Gibson Houseboats

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Gibson Houseboats

A great bow on Gibson Houseboats.

We chose Gibson houseboats because of the space, speed, and the comfort they provide. I can cruise at hull speed, or I can put the throttles down and get up and go at planing speed to get away from incoming storms.

One of the major advantages of a Gibson houseboat is that they have a good sized catwalk so that my wife can easily get around the boat for docking purposes, which makes my life much easier.

It has a good sized cuddy cabin down below, so we can have guests stay over for those weekend parties, and they can sleep in comfort without feeling like they are in the way.

Overall, my wife and I love our Gibson house boat.

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Gibson Houseboats

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Fiberglass Houseboats Repairs - glass over plywood
by: 44Gibson

True, there are some issues with the glass over plywood construction of Gibson decks. However, I speak from experience that they are also the most repairable when issues arise.

I replaced a 6 x 8 section on my flybridge deck, a 1 x 9 strip in the middle of the salon deck, and a 3 x 3 section where the flybridge ladder bolts to the deck on my 1987 Gibson 44.

With matting, resin, filler, and gelcoat spit from a cup gun I was able to duplicate the speckle pattern from the factory, and nobody can tell I did ANY repairs.

Now that I know what's involved, I will grind out any spots at the very first sign of delamination. Epoxy is great for small jobs, but not cost effective for big jobs, remember the entire boat was made with polyester resin.

Anyway, I love my Gibson and I think they are the ideal for the rivers where we boat! Also, I have walked on MANY spongy molded fiberglass houseboat decks, too.

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Houseboat Manuals - Mercruiser Outdrives
by: Anonymous

To Andres: the outdrives you have on yours will depend upon the year and engine choice. Mine have 302 mercruisers with TR outdrives. The manuals I have, I bought at my local mercruiser dealer back when I bought my houseboat, best investment I ever made.

They tell me everything about the mechanicals, electrical, and hydraulic systems as far as the mercruiser systems are concerned, and they cover several different models as well. Robert

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Gibson Houseboat Repair Manuals
by: Andres

To older Gibson Houseboat; Robert

I also have a 1978 Gibson 36ft, would you be willing to post that repair manual for the Mercruiser. I think I have an Alpha II?

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A lasting houseboat business still around.
by: River Rebel

Some folks may have a lot of things to say about the Gibson houseboats, good or bad, but they are one of the only houseboat companies still in existence.

There have been many houseboat companies over the years, in fact a lot of them were spin offs of earlier Gibsons, and Gibson is still going strong.

I have personally been in contact with their parts and their restoration department and I have found them both to be extremly helpful when I was restoring my Gibson.

So say what you will, good or bad, Gibson is a high quality manufacturer that has been here for along time and will be for some time to come. Time tells the story.

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Best Gibson Houseboat Engines - carbs or fuel injection?
by: Anonymous

I am looking at two 44 Gibson houseboats. One is a 2000 with fuel injection, and the other a 1998 with carbs.

Does anyone have an opinion of either of the two engine setups? They both are in like new condition with low hours. Thanks for your help.

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Gibson Houseboat Parts - poor parts department
by: 47 Executive

Gibson is a decent boat, however the parts department is a JOKE. They don't have any manuals OR schematic and the parts guy is completely clueless. I couldn't get parts even when I gave the guy the numbers and followed up by several emails AND calls!

You look at the website for parts and it's a joke as well. You would think after the factory was hit by a storm YEARS AGO, they would get off their @sses and sort the parts out.

Yeah I know they don't make all the parts and you can get them cheaper anywhere else, but it would be nice if they were a proper company and you could call them up and say I need this part and they actually SEND IT OUT! Amazed they can still be in business.

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Any Gibson Houseboat Manuals?
by: steve

I just bought a 1968 Gibson houseboat and would like an owners manual to see how it all worked back then, any help out there please.

Steve, a new Gibson owner.

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Houseboat Manuals - any Gibson houseboat schematics?
by: seiferth@swbell.net

I just purchased a 1979 42' Gibson houseboat. I'm looking for a wiring and plumbing schematic for this model, so I will be able to restore some of the functions that have been disconnected or that have broken down over time.

There are many wires that are disconnected / cut off, and tracing them will be very time consuming. With a schematic, that time might be greatly reduced. Gibson says that they lost all such infomation in a tornado several years ago.

Anybody out there have one they could scan and email me?

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50 Gibson houseboat, upper helm steering leaking?
by: Rick

I have recently purchased a 50' Gibson Standard, and I noticed that the "power steering fluid" is leaking from the upper helm steering. I know 3 people that have had problems with these units and wonder if anyone knows what steps need to be taken to correct? Thanks, Rick

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A houseboat taking on water?
by: Orangetoy

I bought a 1973 Gibson houseboat and it is now taking on water and I cannot find where it is coming from. I do not have a trailer for it and right now I don't have the cash to have it removed out of the water. Anyone had problems with their houseboat taking on water and where was it at?

Reply - Answer
Well Orangetoy, you may have water coming from the fresh water tank, outdrive seals, packings on the driveshafts, or with a through hull fittings.

IAN from www.all-about-houseboats.com

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Gibson houseboat, 42' Standard
by: Anonymous

We have had a 42' Gibson Standard for several years, has twin 350's, wet exhaust. Other boaters have hailed us down just to get close and hear the sound of our engines just off idle. No one can believe how the boat planes out at only 2800 RPM.

