On 2008-07-03 11:34:39 -0400, David dh@. said:

I've got an old boat very much like this one:

http://www.warnersdock.com/images/Fr...fores15yel.JPG

that I'm trying to make into a mini-houseboat, sort of like a camper. I
only expect to have about 200-300 pounds in the roof and walls, and the
roof will only be about 48" above the gunwale. The hull will weigh a
*lot* more than what is added, so shouldn't that alone be enough to
keep it from being top heavy and flipping over? If I add weight, like a
couple hundred pound bags of sand down in the hull to counterballance,
shouldn't that take care of it? If so, should they be placed on the
sides, or in the center?

Judging from friends' boats of about that configuration, I'd suggest
something quite a bit lighter: a light hard roof and tarps, screen and
plastic for removable "walls", a pop-top camper of sorts.

That said, a friend was for a time a "slum landlord" of a number of
"floating structures" in Key West that were about what I hear you
saying. They (mostly) stayed afloat for some years and weathered some
nasty weather.

Have to say that the inhabitants were not thought well of, though, and
the "boats" uniformly disliked by all. Ugly doesn't begin to say it.

--
Jere Lull
Xan-à-Deux -- Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD
Xan's pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/
Our BVI trips & tips: http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/