THIS is how small a MicroShanty Can Be!
A Bolger inspired Microcruiser.
A first journey in a little micro cruiser.
This boat isn’t the highest fashion boat you could imagine, but it IS a boat perfect for a small scale getaway. And it can be built for about $300 or so! I am working to build a boat that’s just a bit bigger, and one that might be a little cuter.
Bryan
Seattle Slough Too – The Micro-Shantyboat
How Big is Too Big? How Small Can a Shantyboat Be?
Amazing. Amazing. Amazing.
Do you need to live in a McMansion, or is a Tumbleweed home more your style? More and more people are finding that the larger the house they own, the more it owns them. Seriously, exactly how much space do you really need? Have you noticed the traffic patterns in your home? Are there rooms you just don’t use? Are there spaces in your house where the sole purpose seems to be to hold “stuff”, even entire rooms, or even floors? And exactly what is the price of all that space in terms of heating, taxes, wear and tear costs, and all those hours of work required to pay for it all? If you are like most people, you could easily get by with less space, and in fact might find you would thrive in it, especially given all the reduced time and money a smaller home requires.
Exactly how many rooms does a boat need?
Boats can make wonderful homes, but the sad truth is, when it comes to costs the same rules are true in boats, but times five. Everything seems to cost more in a boat, and the bigger the boat the bigger the costs for all those things! Moorage? Insurance? You pay by the foot. Gas or diesel? In some ways you could say that you pay by the foot as well, all other things being equal. If it is true that boats are holes in the water into which you pour money, then big boats are simply bigger holes!
I’ve owned big boats and I have owned small boats, and let me tell you, small is the only way to go. They can be trailered, so you can bring them just about anywhere! With the right outboard you’ll use less gas in an entire Summer than that guy in the cigarette boat uses in an hour. And storage? How much does it cost to store in your driveway? Even if you don’t have a driveway I know there are barns that are available that will cost you under $75 a month, even close to the big city.
But just how small can a small liveaboard boat get? 26 feet? 18 feet? How about 8 feet?!
That’s our mission: design a small shantyboat, ideal as a vacation getaway, in just 8 feet. Can it be done? You bet! And for far less money than you’d imagine possible.
Check back as we work our way toward “Seattle Slough Too”, a new MicroShantyboat.
