What is a Floating Home?

A liveaboard boat is fairly self-explanatory—it's a boat that someone lives on—but what the heck is a floating home?

According to the Floating Homes Association in Sausalito, a floating home is "a legally-permitted structure, with no means of self-propulsion, which occupies a permanent berth and is subject to property taxes." Basically, a floating home floats on the water, but doesn't go anywhere because it has no motor or sails. Not to be confused with a houseboat—which is really just the seafaring equivalent of a motorhome—a floating home is a real house.

It can have high ceilings, wood floors, tiled bathrooms, whatever you want. You can keep a boat in your backyard and motor out to the bay when the weather is nice. Your yard is the bay, and your neighbors are other floating homes, sailboats, and ducks. You never, ever, have to mow the lawn. It's different, but cool.