Houseboat

A houseboat is a craft built or fitted for use as a residence rather than for transport, ranging from a self-propelled cruiser people live aboard to a static float-home with no propulsion moored at a permanent berth. Hulls are pontoon, barge, or displacement type, and the static versions often connect to shore power, water, and sewer, which makes them dwellings under local housing and mooring rules as much as vessels under maritime ones. Famous moorages include Amsterdam’s canals, Sausalito in California, and Kerala’s converted kettuvallam rice barges. Classification and flag rules apply only where a houseboat navigates; a permanently moored unit is frequently treated as real property, not a ship.