Arendie New Member

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    That's pretty amazing.

    That one picture that shows a locking door, would that be an enclosed area to get out of any weather, etc? Or just a storage locker type of thing? I didn't notice if the person lived fulltime for the whole 4 years.
  19. brian eiland

    brian eiland Senior Member

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    I suspect that was a locked storage area as i'm sure there were times he was off the vessel.

    I don't know that either, but I did see a reference on one of the Thai forums that the fellow eventually entered the process to become a Buddhist monk.
  20. brian eiland

    brian eiland Senior Member

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    Mekong River Catamaran Using 5,000 Plastic Bottles

    ...not exactly my idea of a 'floating cottage' in Thai style ;) , but I just found this discussion of an interesting project being carried out over on the Mekong river in Thailand. There are a number of dwgs, photos, and a couple of videos....enjoy, Brian

    Next week, we will begin building a 9m Cat using a teak wood frame and about 5,000 plastic bottles which have been collected in and around the Mekong River in Thailand.

    The goal of this charity project is to use the boat to help educate locals about protecting the Mekong River. Once the boat is built it will sail from northern Thailand, through Laos, and back here to Nong Khai, stopping at villages along the way and encouraging them not to throw trash in their river. If successful, the journey will continue down the Mekong until we reach Cambodia.

    http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f48/mekong-river-catamaran-using-5-000-plastic-bottles-43675.html

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