Thank you iboats!

[SnappingTurtle]

Thank you iboats, and the forum members who have answered my dumb question with patience and expertise (I am sure they won't be the last).

Without you guys and gals, I am not sure I would have had the motivation to do this one the right way.

The Bundesrepublik Deutschland Wasser- und Schifffahrtsverwaltung (German Coast Guard?) and Deutsche Wasserschutzpolizei (German River, Lake, and Coastal Waters Police) just declared our boat as sea worthy!!!

Yahoooooo! Yippieeee!

I am now the legal owner, of a previously, never registered, home built boat!

The little boat is still not finished (almost), but it is now legal!

I jumped the gun a little with the registration.

I got worried that all the work would be for nothing, so I ran it though their system to see if it would pass.

My rebuild/new build was accepted as professionally undertaken!

I used the Coast Guard formulas, and guidelines posted here as links, to do the math and it worked.

It is now rated for up to 35hp (their numbers, not mine)! Way over what I thought it should be for a 10ft boat.

Maximum allowed passengers, three adults, or two adults and two small children.

It passed as a “new”, not a “rebuilt”, boat!

Our boat now has a new legal registration number and hull number (never had them before)!

Thanks again iboats!

 

[fixb52s]

Re: Thank you iboats!

Yes, this place is great! I have learned so much here that I was able to tackle my project too. The things and links here have saved my butt on numerous occasions, and Ifeel pretty good that I was able to rebuild my boat myself.​

 

[SnappingTurtle]

Re: Thank you iboats!

I started by asking friends with boats for advice, unlike people who have cars, but don't know how to work on them, and will admit it, all boat owners are experts. The advice I got from them, all turned out to be bad advice.

I then went through about six boat forums in the Internet, and for the most part was confronted with arrogance. If I didn't own a Cigarette, Donzi, or a Formula, I was not worthy of a answer.

I stumbled onto iboats and lurked (doing my homework) for a while before deciding to register, and ask a few questions. I am glad I did.

I also decided to do what people in Germany said not to do. Instead of going though (trying to sneak through) a German Auto Club to register, I went to the German government official offices to do it and it worked. My German boating acquaintances said they will never give you a registration. They did.

I had to provide among other things, complete photo documentation of the whole process. This is also something, I had really not planned to do. Who is interested in my little boat project, was my thinking. No one, I was sure. Now I am really glad I did it, and this also I have iboats to thank for. Seeing other peoples projects showed me that it is a good idea. If for no other reason, then for self motivation. It is nice to go back, and see where you started from.

No job is to small, to not be done right.

P.S. Now I just have to paint my hull again (sanded it all down on Sunday again, because I wasn't happy with the way it turned out), and put it all together.

 

[redfury]

Re: Thank you iboats!

Very cool. I was just checking out your page on the boat....that's a neat garage floor you got there

I saw the kayak project and knew you were working on this one...didn't realize you had moved so fast on it! Wow. Looks extremely well done. Enjoy!

 

[SnappingTurtle]

Re: Thank you iboats!

Thanks redfury!

Don't talk about that garage, it is nothing but trouble. It is going to put me in a wheel chair, if I don't get out of it soon.

Last week we had some heavy rain, and the garage is behind the house, two floors below street level, the lower level is then one story lower than the drive and functions as a temporary high water storage for the city (we have no street drainage). The bilge pump quit again, and the garage filled with 6ft. of water, again.

We did have a good laugh though, mother nature got in a hurry, and did the first water test for us. We found the boat the next day floating happily in it's very own test tank!

Glad it wasn't one of the cars this time. We don't drive one of these babies (see below).

Fixed the bilge pump now, and the little boat is now back in it's dry dock.

Did I forget to say the electric door on the garage is playing tricks again. It now likes to stick in various positions of open or closed, and seems to have developed a mind of it's own.

Just have to hurry and get boat in the water, before our nine month "rain and fog" season starts again.

P.S. How is the Glastron coming along now that you got that mega role of glass (man I could lay up twenty of my boats with that baby)? Have you decided on a paint scheme yet? The trailer turned out really nice!

