For outdoor enthusiasts who can’t decide whether to go camping or boating, a new invention will soon enable them to do both.
On the surface, the Sealander amphibious trailer looks like your typical towable camping contraption, but the “amphibious” part means you can back it right onto a lake — at which point it becomes a motorized boat.
Although the trailer is built to operate on shallow waters, it’s comprised of fiberglass reinforced plastic, meaning it can float with the best of them. The chassis even features a double hull design, which prevents the boat from sinking even if the outer shell suffers a puncture.
The interior offers all the basic mobile living amenities such as cooking, washing, cooling, heating as well as two benches from which passengers can stretch out and gaze up at the starlit night sky, thanks to the camper’s removable roof. All onboard facilities are powered by a 5 hp electric motor that doubles as a boat engine.
The trailer’s designer, a German fellow named Daniel Straub, plans to produce more sophisticated versions that offer deluxe options like a bathroom and would also be capable of cruising more challenging water environments.
“In future I hope to develop larger versions of the floating caravans which can run on other waters,” he told the Daily Mail.
The Sealander, which debuted at Caravan Salon in Dusseldorf, is scheduled to go into production at the beginning of 2012 with an early estimated price of $20,500.
Sealander - Schwimmcaravan - Grenzenlos mobil from SEALANDER - Der Schwimmcaravan on Vimeo.
(via Sealander)
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