FOREST AND STREAM 
357 
The Gentle Joys of Houseboating 
An Expert Article on a Subject Not Generally Understood—Inexpensive As You Want to Make It, But 
Always Pleasurable 
HOUGH the houseboat has never 
been so widely used in this 
country as abroad, one hears a 
great deal nowadays of house¬ 
boating, and it is evident that 
this particular field of outdoor 
life is attracting attention. In 
England, houseboating has been 
popular for a long time, but in this country it 
is only within a few years that Americans have 
awakened to the great possibilities of the sport. 
From present indications, in less than a decade 
it will have become a recognized institution in the 
United States. 
It has often been said that there is no river 
or water in America which corresponds in con¬ 
ditions and surroundings with the English 
Thames, where houseboating flourishes as no¬ 
where else. This is far from true. Compare 
the natural advantages of a city like New York 
with those of London. True, the sluggish, wind¬ 
ing Thames, with its historic piles lifting through 
copses of beech and oak; its towers, so ghostly in 
the moonlight; its cathedral spires and the clus¬ 
tering hamlets about, lend a certain charm to a 
houseboat cruise from the great metropolis of 
England. But from the standpoint of natural 
advantages, it is not to be compared with Long 
Island Sound, the Hudson or the Connecticut. 
For scenic variety there is nothing in the world 
comparable to the diversity of interest found in 
our landscapes and sea views, picturesque river- 
ways and mountain panoramas reached by the 
houseboat in only a few hours’ travel. Even to 
one who has become more or less familiar with 
these routes, their charm is never ending. The 
Hudson may be traversed to its full length, and 
the northern canal is available should one wish 
By Albert Bradlee Hunt. 
to houseboat through to Lake Champlain, and 
thence to Montreal and the Thousand Islands, 
or through the Erie Canal to the Great Lakes. 
The Connecticut River is navigable for a long 
distance through some of the most picturesque 
portions of New England. The St. Lawrence in 
New York and the Shrewsbury in New Jersey 
in summer, and the various bays and inlets of 
Florida in winter, are among the chief haunts 
at present of houseboats on the Atlantic Coast. 
On the Pacific they are numerous in the vicinity 
of San Francisco, and in the Middle 'West; in¬ 
deed, wherever there are populous towns in the 
vicinity of sheltered waters. 
Englishmen have for the most part been con¬ 
tent to let their houseboats lie quietly moored 
along the shore or at anchor in the placid waters 
of their inland streams; but the more restless 
American temperament demands in many cases 
some motive power. Steam power, however, with 
its attendant fires and heat and smoke, is deemed 
objectionable by many, even on a craft of con¬ 
siderable size. Sails, whether carried on the 
houseboat or on her tender, are, at best, uncer¬ 
tain; but within a few years the perfection of the 
gasolene motor seems to afford just what is re¬ 
quired; and, upon the whole, they are not very 
costly, considering the work they do. So the 
advance in houseboating in America is rather 
along the aforementioned lines than in the direc¬ 
tion of the type so well known in England. This 
is probably due, in great measure, to the differ¬ 
ence in the social conditions of the two countries 
and their way of taking their pleasures. In Eng¬ 
land, when a man has gained a competency, he 
retires at an earlier age and devotes himself to 
enjoyment. If he owns a houseboat, he prefers 
to spend the summer on the water. Weeks and 
weeks are passed in this lazy drifting life, with¬ 
out a single visit to town or one thought of busi¬ 
ness cares. But the average American business 
man, though he possess more wealth than he can 
possibly spend in his lifetime, is still not satis¬ 
fied to relinquish the reins to others, and must 
keep in touch with the office, even when he is 
supposed to be enjoying his vacation. So if he 
indulges in a houseboat it must be a fast one, 
that he can reach the city readily. He takes his 
stenographer and several clerks with him, and 
often transacts‘as much business on his outing 
as he does when at home. But there are many 
Americans, and their number is constantly in¬ 
creasing, who find the sport sufficient in itself, 
and who give themselves up completely to the 
dolce far niente existence which the English have 
made an art, and which, perhaps, the majority 
of Americans are too apt to regard as a kind 
of laziness, but which is nevertheless a great 
storing-up process of nerve energy. 
Indeed, the pleasures, profits and delight of 
houseboating are quite limitless. 
Many persons believe that Florida is about 
the only region in America where houseboats 
are used to any extent. It is true that in that 
land of sunshine and flowers are all the condi¬ 
tions which make the ideal place for houseboat¬ 
ing. The sluggish waters of the rivers and 
bayous and the wide stretches of the lakes and 
lagoons, with the dense overhanging foliage of 
the tropical forest, make it, indeed, a wondrously 
pleasant place in which to enjoy an outdoor life. 
In Florida perhaps the houseboat is seen at its 
best; but it must not be thought that the south¬ 
ern waters monopolize all the advantages, for 
there are many localities in the North and West 
that are quite as well adapted to the sport. 
