New to this and seeking insight: Interested in live aboard life with family

[holtcl]

Piney is a great marina for living aboard. There are year-round bathrooms/showers, laundry, winter water, and they bubble. And you can take a bus into DC from right under the rt. 50 bridge. You can work on the bus and probably save commuting costs. There is a nice live-a-board boat for sale on F dock and probably others. Come check us out if you think this may be for you and your family.

Cheryl

 

[Kevlife]

Thanks Cheryl, I'll definitely check it out. Perhaps take a drive this PM...

Do you know of other covered marinas, perhaps on this side of the bridge?

-Kev

 

[holtcl]

Hmm- probably others on the forum may know of something- seems like there are more on the Eastern Shore. There is one down by Edgewater, MD I think but you'd have to look at the commute. There are a few covered slips at Sarles in Annapolis but not big enough for a 53 and I don't recommend them for living aboard.

Good luck and keep us posted- we're not trying to be a wet blanket just trying to give you all the straight-up-straight-up so you can go in fully informed,

Cheryl

 

[saltshaker]

I can't speak too much to this other than to say we spend the majority of the summer on our 65SF. That's me, my wife, two boys 10 and 8 and a dog. There's plenty of living space and if given the choice the boys would live here full time. I think living aboard with kids will make your choice of marinas more critical. We are 2 blocks to the beach, we have a great pool, tennis and basketball courts, playground and a club house with a nice big TV room. There are plenty of kids their age who have become close year 'round friends. Today it's cold and rainy yet we came down to the boat because they wanted to see their friends. Home is more than a house or a boat, it's the whole package and what you make of it. I hope I can always do this as the boating lifestyle is something my family cherishes and I so Love to share with them.

 

[TROUBLE]

Very well said Jack.


Art

 

[jim rosenthal]

You would have a hard time beating the combination Cheryl described- bus service into DC, covered slip, and local stores close by. Piney is an excellent marina- it's well kept, orderly, and there are enough live-aboards there that it isn't a ghost town in the winter. You would have everything you needed. I don't know the boat on F dock. There are a LOT of Hatteras yachts at Piney, it is full of them.

 

[Kevlife]

Many thanks and we appreciate all taking the time to provide insights!

I consider myself fortunate to actually be in the same place for more than two years now, and a little longer than that since being deployed. All in all, just being in this country is a blessing and I consider myself lucky regardless of our living arrangements. Multiple trips to some austere and violent places have provided the opportunity for insights I may have never had otherwise.

Perhaps this is an idealist's effort (never thought I'd call myself that), but we are enjoying it thus far and are hopefully avoiding some dead ends and pitfalls by reaching out to you all. That said I am still looking for a 53' Hatt MY in the northern VA area. I have made a few calls and even some connections. Hopefully it will work out well!

Kev

 

[MikeP]

I guess I have to admit being another member of the Piney Narrows fan club... It's a great location and the bus ride - it was 5 bucks each way as of two years ago - to/from DC that you can catch about 100 yards from marina Gate 8 (which is close to F and G dock) makes it a fairly painless commute.

There's a 24 hour Safeway one mile away to the west, a great little hardware store about 1/10th mile further and some really excellent restaurants about a mile in the opposite direction that we walk to several times a week when we're living aboard. Oh...there's also a West Marine about 3/4 mile away. But don't hold that against the marina!

When we moved from NY to Mexico (work related) in 2006, our plan was to take the boat south over a couple of seasons, maybe to Mexico but at least to far enough south to no longer have to winterize. We moved it to Piney, expecting to leave it there one winter and then sail it further south the following season. But we so enjoyed the Ches bay and the specific area that we abandon all thoughts of moving the boat anywhere else. The only down side is I still have to winterize.

Tell Eric (Bayport Yachts) you want him to find you a good 53MY then get a covered slip (rent or buy) at Piney. Call it a done deal!

Re the comment about a lot of Hatts at Piney...there are more 53MYs on G dock at Piney than there were at the entire marina of over 300 boats on Long Island where we used to live/boat.

 

[Kevlife]

Anyone know the bus arrive/depart times from that stop? How about the commute time? I'm think an hour at least on a good day?

I have friends at the local DC Marinas public/private that love it. I'm sure there is a waiting list for both, but man are they close to everything. What I have discovered is that there is literally no live aboard status allowed in VA.

Kev

 

[MikeP]

Here's a link for the bus: http://www.dillonbus.com/scheduledinfo.asp The 240 bus is the one you want.

As I mentioned earlier, a friend I worked with lived aboard at one of the marina's in DC and really liked the convenience. As also mentioned, as far as BOATING, the Potomac has very little to recommend it.

 

[Kevlife]

MikeP

Thanks!

Just what we were looking for. An hour or so (if lucky) on a bus each way in exchange for that location may be a very feasible option. The boss seems to like that idea, especially being on the bay. I think she would live in tent there on the water.

Kev

 

[jim rosenthal]

Yeah- if you want to use your boat as a boat every now and again, then the Potomac is vastly inferior to the Chesapeake Bay. There is essentially nowhere to go on the Potomac other than DC and you would be there already. And it is a LONG slog back to the Bay- and then you are way south, so to go to any of the middle bay destinations, it's hours and hours. I would seriously look at Piney Narrows before you make any decisions.

 

[q240z]

If you were to get a boat in DC, Three Sisters up past Georgetown is a terrific anchorage...BUT not if your boat is too tall to get under the train bridge! Flybridges can typically fit, but non-folding structures can make it very challenging. There are other places to anchor in the upper Potomac (assuming you're a boater who will leave the slip once in a while), but tour/cruise boats make big wakes all the way down to Mt. Vernon. Get past Mt. Vernon, and it's pretty quiet. Mattawoman Creek is nice, secluded, and reportedly a great fishing spot, if you're into that sort of thing.

As far as marinas that permit liveaboards, they're down on or very near the Washington Channel. The Washington Monument is in plain view, and the Metro is ~7 minute walk away. Keep in mind, though, that the DC waterfront is currently undergoing major redevelopment. The pile driver fleet starts banging away shortly after reveille blasts out of the speakers at Ft. McNair every weekday, but that's supposed to wrap up this year. Construction will continue for several years, though, in multiple phases.

 

[Kevlife]

Thanks again to everyone for the insight! Still definitely going through the process, and have a few boats that we are interested in. It seems most of them have been listed for awhile at reasonable prices, which may be a sign of other issues. Always welcome insights, happy Independence Day to all, as we are very lucky to live in this country. -Kev