Building an Alu river/house boat

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hakl
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Location: Frankfurt am Main, Germany
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Building an Alu river/house boat

#1

Post by hakl »

A grandma and a grandpa living in Germany, are buliding a canal boat for rivers and canals only.
May i post here our link, which shows nearly all steps of what we are doing.
So no nice views yet to be proud of, rather a lot of of work to be done.
Sorry but only parts in English, but i try to keep the update file in both languages.

the main page www.aluriverboat.de
the updates you may find in the left menu area.
kmorin
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Location: Kenai, Alaska

42 Foot River/Canal Boat??

#2

Post by kmorin »

Hello Klaus,

I think your home afloat (in-build with the hull up and cabin & decks nearly completed) is a great perspective for the members and readers here at the AAB.com who mostly:
#1. go 50 knots, maybe more....
#2. slay the 'underwater wildlife', (apparently without nets or long lines)
#3. and if one of the moderators is any example, JettyWolf, sip cooling, fermented, adult beverages in the Florida sunshine while relaxing from doing #2 ... according to reliable sources.

I'm sure that views of a couple building their own canal live-aboard will help expand everyone's understand of Aluminum Alloy Boats. That is even more true when the readers and members here learn you designed the boat, taught yourself MIG and TIG then qualified your welding, do all the fitting and have made all the jigs, fixtures and most of the bending tools so you could form the parts of your future home. IF that were not enough...(and I'm sure it is) you've done this work while writing to many people worldwide in your second (or third?) language and maintained a webpage in (at least) two languages so others can learn as you solve problems and build the boat for your retirement cruising the canals and rivers of Europe.

I expect that your boat would be a "natural" for the Aluminum Alloy site, its a very impressive accomplishment.

Kevin
kmorin
hakl
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Aug 30, 2008 4:30 am
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Location: Frankfurt am Main, Germany
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#3

Post by hakl »

Kevin,
thank you for the warm welcome, even i had so often the chance to learn so much by your advices to handle the alloy.
Was a little bit shy to post here, obviously a too slow boat, but alloy is alloy ... :)
BR, Klaus
building a 42' aluminum Riverboat www.aluriverboat.de http://home.arcor.de/bw-kh/temp.htm
mojomizer
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Location: Orange County

#4

Post by mojomizer »

Wow a warm AAB welcome to you Hakl/Klaus. Though alot of us enjoy our aluminum alloys for fishing performances. We all love seeing aluminum builds of any type. The artistry of the welds and the symmetry of curves and lines are appreciated, I can honestly say, by all on this site.

Our love for Aluminum alloy has brought many countries and continents to this gathering place. Sharing ideas, techniques and even a bit of warped sense of humor is always welcomed with open arms.

Feel free to post up anytime.

Mark
Mark
2325 WA PACIFICSKIFF
kmorin
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Handle VS Name

#5

Post by kmorin »

mojomizer,

Klaus Hafner's regular web handle is 'hakl', that's why I greeted him by name.

Cheers,
kmorin
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welder
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#6

Post by welder »

Klaus, WELCOME to AAB

Don't be shy to post , this site was started Jan 08 for ALL ALLOY boats and the discussion of the same.

We have and welcome any ALLOY hull , from row boats to Mega Yachts and every thing in between.

I welcome your Canal live aboard and its workings, please post all you want, we need the education.

Guys , if I remember right where Klaus lives you just don't build your own boat . The government MAKES you prove you can build your own boat with welding test and more.

What Klaus has learned to do and prove himself is really awesome , most people could not do it, not even get close.
Lester,
PacificV2325, Honda BF225
2386
mojomizer
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#7

Post by mojomizer »

Kmorin, I really enjoy seeing people from all over the world acting constructively their passions. I guess when I connect peoples handles and name it helps me remember their posts.

One day I do plan on improving my welding and fabrication skills. I find all posts informative and interesting. I could only hope I can reach the level that you and Hakl have achieved.

Regards

Mark
Mark
2325 WA PACIFICSKIFF
hakl
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Aug 30, 2008 4:30 am
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Location: Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Contact:

#8

Post by hakl »

welder wrote:Klaus, WELCOME to AAB

Guys , if I remember right where Klaus lives you just don't build your own boat . The government MAKES you prove you can build your own boat with welding test and more.
It sounds really strange for Germany, but there is no approvement by the goverment or the TÜV (Technischer Überwachungsverein = technical surveying society) as we call it, for boats.
You may take a bath tube with an OB and nobody cares.
BUT you are fully responsible for all you may accidently hurt or pollute or destroy.
The only action to be rendered is, to register at the German Ship Register or to a few other institutions,
similar to the ABYC to register the LOA, the beam and the name of the boat to get an German/international boat register number,
to be then shown in a minimum letter height on very specific locations on the hull.

So this is a very rare exception - for boats, as the TÜV will check "everything" regularily from cars, skilifts, hairdryers, even up to life insurance contracts :)
I was surprised too, at the beginning.
I've only heard, that France officials sometimes may not let you pass the last lock to the sea,
if you do not have a seaworthy classificasion for the boat, inspite they are not really authorized to (as far as i heard).

A small hurdle to climb is to get a third party insurance contract (not compulsory, but neccessary), so to persuade the agent,
that the boat was build in a reasonable way.
This is also my motivation to document the building stages,
as an agent told me, images will tell more than thousand words to prove the handcraft.
To get a comprehensive insurance will need a little bit more persuation of the agent, to contract for a reasonable price per year... will see.

Went down the line in designing and scantling along a handbook for scantlings of the German Lloyd for boats smaller than 24 meters
(which may be downloaded completely and free) and Dave Gerr's book for Boatstrength.
Welding skills, ok i may do some specimen in front of the agent :D

On the other side, am confident, because I never heard of not getting a insurance contract by a backyard builder.
BR, Klaus
building a 42' aluminum Riverboat www.aluriverboat.de http://home.arcor.de/bw-kh/temp.htm
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JETTYWOLF
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#9

Post by JETTYWOLF »

looked through all your links provided, you sure have done some serious work. That surely takes dedication and some engineering skills.

Welcome aboard.
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