848 



FORESTflAND "^STREAM. 



iAprii 20, 



House -Boats and House -Boat Life. 



[Concluded from Page SSS.] 



II— The Stationary House-Boat. 



Our article last week dealt with what may very properly be called 

 the auxiliary house-boat, the residential features being supplemented 

 by motive power, either steam or sails, with the view of frequent 

 diange of moorings. The term stationary is not quite [correct in the 



family. Here the man performed all deck duties, while the wife, with 

 her husband's occasional assistance, took charge of the kitchen and 

 entire "indoors," and this house-boat lays to an anchorage under the 

 lee of a small island some little distance from the shore, a steam 

 launch is added to the man's responsibilities. 



Another house-boat, one of the smaller kind, has for its occupants 

 and owners, two clerks, than whom no more enthusiastic house-boaters 

 can be found. A convenient inn on the river hank furnishes their 

 meals and guards their property whUe during the day they are attend- 

 ing to theu- business in London, and as these clerks (who are, by the 

 way, ver^ joUy and exceedingly hospitable fellows) attend to their own 

 bed making, dugtlng, and other domestic duties, they avoid the ex 



: GROUP OF HOUSE-BOATS, SAN FRANCISCO BAY. 



sense in which we now apply it to the other class of house-boats, as 1 

 one striking advantage of such a home over a fixed habitation on 

 shore is the ability to change one's neighbors and surroundings at 

 will. We have used the word in default of a better to distinguish the 

 large class of house-boats which have no means of motion of theu- 

 own, except the very primitive ones of oars or poles, but which must 

 depend on a towing-boat of some kind, a mred tug, or a friendly 

 steam laimch, whenever they wish to shif£ theu" moorings. 



We do not propose to attempt to decide the vexed question as to 

 which is the true house-boat and which possesses the greatest num- 

 ber of advantages, but instead we shall let the advocates of the 

 Tlaames type speak for themselves. The following article, before 

 alluded to, was written for the Forest and Stream by Mr. ITrank 

 Weston, a Boston architect, and first appeared in the issue of Jan. 27, 

 1887. Although Mr. Weston has endowed his craft with masts and 

 rigging, it wih be seen that he is not an advocate of the sailing house- 

 boat: 



In England the house-boat has of late years multiplied so rapidly 

 that its genus can now be met with snugly moored against the banks 

 of nearly every picturesque lake and navigable river, or swinging to 

 an anchor in quiet coves and cosy inlets of the sea wherever a 

 sheltered harbor and pleasant sm-roundings can be found. 



But the pleasvu-e and luxury of Ufe on a house-boat, its freedom, 

 comfort and healthfulness, and its immunity from the host of cares 

 and annoyances which beset the summer cottage owner, or hotel 

 boarder on shore, are not yet thoroughly appreciated or even under- 

 stood in this country. Occasionally a retm-ned traveler from PJngland 

 brings with him the story of a brief sojourn on one of these pleasant 

 floatmg dwellings, and treats his hearers to an enticing description of 

 the morning plunge into the spaj'kling waters, the sun bath on the 

 upper deck, the keen appetite and the temijting brealrfast, with the 

 summer breeze playing through the cabin windows; the morning 

 smoke under the deck awning, the row in the launch up the river, the 

 lunch at the neighbor's in the next house boat, the return with the 

 tide and the ladies at the oars, the jjerfect cooking of the dinner which 

 awaited them, the enjoyments of the musical evening which wound 

 up the pleasures of the day, and the deep and dreamless slumber in 

 the luxurious stateroom preparatory to kindred enjoyments ou the 

 morrow. 



In his eager rush from iilace to place the Europe-trotting American 

 does not, as a rule, see much of all this; but occasionally one more 

 fortunate or wiser than his fellows comes back, with a story like the 

 above, and puzzles his hearers with the query : "Why has not the 

 house-boat been introduced into this country?" 



The house-boat, as its name implies, is a house and a boat in one. 

