Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I'm new to the world of teardrops, they appear to be the perfect solution to my semi-annual trips so I'm looking into them. I think I must be crazy, but I'm entertaining the idea of building a small travel trailer from a boat on a boat trailer.

I've seen a few posts in this forum about trailers that have a boat as a roof, which are really cool. I'm actually thinking about building a roof *over* a boat as a starting point.

Has anyone else done this? I would love to hear about it!

Michelle

mirau wrote:I'm new to the world of teardrops, they appear to be the perfect solution to my semi-annual trips so I'm looking into them. I think I must be crazy, but I'm entertaining the idea of building a small travel trailer from a boat on a boat trailer.

I've seen a few posts in this forum about trailers that have a boat as a roof, which are really cool. I'm actually thinking about building a roof *over* a boat as a starting point.

Has anyone else done this? I would love to hear about it!

Michelle

Welcome to the forum Michelle, Do you already have this boat your thinking about building over? I used to have a 22 foot sailboat on a trailer, and a few times I found myself in campgrounds. The boat had a galley, a dinette that made into a full size bed, and best of all, you could sit around in the cockpit at sunset and watch the sun go down while enjoying your favorite beverage. On the down side that boat was heavy and took lots of gas to pull it. Also it was hard to climb in and out. Have you thought of just using the boat trailer as a foundation to your new abode? That would probably be the prefered method found on this forum. But I kinda like the idea of a small livaboard powerboat/camper. Hey, it's your dream, make it happen, and good luck.

mirau wrote:I'm new to the world of teardrops, they appear to be the perfect solution to my semi-annual trips so I'm looking into them. I think I must be crazy, but I'm entertaining the idea of building a small travel trailer from a boat on a boat trailer.

I've seen a few posts in this forum about trailers that have a boat as a roof, which are really cool. I'm actually thinking about building a roof *over* a boat as a starting point.

Has anyone else done this? I would love to hear about it!

Michelle

Hi Michelle,

Welcome to the forum. While what you suggest is do-able, I'd suggest that you hang around and read awhile. I think you'll evantually find lots of reasons not to build that boat/teardrop.

You could, as you said, build a teardrop with a boat on it. You could even build something like this...




This was designed by one of our members, DanL. That thread is here...
http://tnttt.com/viewto ... =4191#4191
Mike...

mikeschn wrote:
<snip>
This was designed by one of our members, DanL. That thread is here...
http://tnttt.com/viewto ... =4192#4192
Mike...

Mike, are you sure that is the correct thread?

Have a good day.

...here is the corrected url;
http://tnttt.com/viewto ... t=aquatear
...gotta take care of the Boss ya know ..............................................

Steve, your sailboat camping is close to the picture I have in my head. There is a boat for sale in my neighborhood that I was considering. It is only about 14 feet long, so it does not have a "real" cabin, galley, head, etc. although I think that would be perfectly charming. This aluminum fishing boat does have a storage area area in the bow that is big enough for (part of) a sleeping area. The floor is flat, open and rather spacious and it would be easy to build up from the sides. It comes with a boat trailer so it has wheels.

It doesn't matter too much if the boat becomes un-sailable after my modifications, although I would certainly try to avoid that if possible. My goal isn't to have something that converts into a boat, just something inexpensive and LIGHT and easy to pull.

Michelle

Gage wrote:

mikeschn wrote:
<snip>
This was designed by one of our members, DanL. That thread is here...
http://tnttt.com/viewto ... =4192#4192
Mike...

Mike, are you sure that is the correct thread?

Have a good day.

Opps, it's 4191...
http://tnttt.com/viewto ... =4191#4191
Mike...

Michelle, This almost looks like a cost versus type of thread. Lets see if I can put a different perspective on this. A lot of the TD's built over there seem to come in under the $3000.00 mark,correct me please everybody, with some that people have managed to complete without getting into the thousands and some that have gone way over that figure. If you look at the price of the boat and trailer and then the conversion to a camper(with all the funny angles and dangles associated with anything marine) my thoughts lead me to think that building a TD from the ground up would be a more cost effective option. Many people on this forum have used boat trailers as their start point and gone from there to build some very nice trailers. Have a good read throughout this forum before making your final decision . Just my 2cents worth.
Cheers
Paul
PS Welcome to the mayhem

mirau wrote:This aluminum fishing boat does have a storage area area in the bow that is big enough for (part of) a sleeping area. The floor is flat, open and rather spacious and it would be easy to build up from the sides.

