Arthur Michell Ransome (18 January 1884 – 3 June 1967) was an English author and journalist. He is best known for writing the Swallows And Amazons series of children’s books.
Regarding boats he wrote:
“The desire to build a boat is one of those that cannot be resisted. It begins as a little cloud on a serene horizon. It ends by covering the whole sky, so that you can think of nothing else. You must build to regain your freedom. . .”
He also wrote that the difference between a house and a boat is: “Houses are but badly built boats so firmly aground that you can not think of moving them. They are definitely inferior things, belonging to the vegetable, not the animal world, rooted and stationary, incapable of gay transition…The desire to build a house is the tired wish of a man content thenceforward with a single anchorage. The desire to build a boat is the desire of youth, unwilling yet to accept the idea of a final resting place.”
Despite emphysema, arthritis and the three stents I carry around in my heart I’m not ready for a final resting place. That’s why this blog is named One More Good Adventure.
One More Good Adventure 
Sounds like you’re talking yourself into a damned interesting project. I don’t know squat about boats, but I’d like to understand more about what you want to accomplish. You’re closer to the Pacific than the Atlantic, so why is it you want the boat on the Atlantic side? Better weather? A more beautiful setting? It’s pretty clear you want more than just a stationary floating cabin, that you want it capable of moving, if slowly, under it’s own power. I would, too, if the alternative was being tied to a dock and paying rent forever, but is there more to it than that? Do you plan to move regularly? From one country’s waters to another? I’d guess it would be faster to buy an old barge and slap a school bus on it than to build something from scratch, but it might be a lot less fun.
John, the main reason is that the Pacific side has 18 foot tides. Very difficult to live with.
That turning over issue ….we had that too , and I built in ” modules ” too , then glued and bolted the whole mess together .You can see photos here :
regards , trish and Harry in OZ
Thanks for the link. Absolutely great! Looks like you’ve got yourself a fantastic place to create memories. Would love to see some pics after it’s in the water. Maybe some pics of shrimp on the barbie on the back deck with a cold bottle of suds, perhaps?