 Like other houses and other boats, it is costly or otherwise according 

 to its size and fitting and the means and desires of its owner. For a 

 few hundred dollars a single man who finds pleasure in "roughing it" 

 can own a house-boat, in which he can compass his simple enjoy- 

 ments in a thoroughly satisfactory way. Add to the above figures 

 until they become say a couple of thousands and a house-boat can be 

 procured in which a gentleman and wife will find in saloon, state- 

 room, bath room and domestic conveniences, completeness and even 

 luxury, which cannot be duphcated for twice that expenditure on 

 shore, while to the fortunate few who can contemplate the addition 

 of yet another cypher, can be insured a floating palace whicb, for its 

 purposes, no yacht at three times the cost can compai-e. 



Though comparatively costly in the first building, for it would bo 

 unwise to construct it in any but the Ijest manner, the house-boat has 

 many features of economy which are denied the suuuner dweller on 

 terra firma. No costly lot of land has to be bought to build it on, and 

 the maintenance of fences, walls, lawns, terraces, fruit, flower and 

 kitchen gardens do not figure on the expense account. In domestic 

 management the house-boat is freed from the wasteful tyranny of the 

 Bridgets. The peaceful serenity of the house-boat mistress is not dis- 

 tm'bed by any questions involving the issue of "Sundays out" or the 

 desu'abllity or otherwise of Bridget's "young man," for aU the work on 

 board is usually done by men, and from stemhead to rudderpost the 

 genus Bridget has no necessary place. 



In small house-boats, one man to act in the role of cook, steward and 

 general utility is sufficient. A larger boat may make advisable the 

 addition of a boy to wait at table and "help round," but even in the 

 family house-boat of say f o ur staterooms besides the saloon and domes- 

 tic oiHces, two good men wUl not only do the work with ease, but if not 

 kept too busy with the tender to and from shore, will find lots of idle 

 time upon their hands. 



In furnishing the house-boat, the expenditiu-e necessary for furnish- 

 ing an equivalent house on shore need not be exceeded, and in "run- 

 ning" the house-boat the same rule will apply. Perhaps the last re- 

 mark is not sufflcieutly sti'Ong, for in point of fact, the intelligent ser- 

 vice of the men on board, as against the almost invariable incompe- 

 tence of hii-ed "summer help" on shore, will, in the majority of cases, 



pense of hired help and live a life of exceeding independence and enjoy- 

 ment. In their case economy and contentment evidently go hand in 

 hand. 



But even house-boats (though always economical in the sense that 

 small expenditure gives comparatively large returns) can be eon- 

 ducted in a costly manner. The writer calls to mind one case, a large 



board such vessels the spaciousness and completeness of the below 

 deck accommodations and the convenience of the appointments enable 

 one to live and reside with considerable comfort. 



But even on the largest j'achts the ''domestic." so to speak, ar- 

 rangements are not of a nature which admit of such craft being 

 devoted to family uses for any extended periods without considerable 

 discomfort of a certain kind and some inconvenience. On small sail- 

 ing craft, the designs for which ought not to be influenced by any 

 considerations whatever, save those of speed and safety, the sacrifice 

 of the former probably and of the latter most certainly, must always 

 attend an endeavor to combine small tonnage, great speed and dis- 

 proportionate below deck accommodations. Yet strangely enough 

 the endeavor almost invariably continues to be made, and a craft as 

 unsafe as it is uncomfortable, and therefore wholly unsuited to family 

 yachting, is the result. 



From this it naturally follows that yachting is mainls' restricted to 

 the sterner sex, and the married yachtsman is compelled to consent 

 to temporarily "shelving" his family ties, duties and pleasures, or 

 else has to forego enjoyments in wliich those who are nearest and 

 dearest to hina cannot conveniently share. 



To the married man then, the man with a family, the institution of 

 the modern house-boat should surely commend itself. It literally 

 bristles with those good qualities which appeal to him most strongly. 