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Thank you iboats!

cool what is it. may be the car of the future. i have an attorney friend, that lives on the river here. and commutes to his downtown office in his boat. keeps a car in the parking garage.

 

[jcsercsa]

Re: Thank you iboats!

too cool !!! congrads !!!! feels good dont it !!!!! john

 

[SnappingTurtle]

Re: Thank you iboats!

cool what is it. may be the car of the future. i have an attorney friend, that lives on the river here. and commutes to his downtown office in his boat. keeps a car in the parking garage.

Hi T-Daddy (sorry I like they way it sounds, kind of like P-Diddy the happy rapper).

The boat as commuter vehicle is something I thought about for years while going into the city. I used to set in traffic jams every morning on a large street running parallel to the river and wish I was on the water. Now I work from a home office so those thoughts have faded into the past.

I found the amphibian above on a Russian boating forum when looking for information on a new/old Russian outboard I was thinking about buying. It is a "one of a kind" as far as I can tell, couldn't find anymore information about it. The owner had bought it in the condition you see in the Photos, lake ready, and was also looking for it's history. Maybe it was a secret KGB project.

For something closer to home, how about one of these ...

 

[SnappingTurtle]

Re: Thank you iboats!

too cool !!! congrads !!!! feels good dont it !!!!! john

It feels great John. I am not sure what is cooler, the boat, or the new German Boat ID Card I got in the mail yesterday with our numbers.

They said I would recieve a package from them with a final accept, or decline. We couldn't hardly open it, just looked at it for about ten minutes.

 

[MikDee]

Re: Thank you iboats!

Well Congrats ST! That looks like an awesome craft you built there!
Also, some fascinating car/boat, amphicar? Pics! I wouldn't mind having either of those myself! Good Luck to ya, Mike

 

[SnappingTurtle]

Re: Thank you iboats!

Well Congrats ST! That looks like an awesome craft you built there!
Also, some fascinating car/boat, amphicar? Pics! I wouldn't mind having either of those myself! Good Luck to ya, Mike

Thanks Mike,

it is still not finished, but I think one more week (including dry time for the last bit of paint) and it will be ready for the first test run. Had a little set back, garage was flooded.

As far as “awesome” goes, I think you are pulling my leg a bit. Nice of you to say it though.

Cheers!

 

[CATransplant]

Re: Thank you iboats!

Congratulations on the successful registration and certification. It will be fun to hear about your initial "sea" test. Photos will be appreciated, certainly. We need one over-the-transom photo showing your wake, too!

 

[SnappingTurtle]

Re: Thank you iboats!

Well CATransplant, I think the hardest part of the “Sea Test” is going to be getting the boat to the, and then in the, river.

The neighbor I use to use for transportation of such things has sinced moved. He had a very large European moving truck.

So although the boat is very small, it is very large compared to my car.

It is a car topper, but a American sized car topper, and my car is Italian. It is going to be fun to say the least.

I will supply photos to all for a good laugh though.

If you can't laugh at yourself, it is not fair to laugh at others.

 

[CATransplant]

Re: Thank you iboats!

How much does your boat weigh, roughly?

I don't have photos, but I'll tell you what I did with one 120 lb., 12' aluminum boat I had. All I had to transport it with was an original Mini Cooper. No car-topping for that.

What I did was to make a little axle assembly, using a 2x4 piece of lumber, with a pair of wheels from a small motorcycle attached to the ends. The axles were built up from a long bolt that worked with the wheels. I can't remember the exact specifications.

This assembly attached to the oar lock sockets on the boat with 1/2" bolts and wingnuts. On the bow of the boat, I attached a standard trailer hitch coupler, and built a very light hitch for the Mini's bumper.

To use the boat, I turned it over, rolled it to the car and hitched it up. It towed great, and I didn't have very far to go to launch it. Since there was no ramp there, I'd just roll the boat, upside down, to the water's edge, remove the axle and wheels an stow them in the car, then haul the motor, etc. down to the water manually. Later, I thought of using a luggage cart to transport the outboard and gas can.

Was it legal? Heck, I don't know, but I never saw a cop on the one mile drive, anyhow. I suspect a cop would have just laughed at my rig, just like everyone else did.

