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| "Easy DIY Floathouse" |
I recently replaced the zippers on a heavy vinyl/canvas enclosure that belongs to a commercial fishing boat. The owner, Les, saw me creating the new dodger/bimini last summer, and asked if I would help him out. I said sure, but we've had a hard time connecting with Denali Rose, and Venus being in our slips at the same time. We ran into each other recently at a local cafe, and it all came together!
In addition to his fishing vessel, Les also has a floathouse that he keeps on our dock, and it was a very convenient place to set up sewing.
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| Those large grey tarps needed their connecting zippers replaced, and I patched a few chafed areas also. |
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| Inside the floathouse, definitely a guy's domain. |
Before outboards, the floathouse was usually towed to the Stikine River for hunting, and tied off, or anchored, but Les was cited for not having a State of Alaska Vessel permit (?), even though it's a house (?). So he put some outboards on, registered it with the state, and VOILA, a vessel is born. Go back up, and look at the front porch again, you'll see a steering pedestal on the front, with controls for the rear outboards, and an anchor sitting right in front. This is the ultimate in "if you don't like the neighborhood, move", conveyance.
This conversion solves several issues. Most folks go hunting up the Stikine River which is part of the Tongass Natl forest, and the Forestry Service doesn't like float houses tying off to the shore, and the local harbor commission doesn't like floathouses in the marina, so, yippeee, it's a vessel! Pretty funny to see this "house", vessel underway.
The finished canvas project.
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