From the classifieds: Houseboats

Yep, as people’s options to travel, particularly overseas, grow much narrower with no real end in sight, people are starting to look at a houseboat as a viable option.

As this article is written, there are 25 houseboats for sale on boatsales.com.au ranging from a uberluxury floating apartment block with all the trimmings, to a floating caravan.

The cheapest houseboat on offer is this, a $55,000 12.1-metre vessel built in 1990 and sitting on three foam-filled pontoons to make it virtually unsinkable. 

This smaller double bed and bunk-equipped houseboat is still able to sleep up to eight people, comes with a full kitchen, a shower and toilet, solar panels, gas heater, barbecue and even has a shaded rooftop deck for lounging around on.

Powering this houseboat is a 140hp MerCruiser sterndrive inboard engine, so it is going to be a pretty mobile houseboat at that.

The owner is even going to sell it with a haul-out trailer so that it can winter on land rather than in the water.

At the opposite end of the scale is this $760,000 customised houseboat that’s a considerable saving over its original $1.5 million build cost.

Built in 1995, it’s 26.7 metres of “incredible floating lifestyle”, according to its seller. It’s also 6.0 metres wide – good thing it is also equipped with bow thrusters to help it pull into a dock.

The fit out goes some way to justifying the high sticker price. Included are twin 160hp inboard diesel engines fuelled via twin 400-litre tanks, a 14.5kVA generator (and solar panels) providing all the electricity you’ll need to run everything from fridges to TVs, and a 240 litres-an-hour desalination plant for making freshwater. 

There’s also a spa, three double bedrooms with ensuites and built-in robes, a fourth bedroom/study or storeroom, and a laundry. A fourth toilet and shower can be used as a day head.

Whatever your COVID-19 escape dream, there’s a houseboat out there for you.