Houseboats have intrigued me for a long time. In recent years this interest was rekindled following a 2005 stint redoing 2 bathrooms on the Pacific Yellowfin(incl-picture), an award winning wooden boat on the Canadian southwest coast of British Columbia.
brief note on Yellowfin project.
I was approached by my dear friend Leonard a couple years ago who has the same passion for projects I also find myself in the throws of - somewhere between a healthy fervor and as my colleague Pat says O.C.D., or obsessive compulsive design. Leonard is passionate about houseboats. I don’t think he’s ever lived in one but I know he dreams, and has the practical sense to make those dreams happen in small steps.
If one was to ask Len what he does he’d say general labour, mostly of the construction variety. But where he goes at the end of the working day, often with his sixpack, is into the research and interview and discuss and investigate and release domain of investigative journalism in a multitude of fields. They largely centre around bringing darkness into light, and most specifically the fight for justice in the lives and families of aboriginal persons. Those whose lives have been affected by the systemic racism occurring within many Canadian institutions, often the police forces and justice system.
Len has had a long interest in house boats. He is well respected and trusted amongst local first nations both personally and within their local institutions - and we’ve worked together in construction on numerous projects over many years.
So the idea is we’d design and build houseboats involving first nations communities around the province. Both of us are only looking for the creative fulfillment of undertaking a project like this, a decent wage and profit share and in a best case scenario, a home.
The following are some links to sights we like and a few general ideas on where this project could go both aesthetically and functionally.
