There is a bit of a rebirth going on when it comes to living aboard. Yesterday I gave an interview to the LA Times Deputy Real Estate Editor and we are going to shoot some pics tomorrow for an upcoming edition of the paper. How about that? The LA Times putting living aboard back into the real estate section where it belongs.
I am working on a collection of projects to try to get a handle on the number of live aboards and live aboard marinas, as well as an idea of the trends. But I have a sense. Living aboard is still under fire from some local governments and agencies trying to demonstrate a plan to fight vagrancy and pollution, and to clean up their waterfronts.
The popularity of the lifestyle, however, as well as how permissive the marinas, are cyclical. And it really does come down to money. If a marina has a waiting list years long for its slips, it will choose the nicest boats rather than the nicest boaters. And we’re all pretty nice, but we don’t always have those million dollar boats. But when the number of boaters decrease, and the demand decreases, all of a sudden those self-imposed restrictions will vanish.
In many areas, living aboard is very much coming back in vogue. How do I know this? Well for one thing, the book is continuing to do well. Interest is out there. With real estate prices down and real estate less secure there is less of a desire to buy land at all cost (literally and figuratively). And local governments seem to be more understanding of the lifestyle. We are going to be putting together a list of these rules and issues over the coming months. In the meantime, I will do my best to provide you with updated news on the liveaboard community and issues that effect the every day liveaboard.
In the meantime, be sure to check out Chris Caswell’s article on liveaboards that seem to have things figured out.
Gentle breezes,
Mark
Learning to Live Aboard
Full-time living on board a boat can be mastered. by Chris Caswell
boats.com – Feature: Learning to Live Aboard