Types of Powerboat (3)

Cruisers, Trawlers, and Houseboats. For those who can afford them, these floating houses turn boating into a much more leisurely, even luxurious, affair that those not into salt in the hair and sardines in the swimsuit can appreciate. Cruisers and trawlers differ from houseboats in that they have deeper-draft hulls and are more suited to taking on offshore waters and big inlets. They also usually have more power and more seaworthy fittings. Consequently, they’re expensive, with prices starting at about $1,500 per foot and going into the stratosphere. Cruisers have planing hulls, which means they offer speeds not possible with displacement hulls. They’re often equipped with twin engines and can cruise at better than 20 mph, reaching maximum speeds, with adequate power, of near 40 mph. The level of interior finish can be superb in these boats, and the prices reflect the quality fittings. Lengths from 30 to 55 feet are common, with prices from $80,000 to several million dollars. Trawlers nearly always have displacement hulls, rounded bottoms where speed is limited by the waterline length. No matter how much power you put on a round-bottomed trawler, it still chugs along at a speed somewhere south of 10 knots. This means you need plenty of time to go anywhere in a trawler. However, the round hulls are extremely seaworthy (though some are “rolly” in beam seas), and displacement speeds are very fuel-efficient. This is the reason that many long-distance travelers choose trawlers. Equipped with a small diesel inboard, some can travel over 1,000 miles between refueling. Lengths range from about 28 to 50 feet, with prices from $100,000 to $500,000. Houseboats are the camper-trailers of the watery world—slow, unlovely, and unexciting, but with all the comforts of home for those who do most of their boating in protected waters. And they’re amazingly affordable. Many houseboats ride atop a pair of aluminum cylinders known as pontoons, although some models have fiberglass, aluminum, or steel vee hulls. Lengths range from 25 to more than 100 feet. Power is usually an outboard of 30 to 100 horses, although the larger rigs have inboard power. Prices range from $25,000 to $400,000. You get actual conventional rooms aboard—kitchens, dining rooms, living rooms, bedrooms, and bathrooms, all on one level. Houseboats feel like a home ashore, but you can take a swim off the back porch.

Pontoon and Deck-Type Boats. Pontoon boats and deck-type boats feature couches, dinettes, sinks, refrigerators, and usually portable marine toilets, but no sleeping areas and no permanent roof. Weather protection is usually from a convertible top known as a Bimini. It’s tall enough to stand under, but with no side panels to prevent air circulation. A pontoon with a front deck for fishing is shown in the following photo. Pontoon boats ride on the same sort of aluminum cylinders as many houseboats. They can be powered by motors as small as 10 horsepower but rarely more than 60 horsepower, and they’re cheap to buy and operate. Because of the great amount of floor space and comfortable seating, pontoon boats are a favorite with families. Prices are surprisingly reasonable, starting at around $12,000 for an 18-footer and ranging up to $25,000 for a 30-footer. Decked boats look much the same as pontoon boats from the deck upward, with couches, lounge chairs, tables, and maybe even a portable TV and barbecue grill. But below the deck is a semi-vee hull that allows full planing operation with adequate power. They can handle motors of 50 to 150 horses and speed along at 30 to 50 mph, making them good ski boats. Decked boats range in length from 18 to 24 feet. They cost considerably more than pontoons, with prices of $15,000 to $35,000 common.

Inflatable Boats. Inflatable boats are basically waterborne balloons, but they’re a lot tougher. Multiple air chambers and very stout skins on modern inflatables make them extremely durable. In fact, some of the heaviest-duty boats used by the Coast Guard are inflatables, and they take these boats through outrageous weather where lesser boats with conventional hulls wouldn’t stand a chance. Inflatables have incredible buoyancy for their weight and can carry many times the load of conventional boats of equal size. Let the air out of them and you can carry them in the trunk of the family car and stow them in the hall closet. Add a fiberglass bottom, as many larger inflatables have, and you have a boat within a boat—a vee bottom to soften the ride and the giant sponsons to provide that remarkable flotation and capability to bump into things without scratching or bending. Some inflatables have twin outboards so they can really fly. The downside is it’s expensive to make a really good inflatable—the best ones cost about as much as a fiberglass boat of equal size. Lengths range from 7 to 22 feet, with prices from $300 to $25,000.