She was just a few years from retirement, living in a comfortable apartment at her sister's house. But Catherine Hall was restless.
"Especially for women at my time of life, there's a need to kind of reinvent yourself -- not go along with what the norm is, but find something a little unique," the 64-year-old said.
She found what she was looking for in the gentle motion of the Chesapeake Bay, in the 39-foot-by-14-foot space she's made her own, in the home she's christened with a name that symbolizes what it has meant to her: Sea Change.
Catherine Hall is one of America's thousands of "liveaboards" -- people young and old, rich and not-so-rich, professionals and retirees, who give up their lawns and garages to live full time on their boats.
Linda Ridihalgh, editor of Living Aboard magazine, said a survey the magazine did about 10 years ago found some 30,000 live-aboards, and she believes the number has grown since then. The magazine has a circulation of about 10,000.
While Hall had never been a boater, the more she thought about living on the water, the more it sounded like the kind of change she was looking for. Now, after owning her boat for a year, she's become a crusader for her new lifestyle.
"I think this is a great life for older women and men that really want to get out of some condo somewhere," she said. "It's such a great, open life. You have the feeling of being outside while being inside -- you're surrounded by windows and water."
Hall's boat is a 1994 Holiday Mansion cruising houseboat, which means it has a bow in the front similar to a conventional yacht and can actually go out on the open water. She's learned to sail the boat, taking it out on the bay occasionally. Hall docks her boat at Bay Bridge Marina in Stevensville, where eight or nine of the marina's 310 slips are occupied by full-time liveaboards, according to assistant manager Chris Boettcher.
A former office interior designer for MCI, Hall intentionally avoided any traditional nautical motifs in decorating her boat, instead choosing the French Provencal look she's always loved. Her color scheme originated with a Picasso print she hung on the galley wall (landlubber translation: kitchen wall) that's swimming with vivid blues, yellows and greens.
Copper and rooster motifs are marks of the Provencal style, and a copper teapot and wooden rooster adorn a shelf over the eating area, which doubles as a desk.
Hall's boat has a master bedroom; a "cuddy cabin" below, which can also be used as a bedroom; two "heads" or bathrooms; and a salon or sitting area. Lift the cushions on the seats in the salon, and you'll find enough room to store 16 life jackets.
All of the boat's amenities are designed to maximize space. Using the cuddy cabin and the salon (with seats that fold into a double bed), plus a couple of air mattresses, Hall has had seven people stay overnight on the boat.
"I wanted a boat that I could hang a chandelier in," she said with a laugh. So a tiny iron fixture with red, yellow and blue shades on its miniature lamps hangs over the kitchen table.
No fish or decoys
"Don't give me anything with fish or decoys," she said. "I just wanted it more homey."
Hall commutes from Stevensville to her job as business manager at Special Olympics Inc. in Washington. She lives on the boat only from April through October, since the marina's water supply is turned off from Nov. 30 to March 30. During those months, Hall lives with her sister in Chevy Chase.
Steve Smede, editor of House Boat magazine, estimates that there are about 50,000 houseboats in the United States and Canada. That figure does not include those who live aboard other kinds of boats. While many liveaboards own houseboats, others choose trawlers or sailboats for more mobility. Most houseboats are designed for lakes or other relatively still waters.
Ridihalgh at Living Aboard said that houseboat owners make up a smaller percentage of the magazine's readers than trawler and sailboat owners.
"Most people that live aboard are going to cruise," said Harriet Wovas, manager of Anchorage Marina in Baltimore. "They can't stay off the water -- it's in their blood."
Artist Richard C. O'Connell Jr., a liveaboard at Anchorage Marina in Baltimore, sold his house and moved onto a Gemini catamaran sailboat after retiring from teaching 10 years ago. "The water is my home. I love it," said O'Connell, 68, who grew up in Middle River. "This is something I've thought about all my life."
O'Connell said he enjoys the feeling of community among live-aboards. "Water people are nice in general," he said. "You help one another when there's storms, and you kind of take care of your neighborhood."
According to Wovas, about 40 out of 510 boats at Anchorage are liveaboards. Not all marinas allow liveaboards, who cause some extra work -- marinas with liveaboards must maintain their piers year-round and pick up pumped-out waste from "heads" more frequently.
