Just a Floating Apartment?

Baggiolini said:

Ditto that, in Monterey the rules of the marina say that your boat must be navigable. They have made a few go out and circle mile buoy. I can't help but think the maintenance will kill you. It's got to be cheaper to rent an apartment that isn't going to sink. On a boat, everything goes wrong eventually. If you don't find joy in maintenance, it won't be a lot of fun.

Just my two cents

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Exactly!! Marinas cull out people who are not boaters and every boater I know in all marinas I know of squeal to the office of sneak aboards and people only looking for a flop boat.

Well, then maybe it is not all that good of an idea.

I can see how marinas could wind up looking like a trashed out trailer park if things like this weren't kept under control.

My advice if you love the water and want to live aboard is to start by taking sailing lessons or boating courses and get real familiar with the rules of the road and running a boat. Then find one that operates well enough and is liveable in as well as in your budget. Then you will fit in with other boaters, have talking points in common and I'm sure you'll find working on your boat and going out on it much more fun than just sitting at the dock.

I have already signed up for a sailing class. Looking forward to it!

Tuffy said:

I have already signed up for a sailing class. Looking forward to it!

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Awesome Tuffy, now you're on your way. Good luck

Corpus Christy is an awesome sailing town. I understand it has very predictable wind patterns. If I don't miss my guess the local marina is probably 70%+ sailboats anyway.

Sail lessons are a fantastic introduction to boating Tuffy.

Yes.right now the wind is gusting to 30 mph. Most of those boats never go out. We've been out there on many major holidays and there's no one out there but us.But it is nice.Especially Shamrock Cove, if you can get across that rough bay.

Sent from my Galaxy SIII using speech to text.so some words may not be perfect.but it's easier.

Here are two hose boats in the marina that are FL registered. The smaller one has one engine and the larger twins. Both have IO's and aluminum hulls. ICW cruising? Probably.

The houseboats may be more practical for what I want to do, but those trawlers sure look better!

I want to use my weekends for fishing from a motor boat, sailing, and sea kayaking. I have access to each without having to buy a boat.

How practical it is to buy a house boat depends entirely on how expensive the boat is and how much it costs to maintain it. From what I can tell, a house boat costs a lot less than a house. I already know that the views from the boat are better than any house I could afford. I guess the trick is to buy a boat that has already depreciated as much as it is going to, assuming maintenance is performed.

Do house boats have the exact same maintenance requirements as a trawler?

The depreciation of a houseboat approaches zero with no maintenance. Not so true with a house sitting on dirt: the dirt will always be worth something! A houseboat sitting on the bottom can actually be a liability.... Like I said earlier and Capthead said, most marinas want useable boats with insurance.

I hope I did not say anything that may have been misunderstood to imply that I was not going to do the required maintenance.

No harm. I didn't mean it that way!

Funny....there was a thread not too long ago about abandoned boats and so many posters chimed in that while a shame...as long as the owner pays...many marinas don't care.

Really cracks me up how from thread to thread reality changes....

Owning anything that sits out in the weather is going to take some effort. An old houseboat with a freash coat of cheap paint every couple years that as long as the windows aren't broken and the decks covered with a junkyard's worth of old bikes and grills...and the boatowner is friendly and no problem will hardly get a second thought at most marinas except 5 star resort types.

Keeping an engine running well enough to be considered a "boat" isn't all that big a deal either. It's not like he's leaving for Bermuda tomorrow in the face of hurricane season. Rotten hoses and belts, missing cylinders, leaky exhausts don't matter too much if you just have to do a lap around the local buoy to prove you are a boat.

An annual slip fee of $3650 seems a lot except if you are a liveaboard... that's a whopping $10 a day or around $300/month rent. Some marina's throw in the utilities with that...but if not you'll pay those on the dirt too. If it's a liveaboard and not a cruiser...chances are haulouts of $500 or so could occur every 2-3 years or so....

