

Recession, high real estate prices boost boat dwellers - ilamont
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/02/16/local_boaters_find_crafty_way_to_live_cheaply/

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lsc
I suspect that the work required to keep the boat afloat would eat any
potential savings. Also, most boats are tiny.

What about renting in a "mobile" home park? (I put mobile in quotes, as most
of those things are clearly not going anywhere) Sure, it's not as glamorous as
living on a boat, but where I am near sunnyvale there are several mobile home
parks nearby, all mostly hidden from street view. Most of them look pretty
nice, I mean, as far as such things go, and the rent is cheap. (personally, I
don't know I'd want to /buy/ a mobile home; around here, usually you still
need to rent the land.)

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joshfinnie
I am not sure it is about "glamor" but location. I bet you can't find that
many mobile home parks within any city limits. However, most major cities do
have harbors...

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lsc
eh, there's one in walking distance to the mountain view 'hacker dojo' -
silicon valley is, well, kindof suburbia.

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bmelton
I was recently looking into this in the DC area, and while it may work for
some (I'm still giving it serious thought), for many, the cons will far
outweigh the cons.

The biggest hardship for me living on water would be that I likely couldn't
keep my guitars. Houseboat living means, in a nutshell, that everything you
own will get wet, whether from incidental contact with water, or just the
humidity in the air. I'm perfectly willing to buy vacuum containers for foods
(salt, sugar, coffee) to keep them safe, but to my knowledge, no such animal
exists to keep my Les Paul safe from harm.

The best workaround I have come up with thus far is to store my nicer guitars
in climate controlled storage, and just keep a cheapish acoustic guitar on
board with me, which I suspect I would have to replace at given intervals...
hopefully no more than once per year.

Aside from that, at least in this area, it isn't dirt cheap to live on a boat.
I've seen mooring costs that range between $20-$40 per foot per month, which
equates to $800-$1600 for a 40' boat. Compared to DC real estate, it's a
bargain, for sure, but it's also not the last respite for the homeless either.

I haven't gotten around to pricing, but I suspect that boat insurance is going
to be considerably more than home or auto insurance.

I have absolutely no idea how to estimate utilities on a boat. I understand
that power is supplied by the mooring facilities, but I have heard that it is
expensive, and highly unreliable.

I'd love to hear feedback from anybody who has or is currently living aboard,
as I'm still eager to try it, even if it means maintaining a landlocked
residence until I've figured it all out.

~~~
mixmax
I live on a boat in the Copenhagen harbor, nad have done so for the last five
years. Here are a few answers:

\- My experience is that the humidity isn't as bad as it's made out to be.
Make sure it's properly heated in the winter, and if you can fit it in get a
wood stove. That'll take care of all humidity problems. I've never had any
problems with food, clothes, etc.

\- I don't know about mooring prices in the US (or anywhere else for that
matter) but my experience from Copenhagen is that if you can get into one of
the smaller harbours that aren't as high-end and have a bit of fishing and
other maritime business it's going to be a lot cheaper. Besides it's more fun!
I pay around $1000 a year for mooring and access to water and electricity.

\- I pay $900 a year in insurance. Again this is Denmark and I have no idea
about US prices.

\- Power is supplied by the harbour, and I've never had any problems. It seems
as reliable as anywhere else. But living on a boat you want a generator, a
converter and a good battery bank anyway for when your anchoring somewhere :-)

You (and anyone else) are welcome to send me a mail if you have questions.
It's in my profile.

Since a lot of people, bot here and other places, have asked about living on a
boat me and two other guys have just recently started a blog about this. It's
currently located here: <http://cbb.sjovedyr.net/> I'd love any feedback you
have.

It'll be available from www.copenhagenboatbums.dk in the near future, I'll put
it in my profile when it's moved.

 _Edit:_ The boat in the linked video does seem a bit shoddy, it can be done
much better than that :-)

