# home sweet boat



## wolfva (Nov 17, 2006)

I'm thinking of finding a cheap boat to live on, just tired of houses and all that. So, any suggestions? Also, do you need any special licenses or such to pilot a boat; if I'm living on one I'm sure as hades gonna take it out fishing once in awhile as well.


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## jhmorgan (May 16, 2007)

Depends on how old you are whether you need a license or not. In the near future, you are going to need a boaters license regardless of age. Live aboards are surprisingly inexpensive to buy, but the costs start to incur when it comes to power, water, docking etc.


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## lv2bass (Feb 10, 2009)

There is an older fellow, that lives on a Gibson Houseboat all year long at the head of my creek. All summer he is there and leaves to dump his gray and black water, get groceries, fuel, then comes back. I just see him on it and I gave him some fish last year and he seemed to be there by himself. Winter he goes into a marina and stays. He seems not to fish but I do see crab pots out all the time. 
I stopped and gave him fish, because it got too late and I was not going to clean them and the guy who asked to keep them said he was not going to do it. So I stopped by and a beeped the horn, he came out and I said, want some fish. He said, sure, I gave them to him, he said thanks and went right back in. 
Now that Gibson is good for bay and maybe intercoastal at very best. His is about a 43', not new but not bad. Expense is just like the other post said, more in summer if you stay at a marina, less in winter. Hook up is costly and they charge service fee for electric. You got to pull it out in the sping to get the bottom cleaned. Make sure the electric is agreeable with the manner in which the current runs. If not everything on the boat could eat out, even your outdrives can get eaten away. I don't know everything about that problem, but I know you need to be really careful. I saw one outdrive almost completely gone, because he had the wrong kind of diode. Zinc instead of something else. Good luck and i know its cheap , because about five years ago I was thinking of the same thing, until a old guy who lives in the Baltimore harbor said its cooooooold.


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## wolfva (Nov 17, 2006)

I'm 40 so the age should be ok. Yeah yeah, figured I'd start my mid life crisis early. I was thinking of a one mast sailboat with outboard; 23' or longer. Checked out the cost of a marina slip already, luckily I used to do some subcontracting (non-marine) at a few marinas so at least I'm familiar with the ones around here.


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## basstardo (Jun 5, 2006)

A houseboat can be as expensive, or more expensive than a house depending on what you get. The upkeep is what gets you, just like any other boat BOAT = Break out another thousand.


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## mud (Sep 23, 2007)

yeh I sold my boat and I was scared to fix it if something broke. Now I have a kayak and im the motor and im low maintenance. I know a few guys the live off there boat but if I were you there are plenty out there that will let you rent and I would try that first as it is a big change and some people cant hack it.


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## wolfva (Nov 17, 2006)

Heck, I saw an ad for a houseboat at 400K. For that much it better have nuclear engines and a lifetime guarentee! 

I have a kayak, but it's reaaally hard to live on one. Every time I try to sleep on it I almost fall out....


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## jhmorgan (May 16, 2007)

400k sounds like a pretty tricked out yacht. If you are looking for just a basic house boat, as in the square/rectangle version, then you can get them for anywhere from 45k-100k easily. They are basically converted pontoons. If it was me personally, Id go that route with a dinghy attached for shore access and fishing.


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## reelfishin (Nov 18, 2008)

There are people living on houseboats and sailboats. They do it becasue it is cheaper it is cheaper than a apartment. I have seen a lady living on a houseboat that has no engines. I have seen another one that has no engines where someone is living on it. Dandy Haven Marina has a housboat setting on land that I think was one someone lived on. It does not have engines. I have a friend how lives on a boat and one that lives on a sailboat. They both like to live on their boats. If you go to Salt Pond Marina in Buchroe Beach [ Hampton] you will see that that there are people living on their boats. 
The State of Virginia is requiring a boat safety course that you can get free from the power squadron if you can find out when they are teaching it. Now is the time to be doing that. 
If you like fishing and want to live in a different type of enviroment you can't beat living on a boat. The people are friendly and can be helpful.
IF you have the money get a trawler they are expensive unless you get a older one. They are easy on fuel while a power boat can be expensive on fuel. A trawler can go great distance and not bankrupt you like a regular boat. There is one for sale at Salt Ponds Marina that would be a good deal to a person and it is a good live aboard boat. 
I know a person who does live on a sailboat and loves it too.