So getting into a boat that will float another 10-15 years for say $15000 adds another $1000 a year to those expenses. So now we are still talking less than $500/month to live in a marina (possible not absolute). Sure there can be other expenses but that's true of no matter where you live.

Keep it clean...be nice...be helpful and just because you own the oldest and cheapest bat in a marina doesn't make you an outcast.

Tuffy said:

.......... I wondered if it was possible to buy an inexpensive boat that was comfortable to live in but would never actually get underway. Not a fixer upper. A leave it as it is.

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Anything is possible, but not likely.
Boats without motors are usually really cheap because the owner/seller knows that the boat is not worth the cost of the motor. You figure it out from there.
Also, many marinas will not accept a boat that cant come in under it's own power. Most marinas require liability insurance. Unless you lie, you may have a hard time getting insurance for a non-working boat.
Your best bet would be a houseboat because areas where houseboats are common are usually more tolerant. Lots of houseboat owners bought the houseboat as a retreat on the water.

Maybe I am going too far in asking about a boat that will not get underway.

Once I look at a few boats, trawlers and houseboats, I am sure it will be more clear.

The cost of buying a boat seems straightforward enough. The cost of parking in a marina is clear. But, other than that, what is the cost of owning the boat? I think I have heard that divers have to clean the hull monthly. Is this true? How much does that cost? Then you have to have the boat lifted out of the water every two years to have the hull painted. What is the topside maintenance?

Tuffy said:

I would LOVE to live on the water. Compared to buying and maintaining a fully functioning boat, how much less expensive would it be to buy a boat that can't leave the marina on its own but is otherwise a good looking floating home?

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I live in Literalville so I'm taking you seriously that you don't need a home on the water that can move itself. (engine) If that is the case, a houseboat will be less expensive to maintain than a trawler. If you actually think you might want to change neighborhoods once in awhile, by a houseboat with an engine. I think "where you dock it" will be a bigger challenge than finding the right "home."

Gibson House Boat For Sale $75K USA Made - YouTube

You will find a lot of ideas here. house boats - Google Search

That is a neat looking house! It wouldn't bother me all that much if I couldn't take the house out for the day. As stated earlier, I have access to other boats already. I just like the idea of a home with a view and shoreline homes are way out of my price range.

as long as the windows aren't broken and the decks covered with a junkyard's worth of old bikes and grills...

Now that is funny!

Baggiolini said:

as long as the windows aren't broken and the decks covered with a junkyard's worth of old bikes and grills...

Now that is funny!

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Can't help a lifetimes worth of keen observation, telling the truth and being stationed near many towns when in the USCG that have tried to throw out all the "vagrant" boaters...

A lot of those house boats look like someone just built a house on top of a barge. Now, that gives me an idea. Buy a barge and an old pier and beam house and set the house on the barge. When the barge is ready to sink, buy another barge and move the house onto it.

Can't help a lifetimes worth of keen observation, telling the truth and being stationed near many towns when in the USCG that have tried to throw out all the "vagrant" boaters...

We've got a number of dock rats whom to lesser degrees meet your description but to your point, they are friendly, know everyone and they watch out for your boat. A totally acceptable trade off.

What pisses me off are the guys who have boats in the marina(12-15 year wait list) that never take the boat out. I bet 30% of the boats have not left the slip in 2 years. That is disgusting. Put they pay their fees so the marina can't touch them.

Baggiolini said:

What pisses me off are the guys who have boats in the marina(12-15 year wait list) that never take the boat out. I bet 30% of the boats have not left the slip in 2 years. That is disgusting. Put they pay their fees so the marina can't touch them.

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As one who'd entertain the idea of berthing at your marina I couldn't agree more. 15 years is a bit longer than I'm willing to wait though. I hate dining at the eateries with a marina view there seeing basically what amounts to derelict boats in potential vacant slips.

