wow! houseboats??? no sail?

deniseO30 · #1 (**permalink**) 12-07-2007

I was just looking around online and it seems houseboats are what "living aboard means down in TN & GA?

mwrohde · #2 (**permalink**) 12-07-2007

I can only speak to Lake Lanier in Georgia. Strictly speaking "living aboard" is verboten. There are still some that do it, though. I don't know how many on what type of boat.

Most of the house boats I've seen are party platforms. They have water slides off the top deck and a pair of jet skis docked up on the lower aft. They pull out of the slip Friday night, motor for 30 minutes to a little island where they beach the boat until Sunday morning.

sailingdog · #3 (**permalink**) 12-07-2007

You don't find too many rednecks on sailboats..

deniseO30 · #4 (**permalink**) 12-07-2007

SD sailing east during a setting sun would make anyone a redneck!

Hmmm... but then... maybe a gun rack across the back of the Bimini and a Confederate bur-gee flying would help the good ole sailing boy image?

sailingdog · #5 (**permalink**) 12-07-2007

Some of us are granted with better genes and tan....rather than burn.

Quote:

Originally Posted by deniseO30

SD sailing east during a setting sun would make anyone a redneck!

Hmmm... but then... maybe a gun rack across the back of the Bimini and a Confederate bur-gee flying would help the good ole sailing boy image?

wiseleyb · #6 (**permalink**) 12-07-2007

rant... What's up with the whole live-aboard ban? I'm from Boston and the winters keep live-aboard's to a few select lunatics, so it's not a problem but it seems like the SE and the entire West Coast seems to think live-aboard's threaten the very fabric of the universe!! I realize that some live-aboard's really need to look into a card-board box and a less aggressive shower schedule augmented by even more booze but, for the rest of us... isn't living in a shoe box a hell of let better for the planet, on numerous levels, than living in the mini-mansion in your gated community?

I'm currently stuck in Elliot Bay, Seattle and, since they've banned ALL live-aboard's and since live-aboard marinas are running a year plus waiting list, I really worry about my boat in a bad wind storm (which I wouldn't if I could find a mooring ball).

When I lived aboard in Boston we'd spend half the night during storms tying up boats, bailing them out, chasing thieving kids away, making sure everything was kosher. We were also always on hand to help with docking, newbies, etc... so - couldn't they just regulate the homeless-live-aboard crowd instead of banning it?

Marina operators - those of you not regulated by the state - are live-aboards really THAT annoying?

tristanhayes · #7 (**permalink**) 03-07-2008

Normally the feeling I get is that A: there is too much demand, and B:communities don't know how to regulate it, so they do not bother to. It really sucks that someone can tell me if I can live on a boat or not, but if I pull out 3 miles, its my perogative.

tristanhayes · #8 (**permalink**) 03-07-2008

and btw that was the beginning of a rant cut short.

sailingdog · #9 (**permalink**) 03-07-2008

Part of the problem, especially in states like Florida, where the cost of real estate has skyrocketed... you get people living on near-derelict boats as a way of getting cheap housing. These people don't maintain their boats and their boats aren't used except as cheap, floating, housing... they're effectively water-borne squatters. They don't pay much in the way of taxes, yet, in many cases, use a much or more of the community's resources than a regular land-based person does. The fact that the boats that they live on are often neglected means that the people who are paying the big bucks to have the waterfront property have to look at these eyesores, so they call the cops...and pass the laws... to solve what they see as a problem.

PBzeer · #10 (**permalink**) 03-07-2008

And don't forget, boats spoil the view from all those crappy looking buildings they throw up all around the water. And, we can't have that now, can we?