 

[SnappingTurtle]

Re: Thank you iboats!

How much does your boat weigh, roughly?

I don't have photos, but I'll tell you what I did with one 120 lb., 12' aluminum boat I had. All I had to transport it with was an original Mini Cooper. No car-topping for that.

What I did was to make a little axle assembly, using a 2x4 piece of lumber, with a pair of wheels from a small motorcycle attached to the ends. The axles were built up from a long bolt that worked with the wheels. I can't remember the exact specifications.

This assembly attached to the oar lock sockets on the boat with 1/2" bolts and wingnuts. On the bow of the boat, I attached a standard trailer hitch coupler, and built a very light hitch for the Mini's bumper.

To use the boat, I turned it over, rolled it to the car and hitched it up. It towed great, and I didn't have very far to go to launch it. Since there was no ramp there, I'd just roll the boat, upside down, to the water's edge, remove the axle and wheels an stow them in the car, then haul the motor, etc. down to the water manually. Later, I thought of using a luggage cart to transport the outboard and gas can.

Was it legal? Heck, I don't know, but I never saw a cop on the one mile drive, anyhow. I suspect a cop would have just laughed at my rig, just like everyone else did.

A Mini! LOL! Cool!

When I bought this little car, it was it, or a Mini. The Fiat was faster and the first couple of years I ran it as a Rally Car. Mini had no organized events in Germany.

I think we think a lot alike.

There is no longer a public boat ramp in Frankfurt or the surrounding areas any more, and I refuse to pay the $200 in, and $200 out, at the ship builders here. So I have to launch from a public parking lot with hundreds of people watching. Oh well, I am cheap entertainment for them.

My boat is 3meters long. My car is bumper to bumper, 3meters long.

When I stripped it for racing, I removed 250kilos, this doubled the amount of weight I can legaly carry.

The boat weighs about 125kilos, so from this point, I am OK. Two men can carry and flip it. The problem is my girlfriend is the other man, and she got hit by a “hit and run” driver years ago on her bicycle, and has a healed broken back. So I am on my own at loading and unloading time.

I have several methods I have built so far to transfer it from the car.

One is a aluminum ladder with wheelbarrow balloon tires on one end and kickboard wheels on the other. Problem, it is three meters long and I can only get two meters in the car.

The other is two wood platforms like those used to move big refrigerators and stuff, connected by two carpeted 2x4's. This is what I will probably use.

The other alternative, is to

... buy a German TUV (German government safety inspectors) approved trailer hitch for my car. About $500

... have it installed by a German TUV certified mechanic. About $200

... buy a German TUV approved lighting harness. About $100

... have it tested by the German TUV. About $100

... have it all transferred into my auto papers by the German TUV. About $100

... buy a German TUV approved & tested trailer for my car. About $600-$800

... register the trailer. About $50

... get tags for trailer. About $75

... get insurance for trailer. Gig thounsands

... then I have to rent another garage (if I could find one) because a trailer is to long for the one I already have a lease on, and you can't park a trailered boat on a German street without moving it every 24hours. About $200 a month

I think a traffic ticket (I haven't had one in over 20 years), if I get one, is cheaper than going through this.

Although I have a really good relationship with them, the local German police don't understand funny. I only have to go about one mile to the river, but if they see me they could make trouble ...

It is not illegal to carry it on the roof, if it is properly secured, and I don't over load the roof structure.

It will be secure, and it won't be overloaded. I have already bought German TUV approved transport straps for the purpose. The plan is to run straps (2X) from tie downs (4X) on the boat through each window and back to the boat on the other side. The back of the boat will be connected to the towing eye on my bumper, as will the front.

I think there will be a lot of leveraging involved in this whole process!

The motor, German TUV approved gas tanks, German TUV approved anchors, German TUV approved PFD's, not German TUV approved girlfriend, and all the other German TUV approved stuff goes in the German TUV approved two seat Fiat with me.

The Fiat by the way needs it's every two year German TUV approval this month. They love race cars with street registration. NOT!

Got it all worked out! No problem! Yeah right buddy!

It should be fun for the people on the river! Hey look over there, what a clown! I can see it all now on YouTube!