Neighbors

It's hard to escape your neighbors when you live on a houseboat.

The boats/houseboats are densely docked a few feet (if not a few inches) from each other, they have lots of windows to see the views, and they have relatively thin walls. Claustrophobic and private people would not do well living on a houseboat.

There are a few obvious pluses to this type of living-- friendly neighbors have kept me up-to-date on the goings-on around the marina. I don't worry about crime because this place has the ultimate neighborhood watch. And when friends came over recently, a friendly neighbor navigated them around the marina to the houseboat.

On the other hand, I close the curtains every evening to maintain a little bit of privacy. I have relaxed a little about the lack of privacy over the month and I really don't care if people watch me surfing the internet or cooking dinner. In fact, it's sort of fun for me to sit at the dining table and watch 'Dancing with the Stars' on the neighbors' big-screen t.v. There is no doubt that living here is the on-water equivalent to living in a glass house. I see my neighbors' coming and goings, and they see me coming and going.

There is a younger Microsoft guy in the boat to my right, and a middle-aged woman with 2 dogs in the boat to my left. Beyond her is a 30-something woman who doesn't cook but is willing to go drinking anytime! Next to her is a lively couple who are probably in their mid to late 50's. The wife keeps up on everything that is going on around the marina and I've talked to her several times. On the next dock over there is also a mix of younger (20'ish) people with older (50-60'ish) couples. It's an interesting mix. The only common element seems to be friendliness and relative health. I think that the logistics of boat living make these two things necessary.

The one neighbor that I *still* haven't gotten used to is the Chinese restaurant. They had that techno-pop music blasting until 2 a.m. again. I was too tired to leave or call somebody to have them quiet it down. At the same time, the noise kept me from getting a good nights' sleep.