 In its perfect safety the fond mother and father are relieved of 

 anxieties which on other pleasure craft often take the keen edge from 

 their enjoyment. Its room.v and well-fenced deck affords ample and 

 secure playgroimd for the children, where they can indulge unrestrict- 

 edly in the healthful use of limbs and lungs in the open air, and at the 

 same time be assured the most absolute immunity from undesirable 

 associations. As a house it can be in every way as complete and con- 

 venient as a dwelling on shore, and in some respects (no fatiguing 

 stairs for instance) it can be even superior; while as a boat, not even 

 the largest yacht.— when at anchor— can be considered in any particu- 

 lar a more satisfactory abode. 



The house-boat has many features peculiar to itself and not shared 

 by other pleasure craft. One of these is its inability to move from 

 place to place without outside assistance. To some this might appear 

 m the Ught of a deprivsttlon, but bj; the genuine house-boater it is 

 regarded as a privilege. And such indeed it is, for stability of loca- 

 tion as well as stability of model all go to add to the enjoyable 

 features of the "house" part of your craft without detracting from 

 those of the "boat." The abihty to change tlie location of your house 

 when it is desirable to do so, and the lack of temptation to do so 

 unless it is desirable, are items which have a very direct bearing oti 

 your comfort and enjoyment. Your naval architect, free from all 

 problems involving centers of effort or sail-carrymg power, has 

 given you a form of huU in which great initial stability and prodi- 

 gality of cubical contents have been most successfully combined. 

 And your interior architect taking up the thread where his brother 

 dropjied-it, has so divided, apportioned and decorated the sjjace at his 

 command, that it has become in arrangement a very marvel of con- 

 venience, and in design and adornment a realization of beauty in a 



ON THE THAMES. HOUSE-BOAT AND ATTENDANT STEAM LAUNCH. 



"W. B.'s" HOUSE-BOAT, SAN FRANCISCO BA 



show a marked advantage in favor of the purse and temper of the 

 honseOioatei-, 



One of t life pleasantest of the lai'ger English house-boats is owned by 

 a retired Eas'r India merchant, and has, or had for its crew, three 

 coolies. One is monarch of the kitchen, another looks after the "below 

 deck" and the third is responsible for the "on deck" arrangements 

 from entry jjort to signal halUards. This boat lies moored stem and 

 stern so close to a ]bold bank in a lovely river that a swinging draw- 

 bridge reaches from entry-port to shore. 



In another ease of which the writer has very pleasant memories, a 

 family house-boat with thi'ee staterooms, the service is most escel- 

 ently rendered by a man and his wife, old and trusty servitors of the 



and exquisitely appointed vessel which usually summers (or used to) 

 in the romantic regions of the north of Scotland, to which a domestic 

 staff of eight adults and eight boys is attached. The business of the 

 boys is to look as pretty as possible in their natty man-o'-war uniforms, 

 and to row the owner, his family and his guests from place to place in 

 the liandsovne eiglit-oared galley in which all such excursions are made. 

 When the boys are not at" this duty an admu-able course of study im- 

 proves their inindsand fits them forthemore 

 serious duties of the Ufe before them. The 

 boys themselves are selected from the street 

 waifs of Edinboro, Glasgow and other cities, 

 and the wise extravagance of their employer 

 may, and probably wiU, save eight souls from 

 prison or worse. With such a numerous 

 retinue, a servant's house-boat is a neces- 

 sity, and one is in this in.stance moored well 

 out of earshot of the other; at night the ser- 

 vants, save one man on watch, withdraw to 

 their own boat, where ample sleeping accom- 

 modations are found, and where the large 

 cabin used by the boys as a school room 

 gives them facilities toi- the social evening 

 which ordinarilj' winds up the pleasant duties 

 of the day. for one of the unwritten laws of 

 house-boating is that everywnere, above and 

 below deck, in the saloon or in the servants' 

 quartfci s-. at all times and under aU circum- 

 srauccs. Happiness, with a big H, shall reign. 