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## wolfva (Nov 17, 2006)

I'm thinking of a sailboat because I'd hate to be 25 miles out when the engine conks out.... Of course, I have no clue HOW to sail a sailboat so that'd probably be a mistake. Whatever I get I'd want to be able to take it out to blue water. Thanks for all the advice. Keep it coming!


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## reelfishin (Nov 18, 2008)

I have two friends who lives on a sailboats at Salt Ponds Marina. One I know for sure sails it by himself. One thing to keep in mind is, sailboats do have engines. One engine and it usually is diesel, I believe. The problem with them is they do not keep them up like they should and they can quit when you don't expect them too. If they are kept up, they should last a very long time and are a lot safer than gasoline.
What you need to decide is what you want in a boat. Do not take less or you will be dissapointed. I am sure there are people or class around here where one can learn sailing. The problem with a sail boat is, the bigger you get the harder to handle it your self. I am sure there are people who have rigged their sail boat so they can do it themself.


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## reelfishin (Nov 18, 2008)

You really need to get in touch with some one that does live on a boat and see what they have to say. There are a lot of requirements concerning safety equipment on a boat, such as fire extinguishers, flares etc that you will need since you want to operate the boat you live on. Also there is now dumping of waste and plastics in the ocean or the bay. The sewage needs to be pumped out regularly to keep the storage tank from filling up.
Most marinas have showers and bathrooms you can use. During the winter most marinas do not have water available for the boats. Also one does not usually on a older boat drink the water on the boat they bring in gallons of water to drink. Safer that way.
There is certain maintenance that has to be done on the engines and on the bildge pumps etc. If you are a dedicated person to living on a boat it will not be to bad but it is not a life for the lazy person. There always seems to be something to do on a boat. Especially a older one.
Lots of boats for sale and one could get a good buy on one right now.


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## Outrigger (Nov 6, 2006)

*read this in the august '08 washington post*

From the beginning, it seemed that the attraction was about opposites. He loved boats. She loved motor homes. And so it made sense that eventually Eric Smith and Douglass Dillard, married for 10 years, would happen upon a joint venture that would combine their respective passions for boats and movable lodging.

This would lead to great things, they were certain. And so this spring, when the couple launched their houseboat sales business behind the historic Trumpy boatyard in Annapolis, their optimism was high. They'd sell fleets of them, populate the Chesapeake Bay with enough to create floating resorts. Ones with clubhouses and swimming pools. Maybe even a tiki bar or two. People would love it!

"We both believe that this is where the future is," Dillard says. They have invested at least $500,000 in the scheme. Smith has been a sailboat and powerboat broker in Annapolis for 37 years. Yet so far they haven't sold one houseboat.

It's been a bit of a shock for them to find a lack of enthusiasm for their idea among the locals, and perhaps a whiff of disdain. Houseboats don't have the best of reputations in certain boating-oriented locales. Sometimes the phrase "floating trailer homes" may slip out in conversation among circles of those people who prefer their boats to be sleeker and commanded by the likes of Larry Ellison or Malcolm Forbes.

Not long after docking the taupe-and-white 55-foot houseboat they dubbed the Annapolitan near a boatyard where the U.S. presidential yacht Sequoia was launched, curious neighbors started coming by. The new houseboat brokers happily obliged them with tours, pointing out the clerestory windows, flat-screen TVs, vaulted ceiling, wet bar, rooftop sun deck and swimming platform. Tie a boat to the back and you can cruise in it wherever you anchor, like a recreational vehicle on the water. With twin 60-horsepower engines, it's got enough get-up-and-go to hit maybe 15 knots and tow the kids on boogie boards, provided the water is calm enough.

"Oh, that's interesting," Ross Arnett, a local alderman, recalls thinking after touring the boats and listening to the other advantages of houseboat ownership: pay no property taxes for waterfront living even if you never leave the dock, recoup your costs by letting Bay Yacht Agency (Smith and Dillard) manage and rent it out when you're not using it.

