Three Bouys Houseboat information....
Steve+Tracy
information about their characteristics. Speed, ability to handle rough
water, wind,manueverability, need for a thruster etc.
Any help would be appreciated
Thanks
Steve Parsons
steve....@sympatico.ca
Dave Brown
> I'm looking for a current or former Three bouys owner (suncruiser) for
> information about their characteristics. Speed, ability to handle rough
> water, wind,manueverability, need for a thruster etc.
> Any help would be appreciated
I store three of them (in water) and have re-powered one so I'm very
familiar with them.
Speed: many of the original boats came with a 4 cylinder Merc or Volvo.
Many have been repowered with as much a 5.7 L. The result? A faster
barge. In short, these things are no speed demons (see note at end).
Handling: Since most were shipped with single screws, handling would
best be described as nonexistent. Trying to maneuver a 50+ boat with a
single screw is a challenge to say the least. While under way with power
applied, they will respond the the helm, but their length ensures you'll
need a wide turning radius to get it around.
Wind: Let's see -- this boat can best be described as a Winebago on
floats. So yes, wind is a problem. This is compounded by the fact they
has a draft of only a couple of feet allowing them to mimic a Styrofoam
cup on a pond at will.
Maneuverability: None: See handling above.
Need for a thruster: Great -- see above. The problem I've encountered is
finding a thruster that will fit the weird hull. This boats layout does
now allow easy access nor design for a thruster, but I'm guessing
somebody somewhere has been able to do it simply because of the need. I
did a quote for a 54' last year that came in at $7,000 US. The customer
decided to leave well enough alone.
That being said, a few years back I repowered a 44' full hull model. We
took out and sold the single 4cyl Volvo, and installed twin 4.3 GM
Vortec Engines with Volvo Duo Prop drives. The boat now handles like no
other (there is nothing quite like putting drives in opposite gears to
turn on a dime). With the water and fuel tanks below half (they are HUGE
on these boats), we were able to get the boat on plane and achieve
22mph. Of course it only cost $30,000 US to do this upgrade.....
--
Regards,
Dave Brown
Brown's Marina
http://www.brownsmarina.on.ca/
Tim
the upgrade to the 44' houseboat?
I commend you for getting this boat to plane....
But to mirror Dave's comments, this (as any houseboat) is not going to
manuever like other boats (due to hull design, cabin size, etc) but if you
are looking for interior room...
Re: rough water, I guess it depends on your definition of rough water. If
you are talking Great Lakes, or ocean, definately not a good idea.
As Dave mentioned, anytime you can get a twin screw for that size boat, do
it, it will not only help you manuever, but help in resale as well. Adding
thrusters after the fact may be costly.
Hope this helps. If you have anymore questions, we have a site devoted to
houseboats, I think we also have a few Three Buoys for sale on it.
Thanks
Tim Gottschalk
http://www.houseboatingworld.com
The site for serious houseboaters
Dave Brown <da...@brownsmarina.on.ca> wrote in message
news:38D437BD...@brownsmarina.on.ca...
Dave Brown
> Dave, you are a man after my own heart. But was that $30,000 in fuel for
> the upgrade to the 44' houseboat?
The boat has no more than 20 hours on the engines since the install 4
years ago. Seems the customer has opted for his RV the last couple of
years......
> I commend you for getting this boat to plane....
Let me tell you, it was an experience -- what a wake!