A Micro-Shanty Style Houseboat as built by Bill Nolen

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7

When I ended Part 6 of this construction log my parting words were "Tune in next month for more daring-do boat building details…and learn first hand the many ways I can delay, screw around, mess everything up, and then delay some more!"

When I wrote those words I had little idea just how much time would pass before I was able to write Part 7. I won't bore you with the many excuses that I could come up with, but I will say that getting old isn't for sissies!

When Part 6 ended I was in process of making an old fishing boat trailer into a suitable trailer to haul the Harmonica. During the conversion I used three carpet covered 2" by 4" treated wood bunks or runners to support the boat's hull. I also installed boat guides on both the front and rear of the trailer. With the purchase of a new boat winch, and a trailer jack, the trailer was ready to use.

After finishing work on the trailer I thought that I'd better load the boat onto the trailer before I added more weight to the boat. My first thought was that I would hire some strong young lads to lift the boat onto the trailer, but then I got to thinking about the liability if one of the lads injured themselves!

So I decided to load the boat myself with the help of my adult son. After pondering for some time about the best way to accomplish this, I came up with this idea; I'd remove the trailer's wheels thereby lowing the trailer to the ground. We would then roll the Harmonica to the trailer's rear end, using the Harmonica's dolly, and then winch the boat up onto the trailer, sliding it on the trailer's runners.

As you can see by the photos it actually was quite easy loading the boat on the trailer. I splashed water on the three-carpeted runners to aid in the boat sliding onto the runners. With my son pushing on the rear of the boat, and me cranking on the trailer's winch, the boat slid onto the trailer with very little effort. Of course, my son, Gary, might tell a different story! Although there wasn't very much force applied to the bow's eyebolt, I was glad that I had reinforced the bow of the boat where the bow eyebolt was attached.

After loading the boat, and reinstalling the trailer's wheels, I moved the boat back into it's building, and started work on installing the plywood for the roof. I had changed Jim Michalak's design by making the roof's topside's round instead of flat as shown on the plans. I did this to increase the amount of headroom in the cabin area. Plus, I like the rounded look much better. Sort of like the roof of an old Gypsy wagon! After all, I had already named the boat "Gypsy"!

However, by making the "bird watcher" style roof curve on each side I did create some problems! If a person follows Michalak's plywood cutout guide that is part of the boats plans, there is plywood left from the building of the hull for the boat's roof. So I had 1/4-inch plywood for the roof sheeting. My first attempts to force this plywood into the curve of the roof didn't work out very well! The problem was that when the plywood was curved into place the plywood sheet would dip down into the open space between bulkheads.

I should have purchased 1/8-inch plywood or door sheeting at this point, but since I already had the 1/4-inch plywood on hand, I decided to add a 1-inch by 1-1/2-inch beam across the top of the bulkheads to eliminate the dipping down of the plywood. The down side of doing this is the beam does reduce some of the additional headroom I obtained by curving the roof!

As you can see in the photos, I used metal clamps and wooden strips with drywall screws to hold the plywood sheets in place while the glue cured. Prior to attaching the plywood to the top of the cabin's bulkheads I glued the roof's plywood sheets to the bottoms of the 2" by 4" beams. Then when I clamped and glued the beams into place on the top of the bulkheads, it made the bending of the plywood sheets much easier. After the glue cured for two days, I removed the clamps, wooden strips, and screws. To ensure that the roof would stay fastened down during highway trailering, I installed wood screws with finish washers all along the roof's edges.

I then applied a coat of primer to the roof, and after it dried for a day or so, I applied two coats of light blue latex paint. I wanted a color that would reflect the summer's heat, but wouldn't glare like a pure white color.

At this point in the construction of the Harmonica the boat was ready for a test launch. However, some health problems of mine flared up, and I slowly stopped working on the Harmonica. After a month or so passed I realized that it was unlikely that I would, anytime soon, be able to finish and launch the boat.

So I decided that if the boat were ever to get on the water, someone else would have to take over the final construction details and launch the boat.

Shortly after posting a message on the Michalak Yahoo Website, stating that I wanted to sell the Harmonica, a gentleman named John Galloway in Illinois contacted me and bought the Harmonica.

A friend of Mr. Galloway picked up the boat, and delivered it to him in Illinois the following weekend. Within a day or so John was testing the boat on the Wabash River in Illinois. John stated that he was quite pleased with the boat's handling and stability. (I was just happy that it floated and didn't sink!) Here are some photos John took the day he launched the boat, and the Harmonica's first trip on the river.

John plans on using the Harmonica for long floating trips down the beautiful Wabash River with family members. He is currently painting the insides of the cabin, and adding decorative trim to the boat.

Although I regret not being able to finish and launch the boat, I am very pleased that Mr. Galloway is able to enjoy the boat in a way that I had hoped to do. The Harmonica is a great design that offers a boat builder many options, and when finished, it is a great family boat!

Jim Michalak boat designs are great for a novice boat builder, and his plans are well worth the cost.

This morning I received three photo from John Galloway showing the window framing and metal trim that he has added to the boat.

Bill Nolen
Fall 2007