Would You Live On The Water And NOT Have a Boat?

[Wade Lippman]

I presume we are talking about power boats.

This is the view from my shop in the basement.
P1010824.jpg
I wouldn't have a power boat if you gave it to me. Maintenance, insurance, gas; all to go back and forth nowhere in particular. Each of my neighbors own a large boat and 2 jet skis. I doubt either of them use their gear for more than 10 hours a year.

I have 3 kayaks, a sailboat, and a rowing shell; all purchased for less than $2,000, with no maintenance, insurance or gas. We use them about 500 hours a year. You do the math.

[Art Mann]

The math says you are using your boats 63 full days every year. That is pretty amazing. I have been a hard core boater and had a house and boat on a large lake for 10 years and I never put that many hours on any of my boats in one year. I live in a climate where you can boat from March to November most years.

[Art Mann]

If you owned a house near the ocean (not on the ocean) with a dock or seawall deep enough to dock a boat with access to the ocean, would you be likely to own a boat or would the view justify the premium price you'd pay for owning a property like that? Premium price being what you paid for the house, property taxes and additional flood insurance you may need.

In your position, I wouldn't pay extra for a spot on a canal with access to the ocean unless I was planning to get some value out of it. I don't think the view, if it is like what I have seen on the narrow canals in Florida, is all that spectacular. I'm not a fisherman so I wouldn't pay extra for that reason either. The only reason I could see for buying that type of property is if you plan to own a boat. I am a boat person and it would be worth it to me for that reason alone. As someone already said, it has to be a way of life to justify it.

[Pat Barry]

The math says you are using your boats 63 full days every year. That is pretty amazing. I have been a hard core boater and had a house and boat on a large lake for 10 years and I never put that many hours on any of my boats in one year. I live in a climate where you can boat from March to November most years.

Must have some pretty fair muscle development with all that rowing / paddling

[Wade Lippman]

The math says you are using your boats 63 full days every year. That is pretty amazing. I have been a hard core boater and had a house and boat on a large lake for 10 years and I never put that many hours on any of my boats in one year. I live in a climate where you can boat from March to November most years.

I average about 10 hours a week on the water, plus what my wife and two sons do. Sounds like 500 hours to me. 10 hours a week isn't all that much; I spend 5 hours a week walking my dog. Yeah, she loves to swim, but can't possibly keep up with my kayak so I can't combine the two.

Admittedly, years the lake freezes over I probably do something less.

[Mike Henderson]

Sounds like a good argument for getting a boat.

Or moving to higher ground. If sea levels rise, it's going to be a mess with people losing their property to the sea. To the best of my knowledge, there's no insurance for that. It's considered an act of god.

And if the house is still habitable but at higher chance of flood during storms - and chance of being flooded if sea levels continue to rise - you're going to have a very hard time selling.

Mike

[Larry Edgerton]

Julie, you are it seems a pretty busy type? I am as well, and when I did have a house on the lake I seldom had time to take it out, because I was so busy with other things. I sold the house with the boat.

Last year I bought a fishing boat with the intention of not working so much. It has not been in the water in the year I have owned it, so it must not be important to me.

Now I did at one point have a 28' Nimble Nomad Trawler, kind of a cabin on the water that could take whatever the big lakes could dish out, and I did use that for overnight trips, mostly read books though. With a top speed of 11 knots there was no sense being in a hurry.

Tough and important question, but its kind of like asking "Do I like broccoli?" Only you can answer it.

[Jerome Stanek]

I average about 10 hours a week on the water, plus what my wife and two sons do. Sounds like 500 hours to me. 10 hours a week isn't all that much; I spend 5 hours a week walking my dog. Yeah, she loves to swim, but can't possibly keep up with my kayak so I can't combine the two.

Admittedly, years the lake freezes over I probably do something less.

Upstate NY in the winter in a boat

[Von Bickley]

A second home, a boat and a mistress, are three things that require time and money. I don't have any need for a boat.

[Tom M King]

We live on the water, and have owned all sorts of boats, but for some years now, I mostly sail other people's boats. Want one moved up or down the coast, send me a credit card. Avatar is panorama of a lifetime sunset in 2006 off the end of our point. It's kind of distorted because it's actually a 180 degree view. About the only thing we sail these days is a Hobie 21 left over from when we raced in the Prosail series in the late '80s. Some of my friends love working on their boats. I'm glad to help them learn how to sail it better when they are done working on it.

[Ted Calver]

If I had the money for a home on the water in Florida with ocean access, you can bet there would be something at my dock that could get me offshore for some of the great fishing available there.

[Julie Moriarty]

The question I posed came from seeing so many houses on ocean access canals that had no boat at their dock/seawall. I'd guess anywhere between 1/2 to 2/3 of the houses had no boat. Anyone who has ever been to a marina knows boats sit in their slip or at their mooring most of the time, so you can't say the boats were probably out on the water when they took the satellite picture. Maybe 5% were, tops. Those home owners wanted a home on the water and paid a premium price for that. From what I've seen, that premium could be 25% or more.

The view isn't all that great. Some look at mangroves. Most look at the house on the other side of the canal. It's not like living on the ocean or a lake, where you get changing sea states, sunrises and sunsets, and an expansive view. It's the same view all the time and the water is usually brown or green. If you don't own a boat, why pay the premium price? I don't get it.

Now if some of those homeowners could understand the insanity of owning one of these homes without owning a boat, maybe they might want to sell it...

to me.

[Pat Barry]

The question I posed came from seeing so many houses on ocean access canals that had no boat at their dock/seawall. I'd guess anywhere between 1/2 to 2/3 of the houses had no boat. Anyone who has ever been to a marina knows boats sit in their slip or at their mooring most of the time, so you can't say the boats were probably out on the water when they took the satellite picture. Maybe 5% were, tops. Those home owners wanted a home on the water and paid a premium price for that. From what I've seen, that premium could be 25% or more.

The view isn't all that great. Some look at mangroves. Most look at the house on the other side of the canal. It's not like living on the ocean or a lake, where you get changing sea states, sunrises and sunsets, and an expansive view. It's the same view all the time and the water is usually brown or green. If you don't own a boat, why pay the premium price? I don't get it.

Now if some of those homeowners could understand the insanity of owning one of these homes without owning a boat, maybe they might want to sell it...

to me.

So you are not asking for help in making a decision, just wondering out loud?? It sounded like you were looking for advice.

[Phil Thien]

A second home, a boat and a mistress, are three things that require time and money. I don't have any need for a boat.

I see what you did there.

[Wade Lippman]

Upstate NY in the winter in a boat

Many days I go skiing in the morning and kayaking in the afternoon.
I gather you don't like cold weather.