Jul 10
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Houseboat Plans – Pontoon Houseboat Dreaming on a Winters Day
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I’m sitting in front of my computer in my comfy home office looking out the window at the snow falling and dreaming of Spring, which seems far away at the moment. How I would love to be somewhere warm, floating on the water on our houseboat and enjoying the quiet and serenity of the water lapping on the pontoons or spending an afternoon with our friends on all the boats beached on the sandbar.
We bought a very well used pontoon houseboat a little over a year ago, and we’ve spent a lot of (most of them happy) hours restoring it. Thank goodness my husband is blessed with a lot of talents, including imagination and carpentry. The original plan was to just clean it up and do a few minor things and put her in the water to cruise and enjoy, well like most well intentioned plans, we are at this point in time and it’s still not in the water.
All we have left of the original is the pontoons and the front deck. All of the decking under the cabin and the stern has been replaced, then we tackled the cabin. The original plan for the cabin was to replace the paneling and add a few ascetic touches, such as cushions and new window treatments. Again so much for “the plan”, when we removed the paneling, we found rotten studs and water damage, that had to be addressed, to make a long involved story short, we rebuilt the cabin from the deck up. The fun part of the cabin rebuild was getting to re-design the floor plan and add some of things we wanted to make it more comfortable for us to stay aboard on long weekends, and have more space to entertain our friends. One of the memorable things that happened to us this past boating season was cruising up the river on our other boat after sunset listening to music. We were playing Leonard Skynard’s “The Breeze” and some of our friends that were on shore around a bon fire, were dancing to our music and we were dancing on the deck of our boat. We are really looking forward to repeating this in the Spring with the new sound system that we have installed on the houseboat. We’re using a marine remote controlled radio with marine speakers.
My husband enjoyed the parts of the rebuild that involved getting new tools, a router, two sanders and a new paint sprayer. We spent a lot of time just trying to find the right materials to complete the rebuild, there is not a lot of marine supplies available where we live, so we spent a lot of time in cyber space researching and choosing our materials. I’ll go into this more in future articles, we will be happy to tell you about some of the great resources we found and well as some that didn’t work out as well.
It is another cold gray day here, and I’m sitting in front of the computer, longing for warmth and sunshine, and mulling over the tasks remaining to get our houseboat ready to put in the water at the earliest opportunity. As mentioned in the above paragraph, my husband loved getting the new tools that were necessary to do some of the remodeling that was crucial on our boat. For me the fun part of this rebuild was getting to do some creative color co-ordination , purchasing the materials for cushions, etc. I love to sew, to me this is creative therapy, to take a piece of fabric and create something useful and truly “one of a kind”. My husband has the same attitude toward the work he does with wood.
If you would like to view more of our “adventures” with this project please visit our website http://www.pontoonhouseboatodyssey.com
Blog @ pontoonhouseboatdreaming.blogspot.com
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Myra_A_Smith
Babies Onboard.
When it comes to taking a baby on a cruise it may seem like a daunting experience, but just like every other holiday, it pays to research, plan and be organised. To start with, all cruise lines have minimum age restrictions, and these do vary greatly.
Disney Cruise Line will accept infants from 12 weeks, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Norwegian Cruise Line, Holland America, Princess and Carnival will take babies over six months. You may find however, for Transatlantic, Hawaii and South American cruises, children are required to be aged at least one. It is always best to check with your cruise agent, in order to get the most up to date information.
Choosing your cabin can be a bit more tricky when travelling with an infant, having a balcony may be beneficial, being able to sit outside whilst your baby catches up on its well needed afternoon nap, means you can still sit and relax and enjoy the weather, or fresh air, or maybe even just a bit of peace and quiet.
If you do prefer to go for an inside cabin, be aware of the lack of sunlight in the room, this can cause a bit of confusion for the young ones, as they do not know what time of day it is, even an outside cabin has the port hole window to provide natural light.
In most cabins you will find a mini fridge which you can store baby formula and food, it is best to check with your cruise agent for this, but cruise lines that definitely have these onboard are Princess Cruises, Disney Cruises and Royal Caribbean.
You will find that most cruise lines do not have baths in the cabins, apart from the suites. Disney Cruise Line does however have a split bath tub/shower combination. It most cases a detachable shower handle is the best alternative to ensuring your baby can still have a good wash without forcing them under the shower, which many children do not like.
On Disney Cruise Line, they have a curtain that separates off the bed areas, which is great for those with slumbering infants. It is always best to reserve a cot when you book your cruise, I know babies do tend to like their own comfortable bed and blankets; you could bring their favourite blanket with you, to make them feel more at home.
There are onboard activities for children on most ships, so you can take your child to go and play, learn and explore in the
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ir own areas. Disney Cruise Line has The Flounders Reef Nursery, which is designed for 12 weeks to 3 years old. With a soft play area, an activity room and even a quiet area for those who cannot stay awake through all the excitement. The parents can leave the children, they will of cause be provided with pagers, this is when the adults can go and have some time to themselves to enjoy.
