I am living on my 43' sailboat whenever I am in Kahleefornia. I know they have submerged bubbler systems that keep the wayter from freezing around the hull up there in the Nord.

In SoCal, all the big slips (over 35 feet) are on a waiting list. I waited 4 years for my 30' slip, and Immediately!! went on the waiting list for the largest in my marina (a 40' with a 3' overhang). 4 years later I had one on 10 days notice. I waited another 2 years to get a liveaboard permit. Most CA marinas are only allowed 10% of their slips to be liveaboard. I pay a $135 premium a month for the permit, and $11 a foot a month for the slip. Plus electricity bill. The marinas are now going electronic to catch the 'sneakaboards'. Most marinas say about 9 nights a month allowed on your boat. It's in that small print you sign when you are getting your slip the first time.

Now the good part. Beautiful weather. Waterfront property in SoCal. Always warm in the winter(seawater temp 68F most of the time), so small electric heat suffices here in SoCal. Gated parking; yes, I rent a hangar for my toys, but a garage was rented before it got too small. Nice neighbors, lots of walking distance restaurants.

Good luck!

Singpilot: Your my hero. If I wasn't in love with my wife and my two wonderful kids, I would be living the life.

Wow, very cool!

I know people that live in house boats here on the Mississippi River. One of them lives in it year round. It's a pretty common lifestyle here and I run into people regularly that have done it at one time or another.

Hey, this thread was getting me into the idea of living on a boat...

...then I saw this...

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2005/WORLD/am....crash.ctv.jpg

Here's the link:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/06/30/ferry.accident/index.html

Yeah, I heard about that. I guess they lost power approaching the dock.....

I forgot to mention one of the down sides that having to have a cell phone SMS and email notification on the Tsunami warning net. I get two or three of them a week, mostly in Alaska, and saying no threat to SoCal. The recent real one in NorCal, I was in Palm Springs, and decided to stay rather than rush back to the marina. The Redondo Beach police reported that the cliffs along the Esplenade overlooking the marina were crowded with people who came down to see the wave that never showed.

My marina is at the head of a very deep submarine canyon (very bad Tsunami wise), and I am 2 breakwaters (nothing in Tsunami terms) away from a 50 foot wave.

The upside (if there is one) is that two city blocks inland I am 150 feet of elevation higher.

I have this picture of me (and whoever is there with me) being the only ones running naked in the middle of the night up the street screaming "TSUNAMI!!!"

Not a pretty picture.

LOL....regardless, it sure sounds like you're enjoying yourself Sing...I'm envious.

Actually Souk, today I am in Porto Cervo, Sardinia, Italy soaking up the sunshine. I leave tomorrow for Nice, France, then Sunday afternoon to Bangor, Maine (to clear US Customs cuz they are on holiday hours at LAX), then on to Van Nuys Calif; 14.2 flight hours.

Wednesday (my birthday) up to Sun Valley for the Allen conference, back to LaLaLand friday night. Twenty four hours later via Gander Newfoundland to Nice France again for a week.

The Tsunami alerts still arrive over here.