She sleeps six people or twelve good friends. For over five years now, the houseboat had not given us one minute of trouble and looks like brand new with its aqua trim and off white Gel Coat:
750 total hours :)

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Hull ID Number #
by: Anonymous

Where is the hull id # on 25 year old Gibson? I cannot find it on the transom. Thanks!

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Gibson houseboat in Florida
by: Monarch

I'd like to have a 5900 Gibson (new or slightly used houseboat) in Florida. Where is the best place to put it where I can live on it 6 months a year?

Thanks, Monarch, Arizona

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Gibson Houseboats are A+
by: Anonymous

I have had a 1992 50 foot Gibson houseboat for 9 seasons now, and we love it !!

We've done many upgrades, and we run the boat !!!

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Gibson houseboat - Love her!
by: justcyn

We are new houseboaters and haven't even got our 1974, 42 ft Gibson out of dry dock yet. We already love her to pieces and can hardly wait to sail her on her maiden voyage (for us) down the Tombigbee River to her new home in the Mobile Alabama Delta.

Thanks to the miracle of the Internet we found her and got to look at and compare hundreds of boats before deciding. We didn?t impulse buy. We looked at hundreds more after we looked at her too just to be sure she was the one.

She's old and also a fixer upper. She has deck and hatch problems and the engines have sat up for 2 years. We are putting one new engine in and hoping to restart the other. She's got dual inboard Chrysler 318s.

The seller ran out of money and never got to sail her at all and knew little of her previous history. Somewhere a previous owner redid the interior very nicely and somewhere that nice cabin received some minor storm damage and somewhere the last owners did more harm than good trying to fix the deck and engine problems. But its all good and we?ll get it all back together.

We knew the Gibson was a nice boat when we started looking at the different manufacturers. We really knew when we saw her. We really wanted a walk around and we really liked the sturdy railings that Gibson uses. We knew this was a quality boat when we saw that the steps to the roof decks were made from plates molded with the Gibson name.

The interior layout is well thought out, spacious, and for us, the split-level wheelhouse and salon is a magnificent design. A lot of care went into the details. There is still much of the original woodwork that is still in beautiful condition. And the glass, oh the glass! ?WOW,? is all we could say when we first saw it.

And there is something to be said of the older models. The wall-to-wall glass is clear and not tinted. It is like a big floating Florida room!

All the repairs won't be done yet but we?ll have the engine work and everything below the waterline completed in the next few weeks for the launch.

Rating

Older Gibson Houseboats
by: Robert

My wife and I own a 1972 Gibson houseboat 36x12.
We purchased this houseboat 5 years ago as a fixer upper, the price was right and it came with a trailer.

It needed both mechanical and structural repairs, all of which I was able to do with the help of family, friends and a very helpful marine mechanic. Yes it took time, and some cash but it was all worth it in the end.

Both V-8 Mercruisers I/O were rebuilt, the velvet drive transmissions were rebuilt, newer outdrives were installed.

The entire deck was all replaced using treated wood for beams and supports, marine grade solid core 5/8 decking was used, and hand laid cloth and fiberglass resin and epoxy paint finished the deck.

Having Mercruiser manuals for the mechanicals proved to be a very smart buy. The repair manuals tell how to fix everything mechanical.

Finding parts for a 36 year old Gibson houseboat can be trying at times, but so far knock on wood...no problems yet.

We boat on the Mississippi River, and enjoy our Gibson immensely and wouldn't have any other boat. Robert.

Reply - Answer
Well Robert, I wanted to thank you for posting an excellent review of older Gibsons. Many of my houseboater friends have Gibsons, and they also are very happy with them.

Lastly, hopefully other readers will share and post comments about their Gibson houseboat experiences for us all to read.

Thanks again, IAN - from www.all-about-houseboats.com

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Like New - 1984 Gibson Houseboat
by: Anonymous

We have had a 36x12 Gibson houseboat for 25 years, and it still looks like new.

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Fiberglass on Plywood
by: Beached

I can tell you from personal experience. Fiberglass on any Plywood, even the best stuff is a disaster in waiting.

Fiberglass is N O T vapor proof, once the moisture gets into the wood, it will rot, slowly or fast, but it will rot and by the time the glass is delaminating you are too late.

Solution. Solid glass fiber layup or glass over closed cell foam.
Glass epoxy on wood is much better then polyester resin/glass on wood.

Straight wood or ply with a clear UV finish, you can see any problems before they get out of control.

Marine Aluminum.

Rating

Maintenance makes sense
by: Anonymous

Thanks to both anonymous and Beached for your comments. It makes sense that when you maintain a vessel properly, and take care of little problems before they get to be big ones, all will work out, whether you're talking car, boat, house or anything else.

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Gibson Houseboat Construction?
by: Anonymous

My wife and I attended the 2008 Houseboat Expo in Louisville back in March. We talked to a lot of people and we have learned (both from this show and other places) that a lot of people love their Gibson's. OK, so it's a very popular boat.

Understood and accepted. We also heard that there were some problems to watch out for such as the hatch covers and decking material being made of plywood which can get wet, waterlogged and eventually will rot.

Any comments, pro or con, from Gibson owners?

Thanks so much from a houseboat newbie.

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Gibson Houseboats

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Gibson Houseboats