(This site is a work in progress as this page was initially created on
Sunday 24 June, 2018. I will add to it as I go along.)
The majority of updates will be on the Progress page.
Last updated: Monday March 1, 2021 11:39
There is very limited information to be found on these all too rare boat/RV combo's as the company went out of business after having only built 150 of them. This house boat was built in Mishawaka, Indiana in the late sixties utilizing Goodyear Royal-Lite similar to ABS. You can find the story about the company to include some of the trials and tribulations they faced. At the time of this writing the link to that information can be found by following the link below. Should that site ever go away, email me as I have copied it in its entirty to save for posterity. That link is http://www.all-about-houseboats.com/trailerable-combo-cruiser-houseboats-22-combocruiserbubbles.html. It will probably be best read (chronological order) starting at the bottom of the page and moving up.
The following is an excerpt is said to be from a magazine article of long ago.
The Ship-a-Shore Company
The ComboCruiser is a house boat designed for use on both land and water. Equipped with a specially built low level trailer. The ComboCruiser is molded of Royalex. The trailer rig requires only 9.5 feet of overhead clearance. The boat length is 23 feet and she draws but 5 inches. Speed is said to be 30 MPH.
Because she is made of Royalex, not of fiberglass, her dents can be erased with a heat gun in five minutes, the company says. With a 90-hp outdrive, retail price is $10,745. Outboard version costs $8,950. Both versions are complete with living facilities for six.
Ship-a-Shore Corp.
Mishawaka
, Indiana
A 23 foot long trailerable houseboat. The initial assessment can be somewhat of a crap shoot and I find myself challenged with how far in-depth I should go? Do I really want or need to go all the way down to the bare hull to effectively start from scratch? What I have found in the first week post purchase suggests that is probably a prudent idea, especially given the experiences of a couple of others who have gone this route before me. What is almost more rare than owning something as old as this is that along with this boat came the original manuals, books, wiring diagrams, schematics to include each of the individual components and appliances onboard. The down side is many of the pages are extremely brittle and actually break if not handled ever so gently. I plan to see if I can get them all reproduced and so have them for still many more years. The books and manuals themselves are quite novel by todays standards as the information and detail that are included are simply never seen anymore.
Well, I finished my initial assessment and decided to strip it all the way down to pararde rest (the bare naked hull).
Likewise and due to the severe rust issue with the trailer itself. I have opted to have it completely rebuilt by a local fabricator, using only the orignal axles and fenders. Everything else will be brand new.
I have found some of the requisite parts from online vendors. The bad part is that in a few cases the price for those parts is down right insulting and clearly a case where the seller knows full well that the part you need is almost impossible to do without. While I whole heartedly support capitalism and charging what the market will bear. So too do I believe in being fair and reasonable.
I will be providing links and information about the vendors that I used to purchase the parts, pieces and supplies that I used throught the process of restoring this boat. In some cases I have already found that there is no place from which I can actually locate or purchase the original items used at the time of original manufacture. The end result is already shaping up to be what can only be realistically identified as a "RestoMod". In cases where I am forced to use current day suppliers and manufacturers, I have tried hard to remain true to the original designs. I have already purchased as an example, a current day "On Demand" water heater as the original is beyond repair due to prior freeze damage & very poor repair attempts by a previous owner. Likewise, I have purchased new cabinets from Lowes Home Improvements to replace the originals that suffered sever rot and deterioration over the years. I also upgraded the toilet to a current day model that is a macerator toilet.
Royalex is a composite material, comprising an outer layer of vinyl and hard acrylonitrile butadiene styrene plastic (ABS) and an inner layer of ABS foam. The layers are bonded by heat treatment. It is used for manufacture of durable, mid-priced canoes.
