Choosing to Live-Aboard
By Kevin
High housing prices in the DC area have shifted, at-most, a few hundred people into living on boats:
"People think that we're outside of normal life, like a step above homeless, a step beyond trailer trash," she said. "The land people just don't seem to understand it."I grew up spending summers and warm Spring and Autumn weekends on a boat; that was fun. But I never had to go to the office without a hot shower....
Apparently many potential live-aboards want all the creature comforts, but fail to realize how much space that requires.
The most common source of difficulty is in failing to adopt a simple enough lifestyle, and the size and complexity of the boat itself is often a major aspect of the problem.... Nearly everyone understands that the move will involve a simpler lifestyle, but few understand what this really means. We often hear something like this: "We really want to have a simpler lifestyle. As long as I can take a hot shower every day, have plenty of ice for drinks, and can run my home computer on board, I'll be fine. All we need for accommodations are a master stateroom with a double berth, four guest berths in two cabins so we can bring our friends, two heads, and standing headroom throughout." All of the items on this list are obtainable even in a condition of poverty, ashore. However the average person may be completely unaware that this reasonable-sounding list is only obtainable at great cost afloat, in an exceedingly large boat for most people.