Great idea! The key is finding out the marina policies in Corpus. How the boat looks is more important to the marina than anything. There is one over in Port Aransas that is absolutely beautiful, and has been featured in boating magazines. The guy lives aboard, but removed the engines and sold them. It's incapable of moving on it's own, but the marina is fine with that as he keeps it in perfect visible condition. Their rental/lease agreement even says boats there have to be capable of moving on their own, but they overlook this for "nice" boats. Go for it!

Keith said:

Great idea! The key is finding out the marina policies in Corpus. How the boat looks is more important to the marina than anything. There is one over in Port Aransas that is absolutely beautiful, and has been featured in boating magazines. The guy lives aboard, but removed the engines and sold them. It's incapable of moving on it's own, but the marina is fine with that as he keeps it in perfect visible condition. Their rental/lease agreement even says boats there have to be capable of moving on their own, but they overlook this for "nice" boats. Go for it!

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Am I correct in saying that a boat is supposed to be taken out of the water every two years to have the bottom painted? How does he accomplish this?

Who in their right mind would want a boat that could not move? Buy a condo overlooking the water!

Depending on the paint, you can get longer times. I go five years using Petit Trinidad. Assuming you even bother, just get it towed once every 5 years to and from the shipyard.

Let's see, boat vs. condo...no property tax, no association fees, no school taxes, no mud taxes, easier to move the boat, better neighbors, closer to the water...the list goes on.

Keith said:

Let's see, boat vs. condo...no property tax, no association fees, no school taxes, no mud taxes, easier to move the boat, better neighbors, closer to the water...the list goes on.

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.....and the lifestyle is priceless!

Speaking of lifestyle, I will continue to hold a professional white collar job. How many liveaboards work professional jobs? Are most liveaboards retired? I know a couple that had a financial setback a few years ago and wound up living with their two children in a fifth wheel RV for several years. Even though they moved into a nice home in the country after they got back on their feet, they said they enjoyed their time in the RV. They paid rent in an RV park, similar to marina fees. They met lots of people. Some of the people they met were on vacation and some were full time in their RV's. The liveaboard boating lifestyle looks similar to me, except it looks like the maintenance is probably higher on the boat.

It could probably be an entirely different thread, but how do you see the liveaboard boating lifestyle as being different than the RV lifestyle, other than the obvious fact that your home is floating in the water? What is the difference in cost and time for maintenance?

windmill29130 said:

Who in their right mind would want a boat that could not move? Buy a condo overlooking the water!

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Not even close in some places...it is often possible the boat has a better view, better neighbors for a fraction of the cost. The 3 places I have lived aboard I could have never afforded to buy even on a pretty good (high) military pay.

Tuffy said:

Speaking of lifestyle, I will continue to hold a professional white collar job. How many liveaboards work professional jobs? Are most liveaboards retired? I know a couple that had a financial setback a few years ago and wound up living with their two children in a fifth wheel RV for several years. Even though they moved into a nice home in the country after they got back on their feet, they said they enjoyed their time in the RV. They paid rent in an RV park, similar to marina fees. They met lots of people. Some of the people they met were on vacation and some were full time in their RV's. The liveaboard boating lifestyle looks similar to me, except it looks like the maintenance is probably higher on the boat.

It could probably be an entirely different thread, but how do you see the liveaboard boating lifestyle as being different than the RV lifestyle, other than the obvious fact that your home is floating in the water? What is the difference in cost and time for maintenance?

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On my 3rd liveaboard...first 2, I was a military officer (not sure that's white collar...but I had to shine my shoes a lot...)

You don't always have to pull a boat every few years..but there are tradeoffs if you keep the boat operational, etc...etc...once you get into it you'll catch on what has to be done and what doesn't.

I did a lot of RVing between my 2 liveaboards...similar yet different. If you stayed in one spot a lot as an RVer...then it may be similar...but the big diff is what king of RV park and what kind of marina you are trying to compare. Most of the time, marinas offer fewer amenities and there are WAY fewer marinas that have as many liveaboards as you might encounter RVers on a daily basis...but again that REALLY depends.