Artist Barge Houseboat Adventure

Here is the background…. a story about a boat and a dream… for art.   Here is the story from a Yahoo group with permission to repost.

 

“It’s a homebuilt houseboat. From 1945. It’s kinda amazing. To the guy who built this, this thing was his life. I’ve got his log book. He filled in almost every day what he did to the boat. Including cleaning it. It was as if this thing was the Starship Enterprise. Meticulious. He died 4 years ago. The boat has been neglected since. It was abandoned at a marina. Got liened. Sold to a dealer. Who sold it to a guy who just wanted the engine. \

The guy who bought the boat from the dealer was a collector of old engines. But he didn’t want the boat. Nobody did. They were practically giving it away. Giving away this thing that that guy probably spent the better part of a decade building. Money was plunked down. Papers were signed. Sketches were penned on napkins at taquerias. Phone calls were made. Partners were consulted (pleaded). Many lips were bit. Handshakes shook.”

And then the online funding account… the kickstarter account…. opened… and closed with more than $7500 raised for the project.  The proposal is below.  (Check the website)

“ABOUT THIS PROJECT

Our mission is to create a mobile community resource on which to explore the possibilities of art, performance, and seasteading while bringing boating into the world of art and art into he world of boating. Crew members from the project “Swimming Cities of Serenissima” by the artist Swoon have teamed up with an all star crew of Bay Area artists to salvage a 1945 hand crafted houseboat. We plan to convert the boat into a mobile artstead in the ad-hoc style of San Francisco’s unique D.I.Y. arts community.

The Seasteading Institute has provided funding for the purchase of the boat and the rest is up to us! The boat has been lifted out of the water, repaired, and inspected. Once underway have been utilizing recycled materials, including a converted Mercedes diesel car engine, to make the vision come to life. The next step is to move The Relentless from her current location in Bethel Island to the San Francisco Bay where she will continue to evolve through community input and ingenuity.

Join us on the Boat! We want to hear your ideas for journeys and events as we usher in a new menu of collaborative arts and entertainment in, on, and around your new community boat! There will be numerous opportunities to gather for impromptu art shows and happenings on the docks, bridges, and public water fronts of the San Francisco Bay. We will also be organizing work days for those who would like to contribute time and vision to the project.”

And they installed a massive dragontail motor on back… and went on a trip….

From their BLOG:

“The maiden voyage of The Relentless took place the weekend and week of August 24th in the Sacramento River Delta where a collection of like minded adventurers dropped anchor for a unique gathering. In the middle of the channel near Mandeville Tip County Park we joined a group of boaters interested in exploring the political and social freedoms of life on the water. The growing movement and interest in seasteading http://seasteading.org/ was the topic on all of our minds.

The Artstead is our exploration of life and art on the water. It took a dedicated crew of extremely talented individuals to get this girl moving and we are so pleased with the results. We were thrilled to have world class performers like Jason Webleyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Webley and Miriam from Vau-De-Vire Society headlining the Saturday night show. Jason had the whole festival singing and dancing along with his accordion. There was even a spontaneous dance to an accordion cover of Micheal Jackson’s “Thriller.” Miriam performed on the trapeze suspended out over the water and actually splashed the audience during her act!

Now we’re back at the boat yard and gearing up to make the trip through the Carquinez Strait and into the San Francisco Bay. This will require some more work including better steering mechanisms and fine tuning of Chicken John’shttp://chickenjohn.wordpress.com/ signature Mercedes long-tail engine.”

 

 

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Author: Bryan Lowe

A website about Shantyboats and affordable living on the water. More than 800 stories to date, and growing.