[sailingdog]

Sammy—

At least in every marina I've dealt with, if you wanted a slip, which is what it sounds like the OP has, you are REQUIRED TO HAVE INSURANCE. Usually, it is a minimum of $100,000 liability coverage.

If a boat and and RV are both being used for strictly shelter, then the boat is going to have higher maintenance, since the underwater gear still needs to be maintained to a certain degree—through-hulls, plumbing, etc, are still equipment that needs maintenance, even if the boat is not being used for transportation, since if they're not maintained, the boat WILL SINK. The plumbing on an RV can be ignored, and there will be no risk of the RV sinking.

Originally Posted by sailingSammy

If it's cheaper to live on land than on a boat how come there are so many people living on derilect boats in the Florida Keys? Most of them are on SSI or some other type of public assistance.
I had a friend that relocated to Los Angeles in the 90's and all he could afford was to rent a boat to live on.
In my area, Buffalo, NY, you can get a slip for a 30' boat for about $1200 for the 5 month season and that is with electricity and water, you couldn't get a room in a crack house for that price.
As for an RV, I believe you would find the registration would be a lot higher than for a boat and with a motor vehicle you MUST have insurnace, not required for boats, at least not here.
If the boat is only being used as shelter how much maintenance would there really be, I mean fiberglass isn't exactly known for being bio-degradable.

Either way I wish you and yours all the best and don't let the nattering nabobs of negativism get you down.