WWW.HOUSEBOATMAGAZINE.COM JANUARY | FEBRUARY 2018 11
About the Author
Janet Groene is a professional journalist and
a member of Boating Writers International.
She and her late husband, Gordon Groene,
lived full-time on the go for ten years. “Living
Aboard” is a recurring column that focuses on
living on your houseboat. Janet’s newest book,
The Survival Food Handbook (International
Marine Books), is a guide to provisioning and
cooking with common supermarket ingredients
to carry in your pantry. Janet posts new galley
recipes weekly at http://www.BoatCook.blogspot.com. Q
Galley & Bath
Marine toilets have gone high tech, offering all the features of
household toilets. Yet upgrading gets complicated for houseboaters
when new wiring is required for features such as lighting or automat-
ic dispensing of cleaning chemicals. Bluetooth control has long been
available for home toilets and now Raritan
(www.raritaneng.com), an innovator in marine toilets, has introduced
BT for their electronic heads. Yep, you can now fl ush using your
Android or Apple smartphone!
Accon Marine’s (www.acconmarine.com) adjustable, stainless steel
drink and bottle holders bring fi ne quality marine materials into the
galley and bath. Put one in the shower for shampoo, one at each sink
for the soap pump and one in the galley to hold pan spray.
Stove Wrap (www.stovewrap.com) is an inexpensive solution to one
of the galley’s most vexing cleaning chores. Introduced in household
and RV markets, it’s a non-stick, non-fl ammable, washable, reus-
able splatter guard for stove tops. The $25 do-it-yourself kit, which
includes the FDA-approved, food safe material plus measuring and
circle cutting tools, also includes a 16- by 14-inch oven liner. The
coated fi berglass material, heat tolerant to 550 degrees Fahrenheit,
protects the entire stove top, leaving gas or electric burners exposed.
Flooring
Companies like Infi nity Luxury Woven Vinyl
(www.infi nitylwv.com) have helped improve houseboats by offering
premier fl ooring that is proven to withstand even the most demand-
ing environments. The unique, heavy-traffi c rated vinyl backing
makes this fl ooring ideal for indoor and outdoor use on all types of
surfaces.
Infi nity’s product line has grown to over 18 collections and over
180 colors, including the very popular Seagrass collection.
Climate Control
An Innovation Award winner at the 2017 Miami International Boat
show, Webasto’s new BlueCool air handlers feature its Instant Drain
Management Condensate System. Water draining into the wrong
place creates problems with growths, bad smells, wood rot, etc. The
company’s new diversion system doesn’t allow condensate to accu-
mulate, even in choppy seas. For more information on the company’s
compact cooling and heating contact
http://www.webasto-marine.com.
Financing
As lenders become more comfortable with the risks and benefi ts
of making loans for second homes, RV’s and boats, the goal of living
aboard comes closer. An impressive choice of loan products is avail-
able to fi nance or re-fi nance new and used houseboats. For example,
Suntrust.com offers conventional boat loans as well as its unsecured
LightStream Boat Loan of up to $100,000 for buyers with good cred-
it. In the event you want U.S. Coast Guard federal documentation for
the boat, they can even lead you through the process. Q