A Google search on "Houseboat" will bring up a lot of hits for familiar boats like Gibsons, Holiday Mansion, Summerset, etc and a few for less common manufacturers, BUT it will bring up almost as many hits for floating homes.
Several communities exist on each coast that are comprised of homes that "float" on the water. I have "float in quotes because some of these don't really float, they are mounted on piers. Many of these started life as real boats, like fishing vessels, trawlers, or old military craft, but over the years they have been gutted, engines removed, controls disconnected, and frequently bolted to the docks they stay at. THESE ARE NO LONGER BOATS! They can't be driven, at most they are barges!
Don't get me wrong, some of these appear to be beautiful homes, but they are a different machine than the Summersets and Gibsons. Not only are they incapable of moving under their own power, but many are not even easily towed.
I suggest we need to correct our word usage. These are house barges. The first line of the Wikipedia entry on "boat" is "A boat is a watercraft of any size designed to float or plane, to provide passage across water." If it can't be rowed, sailed, poled, or motored from point A to point be, it's NOT a boat.
Trying to look up information on houseboats get real annoying when you get hit after hit on Seattle floating homes!
