Life at the Charlestown Navy Yard is all about the view: miles of open water peppered with sailboat masts. It's a view that has driven the price of surrounding condos to more than a million dollars. But for those who live on boats in the Shipyard Quarters Marina, waterfront living comes cheap.For around $200 a month, houseboaters get a place to dock — plus electricity, refuse service, and Wi-Fi. There's no security deposit, homeowners' taxes, or assessment fees.
Kate Pride, J.J. Gold, and their dog, Buddy, moved to the marina three years ago. Pride, a doll maker, crafts at their kitchen table. "It's like I'm on permanent vacation," Pride says.
>> PHOTOS: Houseboaters at the Shipyard Quarters Marina by Mary Flatley <<
Shipyard Quarters doesn't keep an official tally, but residents estimate that about 30 people call the marina home year-round. The neighborhood throws one heck of a block party — though there are attendant hazards.
"People fall off all the time," says Roger McLellan, who has fished at least one reveler out of the drink. Most of the time, though, the marina is an oasis of calm, he says.
"I can't wait to get back here every night, especially in the summer," McLellan says. "I sit on my top deck in my lounge chair with my Guinness and look at the view."