It would not be surprising if. to the minds 

 of those who maybe here gathering their first 

 information on the subject, comparisons be- 

 tween house-boats and yaclits should present 

 themselves, but the truth is. no such com- 

 parison can fairly be instituted. As a house- 

 boat the yacht is of necessity both incomplete and unsatisfactory; 

 while as a yacht the house-boat proper has no claims to consideration 

 at all. The desire or the need for the one cannot possibly be satisfied 

 by the possession of the other, and although the enjoyrdents pertain- 

 ing to each are of , close relationship, that very fact estabhshes an 

 entente cordiale and emphasizes the absence of any competition as to 

 merit or desirability. 



The majority of "yachtsmen find their cliief pleasure in sailing, in 

 moving their craft from place to place by the agency of wind or 

 steam, and more especially of the former. Of these an influential 

 minority own vessels of sufiacient size to "keep the sea," to cruise 

 ftom port to port and to risk tbe chances of wind and weather. On 



way which would not have been possible had the exigencies of boiler 

 space or other meiins of self-propulsion entered into the calculations. " 



And the moving of the house-boat is not, after all, a matter of much 

 difficulty. A skillful utOization of wind and tide and the assistance of 

 a couple of men in a rowboat are often all that are necessary, except 

 when great cUstances or too swiftly opposing currents have to be 

 traversed, and in such cases the ubiquitous towboat will take your 

 hawser and bear you with rapid ease to your destination at an expense 

 which, comparatively spealdng, may be termed trivial. 



But, it may be urged, to live on a boat and not be able to sail would 

 be as incomplete as to live en shore and not be able to ride or drive. 

 Before arriving at any such hasty conclusion there are many things 

 which should be taken into consideration. At the worst (if such a 

 conclusion has to be admitted at all) it is only a question of compen- 

 sating advantages, and no houseboater will for a moment allow there 

 is opportunity on that point for argument. You cannot but concede 

 tbat, were you living on shore, you would not take youi- house for a 

 ride or drive, but you would order your horse or your carriage. So, 

 on the \vater, vou do not take your house-boat for an outing, but if 

 you wish to row you take one of your tenders. Should the breeze be 

 propitious and sailiug be the du-ectiou of your deshe, your staunch, 

 swift and uucapsizable single-handef tugs impatiently and pleadingly 

 at lier moorings near by. And what a boat ! No example of an en- 

 deavor to crowd a quart into a pint measure is she. You have on your 

 house-boat every accommodation you require for yom residence, 

 every comfort, every opportunity for ease. Yom- sailboat on the con- 

 tr.-u v is your opportunity for healthful and etijoyalile work. Abso- 

 luteiy uncapsizalale, a beautiful combination of the" elements which in- 

 sure safety and speed, what can compare with the pleasure of sailing 

 in a craft like this, the tiller in your hand, and perhaps i'our own little 

 boy at the sheet, proud of his responsible post and alext foi- yom- 

 slightest order? As you speed away with a free sheet, your house- 

 boat, with the absence flag flying at the crosstrees, looks fuUy as 

 beautiful to your eyes as does your friend's big schooner, which has 

 just come to an anchor outside you in the deeper and rougher water, 

 and when, after a run to leeward, you haul on the wind for your 

 homeward reach and your boy takes in the sheet until you stop him 

 with a grufi "belay," you give her a good rap full and lay the lee rail 

 well down to the w.iter with no fear as to what may happen to pots 

 .and pans below, no smoke from galley flre to blow into youi- eyes, and 

 no anxiety as to the cook's comfort, or the welfare of the soup, the 

 joint, or the pastry, for you icnow that on board that other craft which 

 ridejs on au even keel over yonder your cook is busfly happy, with 

 3'our savory dinner sending its enticing odors from oven, pot andpan, 

 and that if this breeze holds you will be there in less than half an hour 

 to attack it, 



