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A
boat maybe your Home,
but it isn’t a House…
The question at hand is the ability to modify a boat; even a new boat.
It’s not like a house. If you own a house and don’t defy the zoning
police or construction codes you can probably do what you want. Move the
baby grand piano to the upstairs guestroom? OK. Add on another bedroom,
bathroom or porch? No problem.
Then there’s a boat. It maybe smaller than most houses, but the forces
acting upon it are much less forgiving. It is a floating contraption
that moves, so everything gets more complicated. Imagine moving that
baby grand piano to the back of your home but having to worry that the
house would lean noticeably north with its foundation sinking inches
into the dirt. Imagine that same piano moved to the second floor but
worrying that your home was now more likely to blow over in a windstorm.
Welcome to the world of boats. There are many additional constraints
that make your boat very different from your house. You may own both,
but what you do with your boat can demand more restraint.
This probably seems intuitive, but it’s amazing how many owners and even
professional boat builders are apparently befuddled by the concept. Once
the boat has been designed or built, they think of it as
xx-hundred square feet of real estate: available for whatever that
builder or owner wishes: dinghies on the third deck, granite
countertops, unwise changes or extensions: whatever. While these might
be reasonable in a house, on a boat major speed, trim, stability, and
even structural problems can result. The most rugged boat represents an
incredibly delicate balance. Changes, additions and modifications, no
matter who suggests them, should be undertaken only with the utmost
caution.
Actually this is just a lengthy way of warning “On a boat be careful
where you put the baby grand piano”.
But that’s just my opinion. |
