A minimalist's dream... free decking provided by mother nature. The last nor'easter that blew through liberated a few decks. I found pieces washed ashore in a nearby state park. There's more out of frame and still more to be garnered on a second trip. I guess folks collected insurance and didn't bother to go looking for the wayward decks. Banjeau brought back 300 lbs. of decking on her front porch... very stable ride but she refused to plane with two aboard and her bow digging. We got seven knots at full throttle. Ordinarily she'll do 13-15 with two.

Banjeau is a 16' mini-houseboat I designed and built to use as a camper on the trailer and houseboat on the water. She was inspired by the boxy designs of Phil Bolger and Jim Michalak. Michalak has a design called Harmonica that is a neat little minimalist boat but I wanted something a little larger, heftier, and more stable. Banjeau weighs in at around 1000 pounds, has traveled from North Carolina and back via California and Canada. I've had a few requests for plans but never got the motivation to polish up the pencil sketches I built her from. This is the original flat-top version with a central opening that Bolger developed and Michalak uses. While it's very handy for fair weather day-cruising, it's not the best for cruising/camping. So we made some changes before going to the Florida Keys.

The flat top has been removed and a curved one is being installed. I've found that how much I enjoy boats is usually inversely proportional to the amount I spend on them, so I try to hold down costs where I can. The formers are cut from a couple of hollow-core doors bought from a Habitat for Humanity re-use center supplemented by a couple more damaged ones retrieved from their dumpster. Four sheets of 4x8x5.2mm exterior-glue lauan (Home Depot) at about $9 each kept the addition under $60 and also kept the weight down. I've got the typical short attention span that most Americans seem to suffer from and figure that even the most basic of boats devoid of epoxy/glass and other niceties will outlast my interest in them. Also when cobbling together one's own designs, it's important not to get carried away with materials and labor since, disappointing as it may seem, the boat just may not turn out to be your penultimate progeny.

Banjeau actually performs better than I anticipated for what's essentially a barge with a house. The flat bottom curves up only in the forward 3 feet to allow 13 feet of uninterrupted flat floor in the house (the boat has a double bottom with I-beam bracing), so at 5-7 knots, she pushes a sizable bow wave like any barge, particularly if you're sitting on the front porch. But, surprised as I was, with a 15 horse Johnson, she'll plane and has topped out at 17 knots or just under 20 mph. Of course with the additional windage, speed drops with a headwind. Draft is about 4 inches and you can walk all over this boat with very little movement. With the flat top, I used to climb on top and stand at the stern corner just to marvel at how little she listed. The guy who built Michalak's prototype Harmonica says the boat tried to throw him the first time he jumped aboard so I was a little surprised at how much extra stability results from additional length, width (6') and weight.

The dock at John Pennekamp State Park in Key Largo nestles among mangrove swamps and provides good shelter from Atlantic winds. Motor trouble thwarted my cruising time but we did get in one afternoon of putzing about the swamps and a little time in the bay. I was cautious since I hadn't tried the boat with the new top before leaving North Carolina. I needn't have worried - anchored and cruising in 15 knots she listed very little and tracked well. There are three 2x2 skegs on the bottom - one in the center and one on each chine. The nice thing about funky boats of questionable heritage is the folks they attract. Respectable boaters tend to avoid you but the most interesting people come by to see just what the heck they're looking at. Dogs and odd boats are great people magnets.