An hourly rate is charged for the service, currently it stands at $6 per hour, as the service is very popular it is recommended you book up as soon as possible, to reserve your little ones playtime.
Activities will vary onboard, and you will find most cruise lines offer activities for the older children, these being 2/3 and older. Royal Caribbean and Celebrity do however; have a programme aimed at 6 months to 18 months called Aqua Babies. The itinerary and program will vary on each ship, but you and your infant can experience Musical Inspiration, Baby Gymnastics, I Love Animals and much more. These have been developed by early childhood experts at Fisher-Price and are hosted by trained youth staff. All children at Aqua Babies must be accompanied during all activity sessions.
Other cruise lines with great facilities are P&O, and Carnival. Both tend to have more toddler-focused activities but they do allow playtime for babies, with Camp Carnival offering set times for children under two to play, and P&O’s Ventura with their very own babies’ playroom, Tumblers. This does require supervision by parents, but is full of toys, soft play, and great fun for the infants.
Alongside daytime entertainment, you may want to have a night or two to yourself, to enjoy the shows, casino or to sit under the stars with a cocktail. Babysitting services are available on most cruise lines; Royal Caribbean offer in cabin baby-sitting for over 1’s, there is an hourly rate of $10, it is vital to book ahead.
P&O Cruises have night nurseries onboard, where parents can put their little ones to sleep; this service is available between 6pm and 2am. There is a beeper given to parents in case of an emergency, or even when the infants are playing up. This is a very popular service, and is normally offered on a first come, first serve basis.
It really depends on what sort of cruise you are looking for, some parents will enjoy the time to themselves, whereas others may want to take their infants with them to the shows, and spend time together in the evenings. Some parents take it in turn to do things onboard, giving them both a chance to see the ship.
When it comes to dining onboard, you are able to request highchairs in the restaurants; your waiter will be more than happy to help. Most families tend to go for first seating, which is normally at 6pm; you can even choose to sit just with your family if you prefer to be together.
With freestyle cruises offering flexible dining arrangements, you can choose your dining times and where you want to eat depending on what you prefer, this may suit those who have young infants and babies.
If you like nothing, more than a dip in the pool, you have to be aware of
where your baby can swim. If they are not potty trained (this would apply to most children under two), due to United States Public Health (USPH) Regulations, children are unable to go in the main swimming pools with nappies on. Disney Cruise Line is an exception to this as they have separate areas, which are filtered differently, allowing babies with swim nappies on to use the pool. You may find the shallow, or splash pools allow infants in nappies, but you cannot guarantee this, and you should check before going for a swim.
In regards to nappies, wet wipes and formula it is normally recommended to take your own, the shops onboard will have limited stock, although they can be expensive. One of the best tips I have come across, is to take all your babies things onboard in a box, this can then be disposed of at the end of the holiday, and means more s
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uitcase space for yourselves.
If you are worried about having to take tonnes of clothes, there are public laundries on Disney, Princess and QM2. You can however take detergent and wash any extra bits in the cabin, to ensure you have clean bibs, without having to take huge amounts with you.
In keeping your luggage down, you can hire push chairs onboard Carnival and Disney, Disney do not charge, but you do need to put a $200 deposit down, and Carnival charge $25 per week, and $6 per day. Bouncy seats and travel swings are available for rent as well.
You will be able to head off the ship when you are in port, seeing the sights with your baby experiencing new places, you may prefer to make you own plans at each place, shore excursions are an option, I would go through these beforehand and make sure they are appropriate for you and the family.
The best thing you can do is to think ahead, and try to work out exactly what you will need. Your cruise is about all of you enjoying yourself, and taking a baby onboard does not have to have restrictions. Simply planning your cruise, means as a family you can enjoy your time away from home.
By: Laura Scott
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
Laura Scott, an experienced cruiser, who writes for www.insidecruise.co.uk, and on occasions for www.idealcruising.co.uk magazine.
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Ok so you might find the next few links interesting. These are from around the web, just random snippets that I’ve picked up in my reading, but I found some very cool information in them. You might too. Here goes…
The Most Popular Houseboats – Pontoon Houseboat
The houseboat plans of a pontoon designed boat typically have more room and stability than the other floating homes. This is because the pontoons help to provide width to the house and offers a more stable base for the house. …
RAFAA Architecture Designs Solar Powered Houseboat
The 5 meter by 15 meter solar-powered houseboats contain a living room, bathroom, kitchen and two bedrooms. A sliding panel helps separate the two rooms. Inhabitat reports that RAFAA plans to begin construction on these solar houseboats …
Houseboat Plans: Sail the World From Your Living Room.
This is not always the case in reality of course but that largely depends on the skills of the home owning captain, the houseboat plans they have in mind, and the size of the house boat. A larger house boat can be seen as something …
Hope you enjoy the read as much as I did and please if you have something to say, use the comments form below to let everyone know your thoughts.
Have a great day!
