1 Seg 
‘ 
. 
Fr 
¢ 
5 
> 
Ls 
ds 

THE CAMPING LAUNCH 
BY W. R. BRADSHAW 
WITH A DESIGN BY E. B. SCHOCK 
CAMPING launch is a boat that ;combines 
the advantages of a summer cottage, 
yacht andcamp, and is superior to any of 
these in its yield of health and pleasure. It is a 
hundred times more restful than a crowded 
hotel or boarding house and affords altogether 
the most delightful way of healthfully spending 
a summer under God’s blue tent. 
What a difference from life in a flat in a 
crowded city, that counterfeit of a home, which 
is neither home nor habitation. The present- 
day business man in a large city, cooped up 
within narrow walls in a vitiated atmosphere, 
harassed with business cares and _ irritable 
nerves, can find no better solace for mind and 
body than the rest and freedom of a houseboat. 
But a houseboat with an engine in it is better. 
It affords a splendid opportunity of breathing 
ozone, of seeing the sky and the waters, the 
green fields and all the beauties of nature. 
Even life in a cottage in the country is 
monotonous compared with life on a camp 
launch, with its everchanging landscape, afford- 
ing the most enjoyable means of getting away 
from oneself, which a continual change of scene 
implies. 
In the self-propelling houseboat we have in 
mind, one breakfasts and dines in new scenes 
continually. In addition, it imparts the tone of 
rest and comfort, the pure air, the cool nights 
and the opportunity for adventure by going 
ashore when and for as long as one likes, and the 
complete freedom from physical or mental 
fatigue, by having at hand everywhere all the 
comforts of home. 
In yachts the narrow quarters due to the 
exigencies of sea-going craft, sea-sickness, the 
danger of shipwreck and the monotony of long 
voyages offset the pleasure of change of scene, 
while, on the other hand, the houseboat or 
camping launch sails in sheltered waters on 
summer seas, penetrates ideal channels and 
bayous, affording the incomparable delights of 
an amphibious life, where the voyagers may 
practically sojourn in the woods as well as on 
the water. 
The pleasures of camp life in the woods, of 
long canoe trips on inland rivers, are undoubt- 
edly great, but they have to be paid for by hard 
work and many discomforts, all of which are 
eliminated by means of the motor-propelled 
houseboat. This is a movable summer home, 
which carries not only the shelter, bed, kitchen 
and supplies, bath tub, icebox and wash-stands, 
but also the whole camping party. 
It seems an extraordinary thing that ever 
since Noah blazed the way for an idle life on the 
water, it is only within the last few years that it 
has been possible to obtain a self-propelling 
houseboat of light draught. The law of progres- 
sion towards a given ideal is by means of the 
aberrations or extreme experiments of the idea 
that is sought to be realized. In breaking away 
from the costly and cramped quarters of the 
yacht, we first encounter the unwieldy house- 
boat, that, having no motive power of its own, 
must remain where it is anchored until it is 
moved toa new location byatugboat. This kind 
of craft, while roomy and convenient to live in, 
is only a floating home, a house standing on a 
foundation of water instead of dry land. 
The other extreme is the fast-running motor 
boat, a complicated specialty of racing craft, 
the logical development of the automobile and 
built for speed only, launch racing being the 
reason for their existence. They are built to 
carry the powerful engines that propel them and 
have no accommodations for living on board. 
What the holiday-seeking public, of limited 
time and money, demand is a camping launch 
that will give good accommodation for a family 
party to ensure comfortable life afloat and hav- 
ing an engine not too heavy for a very light 
draught craft, yet capable of driving the boat six 
or eight miles an hour. The gasoline motor, 
with its cheap fuel, solves the problem, as it 
does away with the too heavy and altogether 
too bulky steam engine, boilers and coal bunk- 
ers of the old-time yacht. 
We have given some thought to the problem » 
of how the ideal camping launch should be con- 
structed and submit herewith a plan of what we 
regard as a comfortable, economical, self-pro- 
pelling houseboat cruiser. This particular craft 
is 36 feet over all by 12. feet beam and draws 
only 2 feet of water; not too large a boat for the 
father of a family to navigate himself. If the 
expense be not too great, a cook or man-of-all- 
work can be employed to lighten the inevitable 
daily task. | 
