View Full Version : Anyone live on a small houseboat?
Ultralight
10-1-15, 11:07am
Anyone live on a small houseboat? Just curious.
I intend to at some point.
If you do a search for Houseboat. That might bring up some discussions we had about it several years ago.
Locally, I know a Dr and his family that live on one full-time. So it can be done in a 4 seasons climate.
I keep watching craigslist. Some smaller ones can be had for a good price. My husband thinks they are too small but I'd love to give it a go for a year.
Ultralight
10-1-15, 11:22am
I intend to at some point.
If you do a search for Houseboat. That might bring up some discussions we had about it several years ago.
Locally, I know a Dr and his family that live on one full-time. So it can be done in a 4 seasons climate.
I keep watching craigslist. Some smaller ones can be had for a good price. My husband things they are too small but I'd love to give it a go for a year.
Okay, I'll do that. :)
Radicchio
10-1-15, 12:15pm
Just one word---maintenance! And more and more maintenance! It can be lovely and there are definitely some perks, but make sure you know what maintenance is needed and are willing to keep up with it.
Ultralight
10-1-15, 12:21pm
Just one word---maintenance! And more and more maintenance! It can be lovely and there are definitely some perks, but make sure you know what maintenance is needed and are willing to keep up with it.
I am struggling to learn how to maintain my bicycle! haha
A houseboat? Yikes... :doh:
didn't MacGyver live on a houseboat?
Ultralight
10-1-15, 12:57pm
didn't MacGyver live on a houseboat?
He was the perfect guy for that lifestyle...
he totally did!
http://www.macgyveronline.com/pictures/houseboatnow7.jpg
ps. the internet tells me it's not actually a houseboat; it's a floating home as it has no motor and is only meant to be moored in a marina.
Ultralight
10-1-15, 1:04pm
he totally did!
http://www.macgyveronline.com/pictures/houseboatnow7.jpg
ps. the internet tells me it's not actually a houseboat; it's a floating home as it has no motor and is only meant to be moored in a marina.
Still very cool!
IshbelRobertson
10-1-15, 1:36pm
When I lived in London, one of my brst friends lived on a houseboat in Little Venice.
A comfortable, if slightly cramped living.
he totally did!
http://www.macgyveronline.com/pictures/houseboatnow7.jpg
ps. the internet tells me it's not actually a houseboat; it's a floating home as it has no motor and is only meant to be moored in a marina.
I have to ask, if it can't actually go anywhere, although it's cute, why is this preferable to living in a trailer or a container house on land? My ideal for a houseboat would definitely include something that would let me get away from people and not be paying any sort of daily rent, just the occasional marina fee. To me that's the plus over mobile homes - anchoring offshore is free and legal, parking your house isn't, always.
I have to ask, if it can't actually go anywhere, although it's cute, why is this preferable to living in a trailer or a container house on land? My ideal for a houseboat would definitely include something that would let me get away from people and not be paying any sort of daily rent, just the occasional marina fee. To me that's the plus over mobile homes - anchoring offshore is free and legal, parking your house isn't, always.
Perfect for global warming and the coming sea level rise?
Ultralight
10-1-15, 3:01pm
Perfect for global warming and the coming sea level rise?
lol
awakenedsoul
10-1-15, 6:54pm
When I was considering moving to Oregon, I found one on line that was for rent. It was only $600.00 a month. I loved it. It was really creatively decorated. Living on the water looks so romantic to me! But, I've never lived on a boat. I stayed with an ex on a yacht in Galveston, TX for a few days. It wasn't for me. (It also wasn't ours.) I think I might like living alone on one, though. (with a dog...)
Quincy, ME lived on one. :)
Twenty years ago I had a coworker in San Francisco (before I lived here) who lived on one. He'd bought it for about $40k and was paying maybe $400/month to the marina for rent to dock there. He was doing this because it was cheaper than renting an apartment here. And the weather here is mild enough that it was totally doable. The pictures of it looked nice enough but it was obviously fairly small. When he moved to NYC (where I was at the time) I asked if he was going to bring the boat but he didn't think it would work in the winter since it wasn't suitably insulated. I tried to talk him into it since the idea of helping him drive it down to Panama, through the canal, and back up the east coast sounded like a lot of fun despite the reality of it being completely impractical and taking a boatload of diesel fuel. (pun intended...)