However, Wovas said, "I'm very much in favor of liveaboards. They provide the nucleus of the marina. I think their presence far outweighs any expense. We have security, but they're like having another 40 eyes and ears."
While many liveaboards are retirees, others are still building their careers. Another liveaboard at Anchorage is Jason Haker, 28, who does Internet graphics for TeknoSurf at nearby Harborview Marina.
Haker has lived on a 1970 Drifter Cruise houseboat for the past three years. While looking for a place to live in Canton, he went down and looked at the boat on a whim. "It was perfect for living on," he said.
Like Hall, Haker didn't know much about boats when he bought his. However, he said, "You learn things really quick. There are plenty of people to give you advice."
Haker said he also "didn't want to pay rent anymore," and while the initial process of buying and customizing a boat was more expensive than renting an apartment, he said its actual cost was less than renting once he got the kinks ironed out. He bought his boat used for $10,000 and estimates that his expenses, including boat maintenance and payments on his boat loan, are about $500 to $600 a month.
Several variables affect the cost of living aboard. Some say the expense of living on a boat is fairly comparable to that of renting an apartment, while others argue that the liveaboard life is less expensive.
$77,550 for used boat
In Hall's case, she bought her boat used for $77,550 plus tax. She took out a boat mortgage from Anchor Financial Services, which required her to put down a third of the cost. She says her 10-year mortgage is pretty typical among boat mortgage companies she's talked to. Much like a home inspection, her mortgage company required that an independent company survey the boat before purchase to see whether it needed repairs. The cost of the survey was about $500.
Hall's boat insurance policy, from National Marine Underwriters, costs $589 a year. Hall pays an annual lease fee of $3,000 for her slip at Bay Bridge Marina. Water hookup is provided, and telephone service and electricity cost extra.
Additional miscellaneous costs include fuel for the boat and pump-out of waste if the marina does not provide free pump-out services. Hall estimates that she spends an average of $400 a month on boat maintenance.
Many marinas also charge a live-aboard fee. Bay Bridge Marina adds a 30 percent surcharge to the slip lease rate for live-aboards, and Anchorage Marina charges a monthly $25 liveaboard fee.
Ridihalgh of Living Aboard said the cost of living aboard a boat depends on the size and style of the boat and the boat owner's lifestyle. "Some people on land live in a one-bedroom apartment, and some people live in six-bedroom mansions," she said.
But Smede pointed out that, "You've got to buy a pretty nice boat to find something comparable to what you might find on land. A lot of people don't really go for the big, mansion-type boats."
Pack rats are out
Life on a boat has its own perks and difficulties, some of which might seem foreign to homeowners or apartment dwellers. If it gets really windy, Catherine Hall lines her bathtub with a blanket and puts her breakables inside.
While trying to fit all one's belongings into a tiny space can be frustrating, Ridihalgh said it is also exhilarating. "If you bring something on board, something else goes off," she said. "For many people, it's very liberating and freeing to shed the stuff we all get burdened with in life."
Janet and Gordon Groene of Deland, Fla., spent 10 years living on a sailboat, traveling the waters between the United States and the Bahamas. They collaborated on several books about their experience, including "Creating Comfort Aboard, the ABCs of Boat Camping," "How to Live Aboard A Boat" and "Dressing Shop: How to Furnish, Refurbish and Accessorize Your Boat."
Living on her boat has inspired Hall to write as well; she's planning a book about life as a live-aboard. In addition, she's drawing on her interior decorating knowledge to start her own business, Hall's Interior Boat Design.
Mildew, constant damp
Janet Groene said some of the difficulties involved in making a boat feel like home include the corrosive qualities of salt water, constant dampness and mildew, and harsh sunlight. In addition, she said, traveling liveaboards face logistical difficulties: How do they get mail? How do they do their laundry? Should they bring their pets with them?
However, most liveaboards will tell you that the benefits of living on their boat far outweigh the drawbacks. "You have a lot more freedom in day-to-day living," said Smede. "If you ever get sick of it, you've got options. You're mobile."