Nov
12
By Penny Pitcher
Q. When is a houseboat not a houseboat?
A. When it is a float home
A houseboat is actually a boat, a hulled vessel, with a method of propulsion and steering. It's a getaway cabin and a power boat rolled into one. A float home, on the other hand, is not intended for navigation. It has no hull and is not powered. Rather, it is fixed in position as a full time residence with some kind of flotation device. Properly moored, in a protected location, sea sickness is NOT an issue. Oh, the hanging plants might sway in a swell or a storm, but most of the time, you would have to remind yourself that you were actually on the water.
And while there is no lawn, no garden maintenance, no driveway, no garage, and no fencing, not forgetting strata fees, land-based municipal taxes, and the cost of purchasing the land itself, float home owners must pay moorage, and their homes often need to be serviced from the effect of water on their infrastructure - top coats, anti-skid paint, replacement of zincs on any metals in the water, replacement of mooring lines etc. And often, when float home repairs are needed, divers and dinghies, tow lines and tugboats have to be called in.
The eastern end of Fisherman's Wharf is made up primarily of float homes - 33 berths in all. The owners live in their homes, (no absentee landlords), with shopping, transportation and amenities all readily accessible. The area is a crossroad for harbour ferries, float planes, kayaks, fishing and pleasure vessels. Owners share their neighbourhood with harbour seals, herons, eagles, geese, cormorants, gulls, otters, raccoons and...tourists. As one resident said, you really do have to be a "people person." And, in the summer, Fisherman's Wharf is just around the corner from events in Victoria Harbour - Canada Day fireworks, the Swiftsure Yacht Race, the refrains of Symphony Splash.
So, while YOU may call it a float home, the residents of Fisherman's Wharf Float Home Village call it PARADISE.