Michelle,

I can see the attraction in your plan - lots of things are ready-made. But, depending on the shape of the boat, do not underestimate the complexity of adding any structure to it. The gunwhale (that may be gunwale in the US!), the rail around the top edge of the boat, will certainly curve in towards the centreline and in most boats it also curves up and down along its length.

Fitting any structure to this is not child's play. Of course it can be done - boatbuilders do it all the time - but it is a lot more complex when every joint you make is angled in two directions at once.

Andrew

This is good advice and I appreciate it! I was also realizing that the boat setup would take up a LOT more space in the yard than a teardrop.

I do have the remains of an old travel trailer frame that I could use as a starting point to build one from scratch (that was another of my options). My spouse is less than enthusiastic about this option, as I have many other household projects that need to be done, but I can see how it might actually be easier! So I will continue to look at the marvelous designs I see here on this website. I work full-time so I just didn't want a project like this to stretch out into eternity.

The third option is to add onto an ugly little pickup bed trailer that we have and try to turn it into something a little bigger (and cuter). The pro is that this trailer is already licensed, the con is that it has curves and angles that I would have to build around (just like the boat does).

Thank you again for your thoughts and advice!

Michelle

mirau wrote:I just didn't want a project like this to stretch out into eternity.Michelle

Hey Michelle, We don't call it eternity, we call it Teardrop Time. Almost like another dimension that we enter into once we become obsessed with our desire to construct.

As for the trailer that you have available and to fulfill your desire why don't you look at a very simple build first time around. Forget the luxury items and keep it very basic. Once the other half sees that you ar serious about this thing maybe he will jump in and help.
Just my thoughts
Cheers
Paul

you may remember that i was trying to give a boat away a few monthes ago, a 1963 glasspar 14' citation, (no takers)
long story short, i've explored several different methods of using the hull as a camper, andrew is correct when he says it would be a diffucult build, but i have decided to proceed anyway, (after the fish is complete)
i plan to invert the hull and fill in under it,
i'm not going to try to explain because theres no need, i'm sure you can visualize what it would look like, (or some talented person will do a computer generated drawing of it, i think someone did for me last year but i cant find it) as i said, i explored many options and this is all i could determine that would work and be cheap to build,
i intend to use it as an overflow for the fish, it will be sleeping quarters only, probably for teen age boys, will be a cheap build, no interior finish out, but will certainly be another intersting and unusual trailer,
should be a good companion for the fish,
will use the boat trailer as

george / waywardson

there are trailerboats camping trailers that have boats at part of the roof or ride ontop.

here is one in the middle of these thumbnails with info to the right.
http://roughwheelers.com/montego/td/2003-06-07_Guajome/

I always wondered about a trailer with an old wood boat for the ceiling but guess that would weigh to much

Ron D.

Update -- I did decide to buy the fishing boat after all. It's a 1964 classic boat, 16 feet long, aluminum hull, very light. So somewhat bigger than the average teardrop. Plan A is to build over and camp in it -- Plan B is to put it on the water since it has an awesome outboard motor.

I realized that I could possibly build up from the trailer, not directly on the boat itself -- which would eliminate the compound curve difficulties. I'm still thinking all this through however!

I'll let you know what I come up with -- it'll be awhile but I think it will be worth the wait. Y'all are a great resource!

Michelle

use the boat & motor,
build or buy a camping trailer,
a camping trailer is a nice thing to have, but ....
a boat gives you freedom and solitude if you want,
or go fishing,
or camping on an island,
or swimming naked in cove,
or other illegal activities,
while listening to old southern rock,
maybe you get it,
use the bost,
just my opinion,
im a boat and camper owner,

george / waywardson