Catch the Wave: Houseboat Living

To some people, "living on the water" means a house by a lake, perhaps with a small dock for fishing or tying up a motorboat.

Real estate agent Linda Bagley, however, takes the phrase literally. For the last six years, she and her husband, Kevin, have lived on their own houseboat, The KevLin, on Lake Union in Seattle.

"It was an accident," Bagley said about how they chose to live on the water. As a real estate broker for Special Agents Realty, Bagley was tasked with finding a houseboat for a client. When she and her husband saw what is now The KevLin, she said, "We immediately fell in love with it."

Boat, Sweet Boat

The Bagleys bought the boat and began to spend weekends and holidays aboard. They soon made the decision to sell their home on land and dive headfirst into full-time on-the-water living.

"We were going home to maintain this great big house," Bagley said, "and we wondered why we had all this stuff."

Although at 1,300 square feet, with two bedrooms and 1 1/2 baths, the Bagleys' houseboat is bigger than the 600-to-1,000-square-foot norm, they still had to shed many of their possessions, and houseboat living has prevented them from stocking back up, freeing up both time and money.

"You buy something, you have to take something off," Bagley said. "You shop a lot less."

Bagley was hard-pressed to come up with any cons of the lake-living lifestyle.

"There's no better feeling than coming home from work, walking onto the dock and knowing that you're home," she said. "We just open the French doors and the entire Seattle skyline is our view."

Special maintenance for a houseboat often depends on what type of hull you choose. Hull material, Bagley said, influences how often the boat must be brought out of the water for damage inspection and how often underwater inspections, or "dives," must take place. Other maintenance issues include emptying "black water" --- wastewater --- because houseboats are not connected to a sewer system.

Five Water-Living Locales

While on-the-water living is not available everywhere, the lifestyle is both legal and popular in many areas. Different locales not only have different laws, but also use various terminology.

A houseboat is generally understood to be a propulsion vessel that is a "live-aboard," although people also live full-time on yachts, sailboats and other vessels. A "floating home" is considered a permanent structure that has no means of propulsion and is hooked up to utilities through a marina. In some locales, a house barge is considered to be a floating home, but in others it has its own category.

Consult with real estate agents that specialize in on-the-water living to determine what arrangement is right for you. Some locales to consider include:

Sausalito, California: Sausalito is one of the most popular and well-known water-living areas in the United States. According to the Floating Homes Association, a volunteer civic group representing the residents of more than 400 homes in five floating-home marinas on Richardson Bay, the Sausalito communities were begun by the artists, shipbuilders and writers who informally anchored various types of boats in the San Francisco Bay beginning in the 1800s.

Seattle: According to the Floating Homes Association of Seattle, while houseboat living in the area is as old as Seattle itself, the houseboat explosion occurred during the 1930s, when people hit hard by the economic depression sought inexpensive temporary quarters. Today's Seattle houseboat community is a tight-knit and supportive one that takes care of and supports its members in the shared love of on-the-water living.

Portland, Oregon: Portland strives for safety, sustainability and a high quality of life, according to the city's official website. The Hayden Island neighborhood, a mix of office space, retail stores, restaurants, hotels, apartments and custom riverside homes, boasts the area's largest concentration of floating homes.

Long Island, New York: Several marinas for floating homes lie a short train ride from Manhattan. The area is home to a variety of historical sites, museums, tourist attractions and white-sand beaches.

Vancouver, British Columbia: According to its website, Vancouver is recognized as one of the world's most livable cities. It is Canada's eighth-largest city and is renowned for its innovative sustainability programs. On-the-water living provides amazing views and easy city access.

Barge with a View

For those interested in a roomier home, a house barge might be the catch of the day. Larger than a houseboat, a house barge is considered a more permanent living arrangement. It has no means of propulsion and must be towed from one location to another, and it offers all the comforts of a house on land.

Sal Cataldi, president and creative director of Cataldi Public Relations Inc. of New York City, has lived for seven years on a house barge in Port Washington, Long Island, just a 36-minute train ride from his Manhattan office.

"I did it out of a bit of romance --- and necessity," said Cataldi, who was getting a divorce at the time and wanted to be near his children and save money. "It was a convenient way to live inexpensively and really nicely."

Cataldi, who said he has always been fascinated by water living, paid less than $100,000 for his two-story buoyant bungalow, which is 22 feet wide and 45 feet long. A similar house on a waterfront lot might be priced at $1 million or higher.

The barge, which features central air conditioning, consists of a "giant" master bedroom, 1 1/2 baths --- including a sunken tub --- a two-story living room, a kitchen with regular-sized appliances, a study, two decks and a fireplace. Cataldi has cable and broadband access. He pays slip fees (similar to rent) for the use of the marina, school taxes, and the bills for services that any homeowner would require. The scenery, he says, is worth it.

"I have a view of the bay," he said, "and geese and gulls are at your beck and call."

Cataldi and Bagley both cite strong sense of community among their live-aboard neighbors as a plus to on-the-water living. Residents look out for each other, trade skills and monitor each other's homes for signs of trouble.

Weather sometimes can be a problem. "I've been hit by a couple northeasters," Cataldi said, "so I've been rocked around a bit." The only true negative in his eyes, however, is the law. Zoning ordinances and policies have been an ongoing struggle for those who live on the water. "We have to work to be sure that we can continue to live this way," he said.

Sailing Away

Jessica Wright of Knoxville, Tennessee, had another plan entirely when she and her husband decided to pursue on-the-water living. They opted to live on a sailboat for five years, which she detailed on her blog, The Wrights at Sea.

"My husband and I love to travel, and we wanted to sail around the world," she said. "We also wanted to take note and learn from the architecture around the port cities throughout the world as well as get to know the people/culture better. We believed that traveling on a sailboat would allow us to be more immersed in the cities and cultures we wanted to visit."

Living on a sailboat helped Wright become space-conscious, which has translated into a space-saving philosophy now that her family is back on terra firma.

"Everything on a sailboat has at least two uses," she said. "For example, one of our settees (couch) also housed one of our diesel tanks and folded out to be a twin-size bed. I try to implement the same idea in my own house, asking how I can use a piece of furniture or other object in at least two other ways."

Wright said that living on a boat, you become more conscious of how much water you use because you must refill your tanks, and how much refuse you produce. "You become more aware of how you influence your surroundings and how they influence you," she said.

Taking the Plunge

"I don't think that people can fathom how many people live on their boats," Bagley said.

She has sold live-aboards of various types to doctors, lawyers, scientists and information technologists. The last three houseboats she sold were purchased by women between 35 and 55 years of age.

If you're thinking about taking the plunge, Wright recommends joining your area's United States Power Squadron. "They supply invaluable information on boating and fantastic classes that will benefit (everyone from) a beginner boater to one who has lived aboard all their life," she said.