I have lived for months at a time on my 32' boat, which is not a houseboat.
I have to ask, if it can't actually go anywhere, although it's cute, why is this preferable to living in a trailer or a container house on land? My ideal for a houseboat would definitely include something that would let me get away from people and not be paying any sort of daily rent, just the occasional marina fee. To me that's the plus over mobile homes - anchoring offshore is free and legal, parking your house isn't, always.
I assumed that you would pull it with a boat that hooks up to it?
I'm figuring it might be movable in the way that a double-wide is movable (with trepidation and as seldom as possible), but not suitable for ocean living.
I have lived for months at a time on my 32' boat, which is not a houseboat. Did you enjoy it? Were you primarily docked, anchored at sea, or on the move?
Did you enjoy it? Were you primarily docked, anchored at sea, or on the move?
Great fun. Generally I'd cruise for a good part of a day to a new location up/down the San Juan Islands/BC/Alaska coast, anchor or dock, spend a day or two at the new spot hanging out/fishing/paddling around in kayaks, then relocate to The Next Cool Cove/Harbor when I felt like it.
I want to do this route/cruise in a couple of years:
http://www.bellaireboaters.com/sitebuilder/images/map_great_loop_fred_coffey-507x576.jpg
Ultralight
10-2-15, 1:27pm
Great fun. Generally I'd cruise for a good part of a day to a new location up/down the San Juan Islands/BC/Alaska coast, anchor or dock, spend a day or two at the new spot hanging out/fishing/paddling around in kayaks, then relocate to The Next Cool Cove/Harbor when I felt like it.
You're really living the dream...
Recently I've been cruising around here in a simple 15 foot Boston Whaler, which turns out to be surprisingly capable.
The other day my daughter and I went from here to Butchart Gardens over on Vancouver Island, which is about 40 miles, involves going through the San Juan Islands, crossing Haro Strait, then tucking into Saanich Inlet.
The trip on the way over was great, here we are tied up at the dock at the Gardens, you can just make out our small boat on the left side of the dock, mostly blocked from your view by the ramp:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-b5Guns29iJ0/VeecbzjcHUI/AAAAAAAAQpw/_a20l-BXl-k/s720-Ic42/Awesomized.jpg
The gardens were spectacular that day:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ZRLPJjcX9Zk/VeecNOkcCaI/AAAAAAAAQo4/mdGE2VzDTVo/s720-Ic42/Awesomized.jpg
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Uqbg6orqrm4/Veebn3HuQNI/AAAAAAAAQnQ/gD9nvVOLzcU/s720-Ic42/Awesomized.jpg
As was tea!
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-MD6tGe3uUE8/VeebdS3YzVI/AAAAAAAAQmg/1Zsd0ax8Z4Y/s720-Ic42/Awesomized.jpg
Then the thunderstorm/hail storm hit as we were about to leave, making the trip back a bit....sporty.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-kFzrbkEHMds/VeecQ8_32SI/AAAAAAAAQpI/NiaTKNMHQvI/s720-Ic42/Awesomized.jpg
So, you don't need a very big boat to have fun on, and you could "live" even on this small boat here, if you put ashore to camp.
Oooh, and cakes! what a lovely outing.
What a neat day you had with your daughter! (except for the hail). I especially like the gardens and the assorted pastries!
It was always on my life list to own a small sailboat that I could live on and one day sail around the world in. Then, sometime in my early thirties, I started looking at the actual cost of owning and living on such a boat. Yikes! I thought I could spend $4000-$6000 for a good sea-worthy sailboat and marina costs? What are those? How much could a slip cost in say, Monterey. I thought it would be an extra $80 a month or so.
It turns out that living on a sailboat is not the turn toward ultra-simple, ultra-frugal living I thought it would be. If I multiplied my expectations by about 50 - 100, it would be about what I found.
It turns out that living on a sailboat is not the turn toward ultra-simple, ultra-frugal living I thought it would be.
"Boat" and "simple" or "frugal" are not often words found in the same sentence.
Constant battle with mold and mildew problems connected with living on a houseboat would make my life miserable.
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