Design
Houseboat 18
Designed by Emile Ajar
An 18 ft trailerable houseboat drawn by Emile Ajar for Bateau / Boat Builder Central, plan HB18, in the vertical-sided style of 1960s magazine houseboats. The cabin fits a galley, steering station and enclosed head, and the big cockpit under a canvas cover serves as the bunk room at anchor. Beam 8 ft, draft 6 in, displacement 1,375 lb, outboards from 10 to 50 hp.
Stitch and glue with cleat framing under the sole and glassed outside seams. Nearly every plywood cut is square, so the designer rates it easy to build. The designer quotes under 100 hours for hull and superstructure and another 100 for finishing. The medians below come from builders who logged this boat here.
What building a Houseboat 18 actually takes
Medians from the build logs kept on this site, not the designer’s estimate. Nobody has logged this boat here yet, so they are empty until the first builder does.
Those medians firm up as more people log this boat.
Builds of this boat
Nobody has logged a Houseboat 18 here yet.
If you are building one, yours becomes the reference: the page the next person building this boat finds when they search for it. One photo and one line is a valid first entry.
Start the first log of this boatBoats like this one
Same type, closest in length.
| Design | Plans from | LOA | Logs |
|---|---|---|---|
| AF4 | Jim Michalak | 18′ 0″ (5.49 m) | 0 |
| Bay Pilot 18 | Arch Davis Design | 18′ 0″ (5.49 m) | 0 |
| Desperado | Glen-L Marine | 18′ 0″ (5.49 m) | 0 |
| Flats Stalker 18 | Bateau | 18′ 0″ (5.49 m) | 0 |
| Jetabout 18 | Bateau | 18′ 0″ (5.49 m) | 0 |
| Kingfisher | Glen-L Marine | 18′ 0″ (5.49 m) | 0 |