For a moment, Arnett could even imagine himself on one, "sitting on the screened-in porch . . . watching the fish jump and the geese honk. You could see where it has an appeal," he says, pausing, "just like RVs have a certain kind appeal." The reverie didn't last long.

Nor did it take long for someone in the community to recall a certain case several years ago involving a millionaire with a three-story house atop a 100-foot barge. The millionaire cruised around Annapolis on his luxo-barge. There were parties and drinking, all of which was rather noisy and lasted until the late hours. Somebody recalls a disco ball on a dance floor, which contributed to the blazing spectacle of it all.

The bottom line is that Annapolitans weren't terribly happy with it and so there was a review of city ordinances. Since then, houseboats have been defined as "house barges." They are expressly forbidden when they exceed 46 feet in length; are principally intended to be used as a house, office or social club; and are not self-propelling. (Longer houseboats can stay temporarily, but only if they're for sale, and no more than 30 days.)

"Just talking to neighbors and people I've run into, I'm not sure people want these," says Chris Ledoux, a lawyer who lives across the street from the Trumpy boatyard.

He can't see the water from his house, and he doesn't want to spend a lot of time obsessing over the issue. But if bigger houseboats start coming in, would it be such a stretch to imagine "German Rhine barges coming up the river, or some University of Maryland students with a party barge?" Ledoux wonders. Or what would happen if an unsuspecting buyer docks one of these things at the end of the pier, only to find the neighbors objecting and then having to find somewhere else to park it?

The topic was raised last month at a local leadership lunch, where all the civic, business and maritime types catch up. It came up again at a maritime advisory board meeting and soon Smith found a warning on his flagship houseboat. Within 30 days, according to the citation issued by the city harbor master, the Annapolitan needs to shove off. After that, the city could slap on a $100 fine for every day it stays.

The city's concerns about houseboats seem less about class wars and more about bureaucratic issues: Do they have sprinklers and meet zoning codes? RVs and trailers aren't allowed in residential parts of the city, so why should houseboats be? Should the things be licensed as B&Bs if they're going to be rented out?

And then, of course, there are the "environmental" matters.

This is the point that transforms Smith, the salesman, into Smith, the problem-solver. This is what people who love boats love to do. He has plans to replace the boat's holding tanks with solar-powered toilets with a waste incinerator, or maybe a composting system that after a while would simply leave a bit of dried fertilizer.

But for now, the bathroom issue is still a bit of a problem. The city harbor master pumps out boat commodes for $8. This generally assumes, however, that a boat's tank holds 20 to 30 gallons. Try 300 gallons and, suddenly, emptying the loo becomes more of a task.

All of this is supremely frustrating to Smith and Dillard, who see the problems as minor and rectifiable. Meanwhile, their two model houseboats are sitting at dock while they wait for the city powers-that-be to return from vacation to figure out what to do. They have at least five buyers-in-waiting, they say, and calls every day from people responding to their Web site's pitch:

"Waterfront Property. Always a good investment. Here's a new way to enjoy it! Your Houseboat, is your new waterfront property -- but you have no real estate taxes, and it moves when you want to take it with you!" 

For the moment, Smith is moving his business into the Annapolitan model while his offices are under construction. There's a desk on the houseboat, and it looks out over the harbor. It's calm and orderly there, and he can get some work done in peace.

It's also, he says, just temporary.

Credit: Washington Post Staff Writer


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## reelfishin (Nov 18, 2008)

Some Marinas do not like to have live aboard people there. Some do . One will have to check out the marina to be sure. A city marina, now that is public property. That can become a nightmare for a person trying to live there. Still there are people living on boats and loving it.


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## Vance V (Feb 11, 2010)

Lot of people live, which they don't even like it. For example A city marina, when it turned out to be a public place, it's full and occupied by many people. It's nice to have to some good place to relax and enjoy.


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## redfishnc (Sep 12, 2008)

*living the dream...*

I have stayed on my Catalina 30 for a couple months at a time. Anything smaller will be a real test. Not much storage but you can make it work. It would be really good if you knew someone who would let you try it for 60-90 days. I learned to do a lot of the maintenance myself, most of it was simple. Living at the marina was enjoyable but you are going to be living in close quarters with others. For some this simple life is perfect, for others it is short term. I find it great for a few days but I'm not ready for the long haul.


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