There’s absolutely nothing wrong with living full time on a boat. Think of it as your own cosy floating house. You could brave high seas with it or you could have it nice and tame tied to a dock. I do, however, strongly recommend that you keep it tied to a dock if you’re living with children so you’re always near land in case of any emergency. Speaking of children, bringing them along with you to your house boat can take houseboat living to a whole other level.
I have lived on a lot of houseboats. One in particular, a 40-foot trawler known as the Wanderlust has been my home for nearly a decade now. I bought it on eBay and was the 7th owner since it was built in 1982. On it I’ve travelled the high seas, foregone electricity and the internet and all the other frivolous comforts that land dwellers seem to take for granted.
For most of that time, life was rather carefree. However, I soon got a family, and kids followed. I had to adapt. Living on your own, even with a girlfriend, on a houseboat, is not even close complexity to living with a full-fledged family, complete with 2 rather energetic children.
I have picked up some tips along the way, about how to make life on a houseboat with children not only safer and more manageable, but also more enjoyable for both my wife and I and our daughter and son. Here they are!
Different spaces for different activities
A houseboat won’t be nearly as spacious as a full-fledged house, which is why you have to make sure you delegate some space to different activities. Have rooms and little nooks and crannies where the family can hold their daily activities. Bedrooms should be there, fully sealed from the rest of the cabin. From there you can start delegating the rest of the spaces.
As for the children, give them a nice living space with an extra platform that can easily be converted into a play space. We gave ours a nice platform that had a great view of the bow and the children would play there with their dolls, trucks, and Lego blocks, or whatever other toys and games they took it upon themselves to play with. By giving them the elevated space for their games, we go to free up lots more space which we could use for the living room and kitchen. We also got a separate space of our own where we could do our own tasks like reading or giving the kids assignment help when they’re stuck. Overall it gives a nice sense of modularity to the whole house.
Plan your space use adequately
This ties in to what I said above about not having much space and utilizing it effectively. I remember we once did a renovation on our particular boat house. We took out our table and decided to replace it with a sliding table that slid out of a counter. It was better for the space since you only pulled it out when you actually needed a table, such as when I was giving my assignment help to my kids or when we were eating. That way, we had more living space in which to socialize and have fun.
Another interesting piece of renovation I did happened when I first bought the trawler. It had 2 bathrooms. I reasoned that I didn’t really need 2 bathrooms so I revamped one of them into a laundry room. Now I could do my laundry from my boat house. It saved me a lot of money in the long run: a single load of laundry at the marina would cost me $8, which adds up in the long run.
Flea markets for essentials
Most of the items in our boat were purchased at flea markets set up specifically for boat dwellers. We have lots of those where we live. We even got some links from friends at the flea market about where we could get the best essay help for our kids’ homework. However, if you can’t find a sea dwellers’ flea market near where you are, consider trying out West Marine. It’s a great general place to find boat house related stuff.
Despite relying on flea markets for the essentials, we still like for our boat house to feel as homely as possible. We love living on a boat, but we want it to feel more like a home than a boat. So we do go for laid down rugs, string lights, and have hung our drawings and pictures all over, just like we would in an actual house. All of these live harmoniously among the boat wares we’ve bought from flea markets. It makes for a very cosy feel that truly makes the boat house a boat home.
Stay docked if the kids don’t like the rocky high seas
You have to take some things into consideration when you’re living on the high seas. You won’t have any electricity, or water source. You will also be exposed to much more extreme weather patterns than whatever you’re used to on land, not to mention the buoyancy of a boat makes the whole experience particularly rocky. Sea sickness is not the best feeling in the world, that’s for sure.
Living on the high seas is a lot different than living life on the marina. They count as two different categories of boat house lifestyle completely. We used to do a lot of swashbuckling before the kids came along but now we spend 99% of our time on the marina. You’re going to have to make that decision yourself. Be sure to include the kids and consider their view. Maybe take them out for a little afternoon adventure every now and then to figure out how much they love the sea. If they do, then you can take them for longer adventures. If not, then consider just staying docked until they’re a little older.
Get used to being really close to each other
This ties in with the small space that is found on a boat. You’re going to be forced to live and work closer than ever with your spouse and your children. We certainly had that experience ourselves. When you’re in an apartment, you can go out for a walk or to take a breather. You really don’t have that much space on a boat.
It might be trying at first, as tensions are harder to solve since you’re in each other’s faces. However, it can really build your bonds in the long run. It helped me and my wife get really close and bond during the time we spent together. With our kids with us, we bonded even closer with each other and with them too. Many years later, absolutely nothing can tear us apart. Not even a sea storm.
Conclusion
Living on a boat house is loads of fun! As long as you know what you’re signing up for and are ready to make a few adjustments here and there, you’re going to have a swell time. The tips above should help you on your way as they did us. Happy boating!
Author Bio
Michael Gorman is a highly skilled freelance writer, essay writer, and proofreader from the UK. He currently works for multiple services, including an essay writing service, a paper writing service, a research paper writing service, and the best resume writing service in the UK. Being interested in everyday development, he writes various blog posts and discovers new aspects of human existence every day. Feel free to contact him via Facebook or check his Twitter.