I really like the idea of living on the water. However, my wife gets motion sickness really easily, so she is not up to making this happen. Oh, well. I can at least share my ideas with you. Ha!
“Lisa B. Good” is the result of a discussion on the Yahoo Shantyboat Group. The design turned out to be an economy sized Shantyboat, about the minimum size that offers stand-up headroom, decent deck space, and long-weekend accommodations for a couple. I got thinking about the boat’s overall length today. I’d build her 16 foot as drawn. That length is handy, because you can easily get lumber that long. But there’s no reason why you couldn’t splice the longitudinals and facias to add a few feet to the middle of the boat, if you needed more room. Just keep the ends the same and take the extra length for the cabin or the decks as you want.
Lisa B. is a very simple boat, and construction will be particularly straightforward; it should be a quick build. There are only two curves on the boat: the bottom of the hull and the crown in the cabin roof. The wood is all construction-grade lumber and plywood. Use is made of epoxy and glass, but just enough to ensure long life without rot or excessive maintenance.
“Lisa B. Good” has great lower decks. They’re covered to keep the rain and sun off. The forward deck is wide enough to allow crew to pass in front of you while you’re sitting in a deck chair. The aft deck accepts chairs comfortably. Make sure there’s a proper safety net and lifelines up on the bow, especially if there are kids aboard. A kid could be run down and into the prop in seconds, with that square bow. Gives me the willies thinking about it.
The upper deck is strong enough to allow a 200 pounder to walk up there, but it’s not for continuous use. Freeboard is not excessive, but the bulwarks, freeing ports, and sealed decks will help in a hard chance. Lisa B. is stiff enough initially. A 200 pounder standing in one corner up forward will push it 3” lower than the other side, and drop the bow 2½” lower than the stern. She will right herself from heeling to about 40 degrees, but very shortly after that she’ll go onto her side and stay there. Clearly a boat for sheltered waters.
The cabin is small but adequate, 9’ X 7-6”. There’s room to set up a fullsized standard double bed, 4’-6” X 6’-6”. The galley is compact. The fridge should be an icebox set out on the aft deck. The stove should be a propane camp stove. It might be best if the sink were a plastic dishpan. Deck chairs are suggested for interior seating.
It’s a more flexible arrangement, because you can use them on deck, and fold them up at night too. As drawn, Lisa B. has a head with an outside door, but it could be inside easily enough. A bucket would be the best head. And a 5 gallon bucket of warm water topside, fitted with a kitchen sink squirter hose, that would work better than anything else for a shower.
The engine is simple, an outboard kicker clamped onto the stern bulwark. I struggled with the steering, looked at motor wells, extended tillers. I give up. The best arrangement would be control and steering cables to a helm under the starboard forward window. Maybe have an external steering wheel too, so you can sit outside. The fuel tank should be a portable tank strapped down to the aft deck.
Lisa B should be a great trailer boat, except that at 2500 lbs dry, we might wish she were a little lighter. The beam leaves just enough width for the trailer wheels, while staying below the legal 8-6″. If you build a simple custom trailer, you can keep the height down and use it as a camper. She’d make a great hunt cabin, too. You might even fit a little water-tight well in her, and drag her onto the ice with a tractor for ice fishing. The mast is, of course, optional. But a fellow needs a way to fly the right flags; otherwise, he’s got no couth.
Get the free plans here.
